FOIA Advisor

Court opinion issued July 20, 2020

Court Opinions (2015-2023)Allan BlutsteinComment

Manatt v. DHS (E.D. Pa.) -- finding that: (1) USCIS failed to show that it performed adequate search for records relating to government’s so-called ‘Zero-Tolerance Policy for Criminal Illegal Entry”; (2) plaintiffs did not muster enough evidence to show that USCIS has pattern or practice of violating FOIA, but stating that court “suspects that USCIS does, in fact” have one; (3) agency properly relied on Exemption 5’s deliberative process privilege to withhold deliberations about communications with press, public, and Congress, but that other withholdings were unclear; and (4) ordering senior DHS official to appear before court to explain why agency ignored court’s order to process records by certain date.

Summaries of all published opinions issued since April 2015 are available here.