Dejene Mortality Review

Andrew Free filed this request with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the United States of America.
Tracking #

2025-ICAP-00182

2025-ICFO-25061

Due April 9, 2025
Est. Completion None
Status
Awaiting Response

From: Andrew Free

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

A copy of the IHSC Mortality Review for Serawit Gezahegn Dejene, (DOB: 3/29/79; COC: Ethiopia) who died January 29, 2025, following his detention at the Eloy Detention Center (EDC) in Eloy, Arizona, according to the Detainee Death Report ICE published: https://www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/reports/ddr-SerawitGezahegnDejene.pdf.

I make this request as a member of the media, and therefore seek a fee waiver. Representative edited works based on prior FOIA requests like this one may be reviewed here: https://theappeal.org/authors/andrew-free/; and here: https://atlpresscollective.com/2025/01/31/new-record-sheds-light-on-unreported-death-in-atlanta-airport-customs-inspection/.

I request expedited processing of this request pursuant to 6 CFR 5.5(e) and attest under penalty of perjury pursuant to 28 USC 1746 that the following statements are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and understanding:
1. ICE deaths in custody in FY25 are currently on track to equal or surpass the 12 deaths in the previous fiscal year.

2. IHSC Mortality Reviews provide an authoritative agency accounting of the medical circumstances of in-custody deaths. These reviews often conflict with the public-facing story the agency tells, raising critical questions about accountability, transparency, waste, fraud, and abuse. See https://phr.org/our-work/resources/deadly-failures-preventable-deaths-in-u-s-immigration-detention/.

3. The current administration's expansion of federal immigration detention is the subject of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exist possible questions about the government's integrity which affect public confidence. See, e.g.,
a. https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/how-many-immigrants-will-die-in-us-custody
b. https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/ice-increases-detention-capacity-in-southern-nevada-3318591/&ct=ga&cd=CAEYAioTODA4NDM3NjM3MDcwNDg3MjU0NDIaMzU4OGE4OGMwMWViNjNlYTpjb206ZW46VVM&usg=AOvVaw0AY_z02AvW4eN7-HW7Pbvr
c. https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/ice-increases-detention-capacity-in-southern-nevada-3318591/
d. https://www.leavenworthtimes.com/kansas-politicians-say-an-awful-lot-but-look-beyond-those-words/
e. https://latenighter.com/news/john-oliver-shares-chilling-details-about-ice-detention/
f. https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/capital-markets/private-prison-firms-predict-unprecedented-growth-from-trumps-immigration-crackdown-128291
g. https://www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/youngstown-news/corecivic-trying-to-add-space-for-ice-detainees/
h. https://prismreports.org/2025/01/15/biden-immigration-migrant-deaths/
i. https://prismreports.org/2024/06/25/nearly-all-deaths-in-ice-detention-over-5-years-were-preventable/
j. https://www.kcbd.com/2025/03/11/garza-county-now-reviewing-proposals-interested-giles-w-dalby-correctional-facility-operators/
k. https://capitalandmain.com/more-people-in-ice-custody-means-smaller-meals-and-delayed-medical-care-detainees-say
l. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/11/german-tourists-ordeal-reportedly-ending-returned-from-us-detention
m. https://www.denverpost.com/2025/03/11/denver-ice-expand-detention-capacity-colorado-wyoming/
n. https://www.aclufl.org/en/press-releases/three-deaths-ice-custody-just-over-month-trumps-presidency-marks-most-deaths-occur
o. https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/privately-run-immigration-detention-center-that-previously-held-families-in-texas-will-reopen/
p. https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2025/03/05/a-city-within-a-city-wardens-at-adams-county-correctional-discuss-benefits-challenges-of-max-occupancy-at-ice-facility/
q. https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/live-updates/trump-2nd-term-live-updates-va-prepares-to-cut-as-many-as-72000-employees-in-next-wave-of-layoffs-memo-119377651
r. https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/03/05/dilley-texas-family-detention-center-ice/
s. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/corecivic-announces-resumption-operations-south-211500232.html
t. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/mar/04/for-profit-kansas-prison-with-troubled-history-cou/
u. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/03/private-prison-mass-deportation-trump-billions-geogroup-corecivic-ice/
v. https://filtermag.org/trump-deportations-private-prisons/amp/
w. https://www.axios.com/2025/03/06/corecivic-immigrant-family-detention-center-texas
x. https://theappeal.org/mahmoud-khalil-lasalle-detention-center-louisiana/
y. https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/students-document-reports-abuse-immigration-detention-center
z. https://www.investigativepost.org/2025/02/20/521935/

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Andrew Free

From: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

03/17/2025

Andrew Free
MuckRock News, DEPT MR182984
Boston, Massachusetts 02115

RE: ICE FOIA Case Number 2025-ICFO-25061

Dear Requester:

This acknowledges receipt of your 3/13/2025, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), for all records pertaining to A copy of the IHSC Mortality Review for Serawit Gezahegn Dejene, (DOB: 3/29/79; COC: Ethiopia) who died January 29, 2025, following his detention at the Eloy Detention Center (EDC) in Eloy, Arizona, according to the Detainee Death Report ICE published: https://www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/reports/ddr-SerawitGezahegnDejene.pdf.. Your request was received in this office on 3/13/2025.

Due to the increasing number of FOIA requests received by this office, we may encounter some delay in processing your request. Per Section 5.5(a) of the DHS FOIA regulations, 6 C.F.R. Part 5, ICE processes FOIA requests according to their order of receipt. Although ICE’s goal is to respond within 20 business days of receipt of your request, the FOIA does permit a 10-day extension of this time period. As your request seeks numerous documents that will necessitate a thorough and wide-ranging search, ICE will invoke a 10-day extension for your request, as allowed by Title 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(B). If you’re able to narrow the scope of your request please contact our office. Narrowing the scope may speed up the search process. We will make every effort to comply with your request in a timely manner.

Provisions of the FOIA allow us to recover part of the cost of complying with your request. We shall charge you for records in accordance with the DHS Interim FOIA regulations as they apply to non-commercial requesters. As a non-commercial requester, you will be charged 10 cents per page for duplication; the first 100 pages are free, as are the first two hours of search time, after which you will pay the per quarter-hour rate ($4.00 for clerical personnel, $7.00 for professional personnel, $10.25 for managerial personnel) of the searcher. We will construe the submission of your request as an agreement to pay up to $25.00. You will be contacted before any further fees are accrued.

We have queried the appropriate program offices within ICE for responsive records. If any responsive records are located, they will be reviewed for determination of releasability. Please be assured that one of the processors in our office will respond to your request as expeditiously as possible. We appreciate your patience as we proceed with your request.

If you have any questions, please contact FOIA Public Liaison, Daniel Edgington at 500 12th Street, SW, Washington DC 20536 or (866) 633-1182. Additionally, you have a right to seek dispute resolution services from the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) which mediates disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation. If you are requesting access to your own records (which is considered a Privacy Act request), you should know that OGIS does not have the authority to handle requests made under the Privacy Act of 1974. You may contact OGIS as follows: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001, e-mail at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at 202-741-5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448.

Your request has been assigned reference number 2025-ICFO-25061. Please use this number in future correspondence.

Sincerely,

ICE FOIA Office
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Freedom of Information Act Office
500 12th Street, S.W., Stop 5009
Washington, D.C. 20536-5009

From: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

03/17/2025

Andrew Free
MuckRock News, DEPT MR182984
Boston, Massachusetts 02115

RE: ICE FOIA Case Number 2025-ICFO-25061

Dear Requester:

This acknowledges receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), dated 3/13/2025, your request for a waiver of all assessable FOIA fees, and your request for expedited treatment. Your request was received in this office on 3/13/2025. Specifically, you have requested all records pertaining to A copy of the IHSC Mortality Review for Serawit Gezahegn Dejene, (DOB: 3/29/79; COC: Ethiopia) who died January 29, 2025, following his detention at the Eloy Detention Center (EDC) in Eloy, Arizona, according to the Detainee Death Report ICE published: https://www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/reports/ddr-SerawitGezahegnDejene.pdf..

Due to the increasing number of FOIA requests received by this office, we may encounter some delay in processing your request. Per Section 5.5(a) of the DHS FOIA regulations, 6 C.F.R. Part 5, ICE processes FOIA requests according to their order of receipt. Although ICE’s goal is to respond within 20 business days of receipt of your request, the FOIA does permit a 10-day extension of this time period. As your request seeks numerous documents that will necessitate a thorough and wide-ranging search, ICE will invoke a 10-day extension for your request, as allowed by Title 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(B). If you’re able to narrow the scope of your request please contact our office. Narrowing the scope may speed up the search process. We will make every effort to comply with your request in a timely manner.

Your request for expedited treatment is hereby denied.

Under the DHS FOIA regulations, expedited processing of a FOIA request is warranted if the request involves “circumstances in which the lack of expedited treatment could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual,” 6 C.F.R. § 5.5(e)(1)(i), or “an urgency to inform the public about an actual or alleged federal government activity, if made by a person primarily engaged in disseminating information,” 6 C.F.R. § 5.5(e)(l)(ii). Requesters seeking expedited processing must submit a statement explaining in detail the basis for the request, and that statement must be certified by the requester to be true and correct. 6 C.F.R. § 5.5(e)(3).

Your request for expedited processing is denied because you do not qualify for either category under 6 C.F.R. § 5.5(e)(1). You failed to demonstrate a particular urgency to inform the public about the government activity involved in the request beyond the public’s right to know about government activity generally. Your letter was conclusory in nature and did not present any facts to justify a grant of expedited processing under the applicable standards.

Provisions of the FOIA allow us to recover part of the cost of complying with your request. We shall charge you for records in accordance with the DHS Interim FOIA regulations, as they apply to media requesters. As a media requester, you will be charged 10 cents per page for duplication; the first 100 pages are free. We will construe the submission of your request as an agreement to pay up to $25.00. You will be contacted before any further fees are accrued.

ICE has queried the appropriate program offices within ICE for responsive records. If any responsive records are located, they will be reviewed for determination of releasability. Please be assured that one of the processors in our office will respond to your request as expeditiously as possible. We appreciate your patience as we proceed with your request.

If you have any questions please contact FOIA Public Liaison Daniel Edgington, at (866) 633-1182 or 500 12th St, SW Stop 5009 Washington, DC 20536-5009. Additionally, you have a right to seek dispute resolution services from the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) which mediates disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation. If you are requesting access to your own records (which is considered a Privacy Act request), you should know that OGIS does not have the authority to handle requests made under the Privacy Act of 1974. You may contact OGIS as follows: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001, e-mail at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at 202-741-5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448.

Your request has been assigned reference number 2025-ICFO-25061. Please use this number in future correspondence.

Sincerely,

ICE FOIA Office
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Freedom of Information Act Office
500 12th Street, S.W., Stop 5009
Washington, D.C. 20536-5009

From: Andrew Free

I hereby appeal the denial of expedited processing and fee waiver and seek expedited processing of this appeal.

From: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

04/03/2025

RE: ICE FOIA Case Number 2025-ICFO-25061

Dear Requester:

ICE's final response to your FOIA request, 2025-ICFO-25061, for all records pertaining to A copy of the IHSC Mortality Review for Serawit Gezahegn Dejene, (DOB: 3/29/79; COC: Ethiopia) who died January 29, 2025, following his detention at the Eloy Detention Center (EDC) in Eloy, Arizona, according to the Detainee Death Report ICE published: https://www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/reports/ddr-SerawitGezahegnDejene.pdf. is attached.

Please note that the attachment may be password protected. If you are prompted to enter a password when opening the attachment and you did not receive a password it may be in your junk/spam folder.

Sincerely,

ICE FOIA Office
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Freedom of Information Act Office
500 12th Street, S.W., Stop 5009
Washington, D.C. 20536-5009

From: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

04/03/2025

RE: ICE FOIA Case Number 2025-ICFO-25061

Dear Requester:

ICE's final response to your FOIA request, 2025-ICFO-25061, for all records pertaining to A copy of the IHSC Mortality Review for Serawit Gezahegn Dejene, (DOB: 3/29/79; COC: Ethiopia) who died January 29, 2025, following his detention at the Eloy Detention Center (EDC) in Eloy, Arizona, according to the Detainee Death Report ICE published: https://www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/reports/ddr-SerawitGezahegnDejene.pdf. is attached.

Please note that the attachment may be password protected. If you are prompted to enter a password when opening the attachment and you did not receive a password it may be in your junk/spam folder.

Sincerely,

ICE FOIA Office
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Freedom of Information Act Office
500 12th Street, S.W., Stop 5009
Washington, D.C. 20536-5009

From: Andrew Free

I appeal the agency's blanket b7A assertion on two grounds.

First, there is no "ongoing law enforcement investigation[]" that could result in a criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding, as required to invoke Exemption 7A. Rather, the investigations ICE performs following an in-custody death -- IHSC Mortality Reviews, Root Cause Analyses, Healthcare and Security Compliance Analyses, and Detainee Death Reviews, pertain solely to "oversight of the performance of duties", rather than an investigation into violations of laws. See, e.g., Jefferson v. DOJ, 284 F.3d 172, 178 (D.C. Cir. 2002). They cannot be fairly characterized, based upon ICE's publicly available policies and procedures and the history of its post-death inspections, to anything constituting an "enforcement proceeding." Consequently, they do not meet Exemption 7A's requirements. Miller v. DOJ, 872 F. Supp. 2d 12, 24-25 (D.D.C. 2012) (explaining that focus is on circumstances of compilation and whether records relate to enforcement proceeding (citing Jefferson 284 F.3d at 176-77)); Rural Hous. All. v. USDA, 498 F.2d 73, 82 (D.C. Cir. 1974) (explaining that purpose of investigatory files is critical factor in establishing law enforcement threshold); Pub. Emps. for Env't Resp. v. U.S. Sec'y. Int'l Boundary & Water Comm'n, 839 F. Supp. 2d 304, 324 (D.D.C. 2012) (explaining that in "assessing whether records were compiled for law enforcement purposes, the 'focus is on how and under what circumstances the requested files were compiled, and whether the files sought relate to anything that can fairly be characterized as an enforcement proceeding'" (quoting Jefferson, 284 F.3d at 176-77)), aff'd in pertinent part & rev'd on other grounds, 740 F.3d 195 (D.C. Cir. 2014).

Second, even if the agency were able to show its allegedly ongoing investigations satisfy the threshold for invoking Exemption 7A, the blanket assertion of the exemption to all potentially responsive records is unlawful and improper. A record-by-record analysis is required to determine whether there is any reasonably segregable, releasable portion of the responsive documents that would not interfere with the ongoing investigation. But ICE did not conduct this analysis. According to the Department of Justice and every court to review agencies’ assertions of the power to engage in blanket 7A withholdings simply because of the existence of an investigation, blanket withholding is unlawful. See, e.g., https://www.justice.gov/oip/page/file/1197166/download at page 11: “While generalized showings of harm are accepted, courts have also cautioned that the exemption [7A] does not permit ‘blanket’ withholding.” See, e.g., Cuban, 744 F. Supp. 2d at 85 (D.D.C. 2010) (stressing that exemption does not permit "blanket" withholding for all records relevant to investigation); UtahAmerica Energy v. U.S. Dep't of Labor, 700 F. Supp. 2d 99, 109 (D.D.C. 2010), rev'd in part, vacated in part sub nom. UtahAmerica Energy, Inc. v. Dep't of Labor, 685 F.3d 1118 (D.C. Cir. 2012) (reiterating that "automatic, or wholesale withholdings" are not authorized simply because law enforcement proceeding is ongoing); United Am. Fin. v. Potter, 531 F. Supp. 2d 29, 3840 (D.D.C. 2008) (reiterating that the agency ‘should be mindful of the standards applicable in this Circuit" and that even under categorical approach, agency must review each document because there is "no 'blanket exemption'"); Gould Inc. v. GSA, 688 F. Supp. 689, 703-04 n.34 (D.D.C. 1988) (describing generic categories approach as steering "middle ground" between detail required by Vaughn Index and blanket withholding).

Please grant expedited processing of this appeal, reverse the decision of the FOIA office, and remand to the agency with instructions to release the record in full.

Thank you very much,

Andrew Free

From: Immigration and Customs Enforcement

04/08/2025

Andrew Free
MuckRock News, DEPT MR182984
Boston, Massachusetts 02115

RE: ICE FOIA Case Number 2025-ICAP-00182

Dear Requester:

The Department of Homeland Security has received your letter appealing the adverse determination of your Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act (FOIA/PA) request by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Your appeal, dated 3/18/2025, was received on 4/7/2025.

The Government Information Law Division acknowledges your appeal request of and is assigning it number 2025-ICAP-00182 for tracking purposes. Please reference this number in any future communications about your appeal.

A high number of FOIA/PA requests have been received by the Department. Accordingly, we have adopted the court-sanctioned practice of generally handling backlogged appeals on a first-in, first-out basis. While we will make every effort to process your appeal on a timely basis, there may be some delay in resolving this matter. Should you have any questions concerning the processing of your appeal, please contact Daniel Edgington ICE FOIA Office/Public Liaison at (866) 633-1182 or at 500 12th St., SW Washington, DC 20536-5009.

Sincerely,

Sara Jazayeri
Chief
Government Information Law Division
ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor
U.S. Department of Homeland Security