Chief FOIA officer's recent email (Department of Homeland Security)
| Tracking # |
2025-FLETC-FO-00048 2025-IAFO-00058 2025-HQFO-00639 |
| Multi Request | Chief FOIA officer's recent email |
| Submitted | Oct. 20, 2024 |
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Communications
From: Sai
Dear Department of Homeland Security,
On behalf of myself and Fiat Fiendum, I hereby request the following records:
1. The one email in your chief FOIA officer's email inbox or equivalent which was received nearest and before October 19, 2024, midnight Eastern time, regardless of subject matter.
2. The one email in your chief FOIA officer's email spam folder or equivalent which was received nearest and before October 19, 2024, midnight Eastern time, regardless of subject matter.
3. The one email in your chief FOIA officer's sent email folder or equivalent which was sent nearest and before October 19, 2024, midnight Eastern time, regardless of subject matter.
4. The total full-time equivalent count of people who work for your FOIA office as of October 19, 2024.
This request is expressly limited to Department of Homeland Security's own FOIA office. Please do not refer it to any other agency or division. This request is expressly not a Privacy Act request, and no PA waiver will be provided.
Please provide the email records in EML, Maildir, MBOX, MIX, MSG, or PST format only — not PDF, Word, image, etc — including all metadata (e.g. full email headers as received/sent) and attachments, without alteration other than narrowly tailored electronic redaction of specifically claimed exemptions that do not affect any part of non exempt information (and, in particular, without rasterization).
Please provide the fourth record as a statement in your response letter, or at your option, as the most readily available record, in original electronic format as currently stored on your computer systems, which includes that information.
Please provide all records either as individual files, or as an unencrypted ZIP file, uploaded to MuckRock. Do not apply any encryption, DRM, or other restriction.
I request fee waiver, because
* Fiat Fiendum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit;
* this request is for public interest, non-commercial purposes;
* these records would give a snapshot of insight into the everyday processes of FOIA offices; and
* these records are being requested in order to conduct a government-wide audit of agencies' FOIA compliance.
In the event that you deny fee waiver, please process this request as-is, because I will not agree to any fees.
Please be sure to provide:
* 5 USC 552(a)(6)(A)(i)(II) FOIA Public Liaison information
* 5 USC 552(a)(6)(A)(i)(III)(aa) appeal information
* 5 USC 552(a)(6)(A)(i)(III)(bb) OGIS information
* 5 USC 552(a)(7)(A) tracking number
* 5 USC 552(a)(7)(B)(ii) completion ETA
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,
Sai
President, Fiat Fiendum, Inc.
P.S. Sai is my full legal name.
From: Department of Homeland Security
10/23/2024
SENT VIA E-MAIL TO: requests@muckrock.com
P.S. Sai
MuckRock News, DEPT MR174937
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Re: 2025-HQFO-00639
Dear Requester:
This letter acknowledges receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), dated 10/22/2024, and to your request for a waiver of all assessable FOIA fees. Our office received your request on 10/22/2024. Specifically, you requested
1. The one email in your chief FOIA officer's email inbox or equivalent which was received nearest and before October 19, 2024, midnight Eastern time, regardless of subject matter.
2. The one email in your chief FOIA officer's email spam folder or equivalent which was received nearest and before October 19, 2024, midnight Eastern time, regardless of subject matter.
3. The one email in your chief FOIA officer's sent email folder or equivalent which was sent nearest and before October 19, 2024, midnight Eastern time, regardless of subject matter.
4. The total full-time equivalent count of people who work for your FOIA office as of October 19, 2024..
Due to the increasing number of FOIA requests received by this office, we may encounter some delay in processing your request. Consistent with 6 C.F.R. Part 5 § 5.5(a) of the DHS FOIA regulations, the Department processes FOIA requests according to their order of receipt. Although DHS’ goal is to respond within 20 business days of receipt of your request, FOIA does permit a 10-day extension of this time period in certain circumstances under 6 C.F.R. Part 5 § 5.5(c).
You have requested a fee waiver. The DHS FOIA regulations at 6 C.F.R. Part 5 § 5.11(k) set forth six factors DHS must evaluate to determine whether the applicable legal standard for a fee waiver has been met: (1) Whether the subject of the requested records concerns “the operations or activities of the government,” (2) Whether the disclosure is “likely to contribute” to an understanding of government operations or activities, (3) Whether disclosure of the requested information will contribute to the understanding of the public at large, as opposed to the individual understanding of the requester or a narrow segment of interested persons, (4) Whether the contribution to public understanding of government operations or activities will be “significant,” (5) Whether the requester has a commercial interest that would be furthered by the requested disclosure, and (6) Whether the magnitude of any identified commercial interest to the requester is sufficiently large in comparison with the public interest in disclosure, that disclosure is primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.
Upon review of the subject matter of your request, and an evaluation of the six factors identified above, DHS has determined that it will conditionally grant your request for a fee waiver. The fee waiver determination will be based upon a sampling of the responsive documents received from the various DHS program offices as a result of the searches conducted in response to your FOIA request. DHS will, pursuant to DHS FOIA regulations applicable to non-commercial requesters, provide two hours of search time and process the first 100 pages at no charge to you. If upon review of these documents, DHS determines that the disclosure of the information contained in those documents does not meet the factors permitting DHS to waive the fees, then DHS will at that time either deny your request for a fee waiver entirely, or will allow for a percentage reduction in the amount of the fees corresponding to the amount of relevant material found that meets the factors allowing for a fee waiver. In either case, DHS will promptly notify you of its final decision regarding your request for a fee waiver and provide you with the responsive records as required by applicable law.
In the event that your fee waiver is denied, and you determine that you still want the records, 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 FOIA regulations as they apply to non-commercial requesters. As a non-commercial requester you will be charged for any search time and duplication beyond the free two hours and 100 pages mentioned in the previous paragraph. You will be charged 10 cents per page for duplication and search time at the per quarter-hour rate ($4.00 for clerical personnel, $7.00 for professional personnel, $10.25 for managerial personnel) of the searcher. In the event that your fee waiver is denied, we will construe the submission of your request as an agreement to pay up to $25.00. This office will contact you before accruing any additional fees.
We have queried the appropriate component(s) of DHS for responsive records. If any responsive records are located, they will be reviewed for determination of releasability. Please be assured that one of the analysts in our office will respond to your request as expeditiously as possible. We appreciate your patience as we proceed with your request.
Your request has been assigned reference number 2025-HQFO-00639. Please refer to this identifier in any future correspondence. If you have any questions, or would like to discuss this matter, please feel free to contact this office at 1-866-431-0486 or 202-343-1743.
From: Sai
Dear DHS,
Thank you for your email and for your conditional grant of fee waiver.
My name is just Sai. "P.S." means "post scriptum". Please update your records accordingly.
Sincerely,
Sai
From: Department of Homeland Security
Hi Mr. Sai:
The purpose of this email is to obtain clarification on the above-referenced FOIA request which was received in our office on October 22, 2024. Your request sought the following:
1. The one email in your chief FOIA officer's email inbox or equivalent which was received nearest and before October 19, 2024, midnight Eastern time, regardless of subject matter.
2. The one email in your chief FOIA officer's email spam folder or equivalent which was received nearest and before October 19, 2024, midnight Eastern time, regardless of subject matter.
3. The one email in your chief FOIA officer's sent email folder or equivalent which was sent nearest and before October 19, 2024, midnight Eastern time, regardless of subject matter.
4. The total full-time equivalent count of people who work for your FOIA office as of October 19, 2024.
In your original request you stated the following:
“This request is expressly limited to Department of Homeland Security's own FOIA office. Please do not refer it to any other agency or division.”
We understand this statement to mean that the records responsive to this request are confined to the DHS Office of Privacy, where the Chief FOIA Officer for DHS is located. Additionally, there is only one designated individual in this position at DHS. Please confirm that this interpretation is correct by November 26, 2024.
If confirmed, we will proceed with processing the response to this request. This also means that similar requests sent to other DHS components will be administratively closed, as our office would be the only one with records responsive to this request.
If we do not receive a response by this date, we will proceed as stated above.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
Greg Bridges
Director, Disclosure
DHS Privacy Office
From: Sai
Dear DHS,
Thank you for your email.
My title is not "Mr.". Please use no title for me at all if you are able to do so, or "Mx" if your system forces you to enter a title. Please update your records accordingly.
You wrote:
> We understand this statement to mean that the records responsive to this request are confined to the DHS Office of Privacy, where the Chief FOIA Officer for DHS is located. Additionally, there is only one designated individual in this position at DHS. Please confirm that this interpretation is correct by November 26, 2024.
In this specific request, 2025-HQFO-00639, the first three (email) records are confined to the primary email address used by the DHS Chief FOIA Officer. It is not confined by 'office', as that's not how email works. It's also not based on the "FOIA box" or similar; it's based on the identified officer's email.
The fourth record (FTE FOIA employees) in this request is confined to the DHS Office of Privacy.
> This also means that similar requests sent to other DHS components will be administratively closed, as our office would be the only one with records responsive to this request.
I do not agree or consent to this.
FOIA applies to each individual "agency", "whether or not it is within or subject to review by another agency", not only to Departments. 5 USC 552(f)(1), 551(1). See e.g. Energy Research v. Defense Nuclear Facilities, 917 F. 2d 581, 582 (D.C. Cir. 1990)
and Sussman v. US Marshals Service, 808 F. Supp. 2d 192, 199 (D.C. Cir. 2011).
Similar requests sent to DHS component agencies refer to that agency's own chief FOIA officer (or equivalent, whatever their formal designation), not to DHS'. The "expressly limited" clause is explicit on this, and was written to specifically preclude your proposed interpretation that would have requests which were made specifically to DHS component agencies be ignored. In any case, even if it were ambiguous, I have now clarified my intent, which is binding.
Sincerely,
Sai
From: Department of Homeland Security
"My Apologies Sai:
Regarding our previous email, could you please confirm our interpretation of your request? We want to make sure we're searching the correct mailbox within the Department for responsive records. Also, by November 26, 2024, could you confirm that the emails with the latest timestamp in the Chief FOIA Officer's inbox, spam, and sent folder would be the emails that are responsive to this request?
Greg Bridges
Director, Disclosure
DHS Privacy Office"
From: Department of Homeland Security
"Hi Sai:
I'm just following up on this request. We are currently processing our response to your request based on the clarification you provided in a previous email.
However, I wanted to just confirm that you only are interested in the Chief FOIA Officer's communication. The reason I wanted to confirm this is because no other DHS FOIA office would have records for this request because there is only one Chief FOIA officer for the entire department. My office is currently working on that response. Please confirm.
Thanks
Greg Bridges"
From: Department of Homeland Security
Greetings Requester Sai:
Please find attached acknowledgement of 2025-IAFO-00058. Thanks.
DHS I&A FOIA
-
1356134-20241114115800076
From: Department of Homeland Security
11/19/2024
P.S. SAI
MuckRock News
263 Huntington Ave
MuckRock News, DEPT MR174937
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Email: requests@muckrock.com
Dear P.S.SAI:
This acknowledges receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC).
Your request has been assigned reference number 2025-FLETC-FO-00048. Please refer to this identifier in any future correspondence.
Thank you,
FLETC FOIA
From: Department of Homeland Security
11/27/2024
Request Number: 2025-FLETC-FO-00048
Dear P.S. SAI,
Please use the following link to navigate to your documents. This link will be available for 365 days.
Please see attached Final Response to your FOIA request.
To retrieve the records associated with this request use this link Released Documents for Request 2025-FLETC-FO-00048 or enter https://www.securerelease.us/request-details/48D4D8F3-62B7-4BEC-B762-D8ED05DD8CF9/2 in your browser’s address bar.
Please login or create a new user account using the email address associated with your records request: requests@muckrock.com
Thank you,
FLETC FOIA
-
1191658-20241127072110376
From: Muckrock Staff
Hello,
I was unable to access the attachment provided in your response. Could you please resend the attachment(s) at your earliest convenience.
Thank you for your continued help with this request.
From: Department of Homeland Security
12/02/2024
Request Number: 2025-FLETC-FO-00048
Dear P.S. SAI,
Please use the following link to navigate to your documents. This link will be available for 365 days.
Please see attached the Final Response to your FOIA Request.
To retrieve the records associated with this request use this link Released Documents for Request 2025-FLETC-FO-00048 or enter https://www.securerelease.us/request-details/48D4D8F3-62B7-4BEC-B762-D8ED05DD8CF9/2 in your browser’s address bar.
Please login or create a new user account using the email address associated with your records request: requests@muckrock.com
Thank you,
FLETC FOIA
-
1191795-20241202111633255
