Executive Order 14188 ("Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism") 60-Day Report (DHS)
It is a clone of this request.
| Tracking # |
2025-HQFO-03348 |
| Submitted | March 31, 2025 |
| Due | April 28, 2025 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Adam Steinbaugh
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
A copy of the report required by Executive Order 14188 at §3(a). Executive Order 14188 is available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/additional-measures-to-combat-anti-semitism. Executive Order 14188 requires a report by each agency concerning "authorities or actions" that "might be used to curb or combat anti-Semitism."
REQUEST FOR EXPEDITED PROCESSING:
I request that this request be expedited under 6 CFR § 5.5(e)(1)(ii) and (iv) for the following reasons:
1. I certify the following to be true and correct: My organization is primarily engaged in disseminating information. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) maintains a news website at https://thefire.org/news, through which its staff members regularly publish news stories and editorial content concerning the activities of governments, government officials, and other persons or organizations of public concern. I am a staff member of FIRE. I frequently write about matters involving the First Amendment and free expression, including on FIRE's website. See, e.g., https://www.thefire.org/news-archive?author=303. A substantial component of my duties as a staff member of FIRE is to obtain information through public records requests, including through the Freedom of Information Act, which I or my colleagues then share through FIRE's website and social media channels. I also publish news and other information of public concern via "X" (https://x.com/adamsteinbaugh) and "Bluesky" (https://bsky.app/profile/adamsteinbaugh.bsky.social).
2. The requested information concerns an actual or alleged government activity, namely the Department's response to an Executive Order concerning activity or expression that may be protected by the First Amendment.
3. The requested information extends beyond the public's right to know about government activity generally and instead has a particular value that would be lost if not processed on an expedited basis. The information pertains to a news story of public interest. That issue has attracted a wide range of news media coverage, including the numerous articles identified below, which are helpful in establishing that there is an urgency to inform the public on this topic.
In addition to the significant range of news coverage relating to the Trump administration's response to anti-semitism, particularly as it relates to higher education, examples of recent articles demonstrating the public's ongoing and current interest in this information include these articles:
https://www.algemeiner.com/2025/01/30/this-failure-ends-today-trump-issues-major-executive-order-campus-antisemitism/
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/mr-trump-investigate-my-campus-hamas-rape-denial-hostile-environment-for-jews-and-women-politics-77dec881
https://www.commentary.org/seth-mandel/trumps-new-executive-order-on-anti-semitism/
https://reason.com/volokh/2025/02/03/may-aliens-be-deported-based-on-their-speech/
https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/alan-dershowitz-donald-trump-antisemitism/2025/01/29/id/1197083/
https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/mike-huckabee-donald-trump-antisemitism/2025/01/29/id/1197085/
https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/01/trump-signs-executive-orders-dealing-with-antisemitism-critical-race-theory-in-education/
https://www.campusreform.org/article/roundup-trump-issues-executive-orders-deport-hamas-lovers-protect-school-choice-fight-back-dei-/27390
https://www.dailyuw.com/news/trump-executive-order-directs-universities-to-monitor-for-and-report-activities-of-foreign-students/article_958cc45e-e0cf-11ef-8072-0731e3bb9e5e.html
https://www.purdueexponent.org/opinion/editorials/palestine-editorial-exponent-protest/article_fa7a8626-e025-11ef-bf4b-d7af2a263c11.html
https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/01/30/trump-issues-executive-order-to-combat-campus-anti-semitism-report-activities-by-alien-students
https://dailynorthwestern.com/2025/02/10/opinion/bernstein-as-a-jewish-student-the-executive-order-on-antisemitism-doesnt-speak-for-me
REQUEST FOR A FEE WAIVER OR REDUCED FEES:
I request, under 6 CFR § 5.11(k), a waiver or reduction of fees for the following reasons:
1. Disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because its disclosure would shed light on the operations or activities of the government. The requested information pertains specifically to controversial conduct by United States officials in response to campus protests.
2. Disclosure of the requested information would be likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of those operations or activities. Disclosure of the requested information would meaningfully inform the public about the Department's activities and operations.
3. Disclosure of the requested information will contribute to the understanding of a reasonably broad audience of persons interested in the subject, as opposed to the individual understanding of the requester. The requestor is a licensed attorney who practices First Amendment law. As such, the requestor will be able to effectively convey information to the public. Further, the requestor is a representative of the news media. The requestor and his employer, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, gather information of potential interest to a segment of the public, turns that information into distinct works (including through its news website, located at https://thefire.org/news), and distributes that information to the public. The information requested here relates to information that is about current events or that would be of current interest to the public. The requestor's past publication record (in addition to FIRE's articles available at https://thefire.org/news) is available at https://www.thefire.org/news-archive?author=303.
4. The requested information is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. The requestor works for a nonprofit organization and the records are not sought for a commercial purpose.
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,
Adam Steinbaugh
From: Department of Homeland Security
"04/02/2025
SENT VIA E-MAIL TO: requests@muckrock.com
Adam Steinbaugh
n/a
MuckRock News, DEPT MR184204
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Re: 2025-HQFO-03348
Dear Requester:
This letter acknowledges receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), dated 4/2/2025, and to your request for a waiver of all assessable FOIA fees. Our office received your request on 4/2/2025. Specifically, you requested a copy of the report required by Executive Order 14188 at §3(a).
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). As your request seeks documents that will require a thorough and wide-ranging search, DHS will invoke a 10-day extension for your request pursuant to 6 C.F.R. Part 5 § 5.5(c). If you would like to narrow the scope of your request, please contact our office. We will make every effort to comply with your request in a timely manner.
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-03348. 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."