Family Separation Requests (United States Customs and Border Protection)

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

CBP-2021-035836

CBP-AP-2021-095670

CBP-2021-035836

Multi Request Family Separation Requests
Due March 22, 2021
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:

On behalf of my client, Al Otro Lado, I request:

All Significant Event Notifications or Significant Incident Reports created on or after January 20, 2017, regarding separation of children identified or suspected to be United States citizens or nationals from their parents who are identified or suspected to be non-citizens by officers or agents of the Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, in all sectors along the U.S.-Mexico border.

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: United States Customs and Border Protection

This message is to confirm your request submission to the FOIAonline application: View Request. Request information is as follows: (https://www.foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/action/public/submissionDetails?trackingNumber=CBP-2021-035836&type=request)

* Tracking Number: CBP-2021-035836
* Requester Name: Andrew Free
* Date Submitted: 02/22/2021
* Request Status: Submitted
* Description:
To Whom It May Concern:

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

On behalf of my client, Al Otro Lado, I request:

All Significant Event Notifications or Significant Incident Reports created on or after January 20, 2017, regarding separation of children identified or suspected to be United States citizens or nationals from their parents who are identified or suspected to be non-citizens by officers or agents of the Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, in all sectors along the U.S.-Mexico border.

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

Upload documents directly: https://https://www.muckrock.comhttps://www.muckrock.com/

From: United States Customs and Border Protection

CBP-2021-035836 has been processed with the following final disposition: Improper FOIA Request for Other Reasons.

From: Andrew Free

I hereby appeal this baseless denial.

From: United States Customs and Border Protection

The FOIA
appeal
- CBP-AP-2021-095670 has been supplemented with additional supporting files. Additional details for this item are as follows:

* Tracking Number: CBP-AP-2021-095670
* Requester: Andrew Free
* Submitted Date: 08/17/2021
* Description:
appeal baseless denial

From: United States Customs and Border Protection

Andrew Free:
We are remanding CBP-2021-035836 to the FOIA Division for processing. Questions regarding the status of your FOIA request should be directed to the FOIA Public Liaison on 202-325-0150 or by email at cbpfoiapublicliaison@cbp.dhs.gov.  When communicating refer to tracking number CBP-2021-035836. (mailto:cbpfoiapublicliaison@cbp.dhs.gov)
You may immediately challenge FOIA Division’s failure to respond to your request in District Court. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(4)(B), you may do so in the U.S. District Court in the district in which you reside or have a principal place of business, or in which the agency records are situated, or in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Alternatively, the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) offers mediation services to resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation. Using OGIS services does not affect your right to pursue 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 in any of the following ways: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, Room 2510, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001. E-mail: ogis@nara.gov,  Telephone: 202-741-5770, Facsimile: 202-741-5769, Toll-free: 1-877-684-6448. (mailto:ogis@nara.gov)
Sincerely,
Lynette Carter, FOIA Appeals

From: United States Customs and Border Protection

Andrew Free:
We are remanding CBP-2021-035836 to the FOIA Division for processing. Questions regarding the status of your FOIA request should be directed to the FOIA Public Liaison on 202-325-0150 or by email at cbpfoiapublicliaison@cbp.dhs.gov.  When communicating refer to tracking number CBP-2021-035836. (mailto:cbpfoiapublicliaison@cbp.dhs.gov)
You may immediately challenge FOIA Division’s failure to respond to your request in District Court. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(4)(B), you may do so in the U.S. District Court in the district in which you reside or have a principal place of business, or in which the agency records are situated, or in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Alternatively, the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) offers mediation services to resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation. Using OGIS services does not affect your right to pursue 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 in any of the following ways: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, Room 2510, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001. E-mail: ogis@nara.gov,  Telephone: 202-741-5770, Facsimile: 202-741-5769, Toll-free: 1-877-684-6448. (mailto:ogis@nara.gov)
Sincerely,
Lynette Carter, FOIA Appeals

From: United States Customs and Border Protection

Andrew Free
MuckRock News DEPT MR 108681
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA, 02144
08/24/2021
CBP-2021-035836
Dear Andrew Free:
This notice acknowledges receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) received on 02/22/2021.     Please use the following unique FOIA tracking number CBP-2021-035836 to track the status of your request.  If you have not already done so, you must create a FOIAonline account at https://foiaonline.gov.  This is the only method available to check the status of your pending FOIA request. (https://foiaonline.regulations.gov/)
Provisions of the Act 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 outlined on the DHS website, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/11/22/2016-28095/freedom-of-information-act-regulations. By submitting your request, you have agreed to pay up to $25.00 in applicable processing fees, if any fees associated with your request exceed this amount, CBP shall contact you; however, the first 100 pages are free. (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/11/22/2016-28095/freedom-of-information-act-regulations)
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, CBP processes FOIA requests according to their order of receipt.  Although CBP’s 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 pursuant to 6 C.F.R. Part 5 § 5.5(c).  [As your request seeks documents that will require a thorough and wide-ranging search, CBP 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.] OR [As your request seeks a voluminous amount of separate and distinct records, CBP 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.] OR [As the subject matter of your request is of substantial interest to two or more components of CBP or of substantial interest to another agency, we will need to consult with those entities before we issue a final response.  Due to these unusual circumstances, CBP 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.]
CBP’s FOIA Division is working hard to reduce the amount of time necessary to respond to FOIA requests.  We truly appreciate your continued patience.
For additional information please consult CBP FOIA website please click on FOIA Act Resources or visit (http://www.cbp.gov/site-policy-notices/foia) http://www.cbp.gov/site-policy-notices/foia. (http://www.cbp.gov/site-policy-notices/foia)
Sincerely,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection