casa foia request about 7-eleven raid - fifth supplemental response letter (4/15/09)

8/14/2019 CASA FOIA Request About 7-Eleven Raid - Fifth Supplemental Response Letter (4/15/09)

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April 15, 2009

CASA de Maryland734 University Boulevard ESilver Spring, MD 20903Re: FOIA Request Number 08-4136Dear :

U.S. Department of Homeland Security800 North Capitol Street, NW #585Washington, DC 20536-5009U.S. Immigrationand CustomsEnforcement

This letter is the fifth supplement to our November 21, 2008 response to your Freedom of InformationAct (FOIA) request to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). You have requested copies of thefollowing documents:

1. The investigation, arrest and detention of approximately 24 individuals in the City ofBaltimore,Maryland, in or near the 7-Eleven parking lot on or near the comer ofBroadway and LombardStreet, on or about January 23, 2007;2. Any communication relating to the January 23, 2007 enforcement action in Baltimore, Maryland,before, during or after the action occurred, from or to any office or employee of Immigration andCustoms Enforcement ("ICE");3. Any investigation of the January 23,2007 operation and/or arrests, and/or the agents involved,including, but not limited to, any records in the possession or control of various ICE offices;4. Any and all records mentioning "day laborer", "day laborers", "day-laborer", "day-laborers","day labor", "hiring spot", "migrant worker", "immigrant worker", "alien worker", "7-11", "7-

Eleven", "seven-eleven", and "worker center;"In addition, you are also seeking disclosure of all records created from January 1, 2003 to the presentrelating to the following:

5. The June 2003 Department of Justice ("DOJ") document entitled. "Guidance Regarding the UseofRace by Federal Law Enforcement Agencies" ("DOJ Guidance");

6. The June 2004 Department ofHomeland Security ("DHS") document entitled. "The DepartmentofHomeland Security's Commitment to Race Neutrality in Law Enforcement Activities; and

7. Any and all complaints received by the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility ("OPR") forany activity involving ICE agents that allegedly or actually occurred at least in part in the state ofMaryland; as well as any analysis, interviews, memoranda, recommendations, and any otherdocument created or received by the OPR relating to any investigation ofICE conduct, alleged orreal, that occurred at least in part within the state ofMaryland; as well as any records relating tothe outcome of any such investigation.

Your request was received in this office on September 22, 2008.

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On November 21, 2008, we responded to your request and notified you that a search ofthe ICE Office ofDetention and Removal Operations (ORO), the ICE Office oflnvestigations (01) and the ICE Office ofProfessional Responsibility (OPR) had located 211 pages responsive to your request. Of those pages, 39were released to you in their entirety. Portions of 109 pages were withheld pursuant to FOIAExemptions 2(low), 5,6 and 7(C). Finally, 63 pages were withheld in full pursuant to FOIA Exemptions2(low), 5, 6 and 7(C).On February 2, 2009, we provided a supplement to our first response and notified you that a search of theICE Office ofProfessional Responsibility (OPR) and the ICE Office ofDetention and RemovalOperations (DRO) had located 365 pages and two videos responsive to item 3 ofyour request. Ofthosepages, portions of29 pages were withheld pursuant to FOIA Exemptions 2(low), 5,6 and 7(C). Wenotified you that we were continuing to process the balance of the records and would address thoserecords in a subsequent response to you.On February 25,2009, we notified you that we had completed the review of37 pages. Portions of thosepages were withheld pursuant to FOIA Exemptions 2(1ow), 2(high), 6, 7(C) and 7(E).On March l3, 2009, we notified you that we had completed the review of292 pages. Portions of thosepages were withheld pursuant to FOIA Exemptions 2(low), 2(high), 5,6, 7(C) and 7(E).On April 2, 2009, we notified you that we had completed the review of304 pages and sixteen videos. Ofthose pages, 204 were released in their entirety. Portions of 100 pages were withheld pursuant to FOIAExemptions 5, 6 and 7(C). The videos were released in their entirety.We have completed review of an additional 244 pages. Of those pages, 126 will be released in theirentirety. Portions of 118 pages will be withheld pursuant to FOIA Exemptions 5, 6 and 7(C).The ICE FOIA Office is currently processing the balance of the records located in response to yourrequest. Once those records are processed, we will address them in a subsequent response to you.Portions of 118 pages have been withheld as described below.FOIA Exemption 2(high) protects information applicable to internal administrative and personnel matters,such as operating rules, guidelines, and manual of procedures of examiners or adjudicators, to the extent thatdisclosure would risk circumvention of an agency regulation or statute, impede the effectiveness of anagency's activities, or reveal sensitive information that may put the security and safety of an agency activityor employee at risk. Whether there is any public interest in disclosure is legally irrelevant. Rather, theconcern under high 2 is that a FOIA disclosure should not benefit those attempting to violate the law andavoid detection.FOIA Exemption 5 protects from disclosure those inter- or intra-agency documents that are normallyprivileged in the civil discovery context. The three most frequently invoked privileges are thedeliberative process privilege, the attorney work-product privilege, and the attorney-client privilege.After carefully reviewing the responsive documents, I have determined that portions of the responsivedocuments qualifY for protection under all three privileges. The deliberative process privilege protectsthe integrity of the deliberative or decision-making processes within the agency by exempting frommandatory disclosure opinions, conclusions, and recommendations included within inter-agency or intraagency memoranda or letters. The release of this internal information would discourage the expressionof candid opinions and inhibit the free and frank exchange of information among agency personnel. Theattorney work-product privilege protects documents and other memoranda prepared by an attorney incontemplation of litigation. The attorney-client privilege protects confidential communications betweenan attorney and his client relating to a legal matter for which the client has sought professional advice. It

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applies to facts divulged by a client to his attorney, and encompasses any opinions given by an attorneyto his client based upon, and thus reflecting, those facts, as well as communications between attorneysthat reflect client-supplied information. The attorney-client privilege is not limited to the context oflitigation.FOIA Exemption 6 exempts from disclosure personnel or medical files and similar files the release ofwhich would cause a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. This requires a balancing of thepublic's right to disclosure against the individual's right privacy. The types of documents and/orinformation that we have withheld may consist of social security numbers, home addresses, dates ofbirth, or various other documents and/or information belonging to a third party that are consideredpersonal. The privacy interests of the individuals in the records you have requested outweigh anyminimal public interest in disclosure of the information. Any private interest you may have in thatinformation does not factor into the aforementioned balancing test.FOIA Exemption 7(C) protects records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes thatcould reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. This exemptiontakes particular note of the strong interests of individuals, whether they are suspects, witnesses, orinvestigators, in not being unwarrantably associated with alleged criminal activity. That interest extendsto persons who are not only the subjects of the investigation, but those who may have their privacyinvaded by having their identities and information about them revealed in connection with aninvestigation. Based upon the traditional recognition of strong privacy interest in law enforcementrecords, categorical withholding of information that identifies third parties in law enforcement records isordinarily appropriate. As such, I have determined that the privacy interest in the identities ofindividuals in the records you have requested clearly outweigh any minimal public interest in disclosureof the information. Please note that any private interest you may have in that information does not factorinto this determination.If you need to contact our office about this matter, please refer to case number 08-FOIA-4136. Thisoffice can be reached at (202) 732-0300 or (866) 633-1182.

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casa foia request about 7-eleven raid - fifth supplemental response letter (4/15/09)

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