Gahagan v. USCBP, No. 14-2619, 2015 WL 6159133 (E.D. La. Oct. 20, 2015) (Brown, J.)

Gahagan v. USCBP, No. 14-2619, 2015 WL 6159133 (E.D. La. Oct. 20, 2015) (Brown, J.)

Re: Request for records concerning client

Disposition: Granting in part and denying in part plaintiff's motion for summary judgment

• Litigation Considerations, Vaughn Index/Declaration:  "[T]he Court finds that Defendants have met their burden of showing that the affidavit is based upon personal knowledge and therefore the material is admissible."  The court relates that "[defendant's declarant] attests that she is the Director of the Freedom of Information Act . . . Division, Privacy and Diversity Office, Office of the Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and is the official responsible for overall supervision of the processing of FOIA requests."

• Procedural Requirements, Responsiveness:  "[T]he Court finds that Defendants have not met their burden of establishing that CBP’s decision to withhold Form I–826 on the grounds that it was non-responsive to Plaintiff’s request was valid."  The court relates that "[i]t is undisputed that the I–826 was . . . located as a result of the agency’s query."  The court finds that "[d]efendants have not provided any support for their argument that a document may be withheld because it was not served upon [plaintiff's client]."  Furthermore, "the Court, in its discretion, finds that an updated Vaughn index addressing what exemption, if any, CBP believes the . . . information [CBP redacted from Form I-826 after it provided a copy of Form I-826 to plaintiff] falls under will better enable the Court to resolve the issue before it."  "Accordingly, the Court will also order CBP to produce an updated Vaughn index."