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Garcia v. USCIS, No. 15-744, 2016 WL 845300 (D.D.C. Mar. 2, 2016) (Boasberg, J.)

Date

Garcia v. USCIS, No. 15-744, 2016 WL 845300 (D.D.C. Mar. 2, 2016) (Boasberg, J.)

Re: Request for plaintiff's alien file

Disposition: Granting defendant's motion for summary judgment

  • Procedural Requirements, Adequacy of Search:  "The Court . . . concludes that USCIS has conducted an adequate search."  The court relates that defendant "'conducted a computerized database search in the National File Tracking System . . . database [the database that records and tracks the location of A-files] using the information that was provided in the Plaintiff’s FOIA request and located an A-File bearing the Plaintiff’s name and A-number.'"  The court finds that "[b]ecause all documents related to an alien's immigration transactions 'should, as a matter of course, be consolidated in the A-File,' there is no reason to doubt that any extant files related to Plaintiff’s 1981 I-485A application were included in his A-File, and Plaintiff has provided no evidence to suggest otherwise."  Discussing plaintiff's arguments concerning missing files more specifically, the court finds that "'the relevant issue 'is not whether there might exist any other documents possibly responsive to the request, but rather whether the search for those documents was adequate.''"  Additionally, responding to a similar argument from plaintiff, the court finds that "OGIS's statement [following an inquiry with defendant] . . . has no bearing on whether USCIS fulfilled its legal obligations under FOIA."  The court relates that "[p]laintiff explains that 'OGIS’s statement that the Form I-485A was not found in the A-file' is not true because 'the Form I-485A was contained in the A-file' that USCIS initially provided him."  "This error must manifest an inadequate search, [plaintiff] posits."  The court notes that "[d]efendants' explanation for this disparity is that OGIS misspoke."  The court finds that "[w]hether this reasonable explanation is true or not, OGIS has no independent access to the underlying records in question; 'OGIS has no investigatory or enforcement power, nor can [it] compel an agency to release documents.'"  "'OGIS serves as the Federal FOIA Ombudsman and [its] jurisdiction is limited to assisting with the FOIA process.'"  "Whatever records OGIS reviewed, then, are the same records USCIS reviewed—and the same ones USCIS either provided to Plaintiff or withheld under a FOIA exemption."
     
  • Litigation Considerations, In Camera Inspection:  The court finds that it "need not resolve this dispute because a larger problem emerges: Plaintiff has never claimed that documents specified in the Vaughn Index were improperly withheld under particular FOIA exemptions."  "Instead, Count I of his Complaint is titled 'The USCIS Failed to Perform an Adequate Search for Responsive Documents.'"  The court holds that "such review is only appropriate where a litigant properly challenges specific exemptions used to justify withholdings, something Plaintiff has not done here."
Court Decision Topic(s)
District Court opinions
Litigation Considerations, Adequacy of Search
Litigation Considerations, In Camera Inspection
Updated January 24, 2022