Am. Civil Liberties Union Immigrants' Rights Project v. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER Plaintiff American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants’ Rights Project (“ACLU”) brought this action under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) against Defendant United States Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (“ICE”) seeking disclosure of certain agency records regarding immigration apprehensions, detentions, removals, risk classification assessments, and bond management information. The parties have cross-moved for summary judgment. For the reasons that follow, the Court DENIES Plaintiff’s motion and GRANTS the Defendant’s motion by dismissing Plaintiff’s claims for relief. I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND¹ A. The ACLU’s FOIA Request On October 3, 2018, the ACLU submitted a FOIA request to ICE, seeking five categories of “spreadsheet data along with any explanatory notes needed to make the data intelligible” on: (1) removals or deportations, (2) detentions, (3) apprehensions, (4) ICE risk classification assessments, and (5) “data tracking transactions related to immigration bonds.” (Decl. of David Hausman in Supp. of Pl.’s. Mot. for Summ. J., (“Hausman Decl.”), ECF No. 35, 3, Ex. A.) The request specified that the ACLU wanted each row of data in the spreadsheet to correspond to an “individual or case.” (Id. at Ex. A.) Importantly, the ACLU also requested “[i]n every case, alien numbers (“A-numbers”) should be replaced with unique identifiers, and unique identifiers should also be provided for each unit of observation,” thus allowing for single individuals to be tracked within and between the categories of data. (Id. at

4, 6.) An alien number (“A-number”) is a unique sequence of numbers assigned to noncitizens immigrating to the United States and functions as a personal identifier. (Decl. of Donna Vassilio-Diaz in Supp. of Def.’s Mot. for Summ. J., (“Vassilio-Diaz Decl.”), ECF No. 32, 20.) A-numbers are personally identifying information, which are protected from disclosure by the FOIA.² (Id.) A-numbers are “[t]he only piece of information stored” in ICE’s database that connect a category of data to a specific individual. (Id. at