Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University v. Department of Homeland Security et al

Filing 211

ORDER granting 210 Letter Motion to Stay re: 210 JOINT LETTER MOTION to Stay Processing and Status Update addressed to Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. from AUSA Ellen Blain dated December 19, 2022. SO ORDERED.. (Signed by Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr on 12/20/2022) (kv)

Case 1:17-cv-07572-ALC Document 211 Filed 12/20/22 Page 1 of 2
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Southern District of New York

12/20/2022

86 Chambers Street
New York, New York 10007

December 19, 2022
BY ECF
The Honorable Andrew L. Carter, Jr.
United States District Judge
Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse
40 Foley Square, Room 2203
New York, NY 10007
Re:

Knight First Amendment Institute v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Security et al.,
No. 17 Civ. 7572 (ALC)

Dear Judge Carter:
I write respectfully on behalf of both parties in the above-referenced FOIA action to
provide a status update and to request a stay of the Court’s Order issued at the status conference
held on September 22, 2022. See Dkt. No. 206.
As the Court is aware, various defendant agencies and components agreed to conduct a
search for documents responsive to Item Number 1 in plaintiff’s FOIA Request, and the United
States Department of State, Customs and Border Protection, Department of Justice, Homeland
Security, and Citizenship and Immigration Services have completed searching, processing, and
producing responsive documents, if any. See Dkt. No. 171. As the parties previously detailed,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) and plaintiff agreed on specific search terms; ICE
completed those searches and informed the Knight Institute of the initial results; ICE has been
processing the documents since the summer of 2021; and on September 22, 2022, the Court
ordered ICE to process the documents at a rate of 1,000 pages per month. See Dkt. Nos. 178 &
206. To date, ICE has processed more than 12,000 pages of potentially responsive documents,
and approximately 38,000 pages of potentially responsive documents remain.
The parties have been meeting and conferring to try to narrow the universe of potentially
responsive documents, and on December 16, 2022, the parties reached an agreement: specifically,
ICE will pause processing records and dedicate those resources to conducting a responsiveness
review of the remaining approximately 38,000 pages of potentially responsive pages. ICE will
complete that review, and inform plaintiff of the results, by March 31, 2023. The parties will file
a status update with the Court by April 14, 2023. Accordingly, in order to allow ICE to conduct a
responsiveness review of the remaining documents and potentially reduce the number of pages for
production, the parties jointly and respectfully request that the Court’s Order issued on September
22, 2022, requiring ICE to process 1,000 pages a month, be stayed until April 14, 2023. This is
the first request for a stay.

Case 1:17-cv-07572-ALC Document 211 Filed 12/20/22 Page 2 of 2

I thank the Court for considering this matter.
Respectfully,
DAMIAN WILLIAMS
United States Attorney
By:

/s/ Ellen Blain
ELLEN BLAIN
Assistant United States Attorney
86 Chambers Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10007
Tel: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

cc: Counsel for Plaintiff (by ECF)

12/20/2022

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