UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

EASTERN DIVISION

DEFENDANT’S RESPONSE TO PLAINTIFF’S DOCUMENT REQUESTS

Defendant United States Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs 

Enforcement, by its attorney John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District 

of Illinois, answers Plaintiff’s document requests as follows:

General Objections

1. All responses and objections are based only upon such information and documents 

that are presently available and in the defendant’s possession. All responses and objections are 

provided without prejudice to presenting further information, documents, evidence, or analyses 

not yet identified, obtained, or completed.

2. Defendant objects to these discovery requests to the extent they seek materials 

protected by any privilege, doctrine, or immunity, including the attorney-client privilege, the work 

product privilege, and any other applicable privilege recognized by common law, statutes, or rules 

of evidence. To the extent that the defendant inadvertently produces any privileged materials, such 

inadvertent disclosures shall not constitute a waiver of protection. Defendant reserves the right to 

object to the use of any privileged materials in this or any other litigation. 

JACQUELINE STEVENS,

Plaintiff,

v.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY, IMMIGRATION AND 

CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT,

Defendant.

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No. 20 C 2725

Judge Rowland
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3. Defendant objects to these discovery requests to the extent that they attempt to 

impose obligations in addition to those set forth in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Local 

Rules of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, or any other 

applicable procedural rule.

The foregoing General Objections are incorporated by reference in each of the specific 

responses below as if fully set forth therein.

Answers and Specific Objections

1. Please produce all documents in support of your answers and responses to 

Plaintiff’s First Set of Interrogatories to Defendant, ICE. 

ANSWER: Defendant objects to this request on the grounds that it is vague, ambiguous, 

overly broad, and unduly burdensome, and that it seeks information that is not relevant to either 

party’s claim or defense and is not proportional to the needs of the case. Wheeler v. CIA, 271 

F.Supp.2d 132, 139 (D.D.C. 2003) (“Discovery is generally unavailable in FOIA actions.”).

2. Please produce all policies, procedures, manuals, directives, memoranda, or other 

documents in effect from 1 January 2016 to the present that identify, refer, or relate to ICE’s 

discharge of its mandatory statutory duty under 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(3) to conduct a reasonable 

search for records responsive to FOIA requests it receives and to make a determination on each 

request within the time period set forth in 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6). 

ANSWER: Defendant objects to this request on the grounds that it is vague, ambiguous, 

overly broad, and unduly burdensome, and that it seeks information that is not relevant to either 

party’s claim or defense and is not proportional to the needs of the case. Wheeler v. CIA, 271

F.Supp.2d 132, 139 (D.D.C. 2003) (“Discovery is generally unavailable in FOIA actions.”).

3. Please produce all policies, procedures, manuals, directives, memoranda, or other 

documents in effect from 1 January 2016 to the present that identify, refer, or relate to ICE’s 

discharge of its mandatory statutory duty to make a determination on each request within the time 

period set forth in 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6).
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ANSWER: Defendant objects to this request on the grounds that it is vague, ambiguous, 

overly broad, and unduly burdensome, and that it seeks information that is not relevant to either 

party’s claim or defense and is not proportional to the needs of the case. Wheeler v. CIA, 271 

F.Supp.2d 132, 139 (D.D.C. 2003) (“Discovery is generally unavailable in FOIA actions.”).

4. Please produce all policies, procedures, manuals, directives, memoranda, or other 

documents in effect from 1 January 2016 to the present that identify, refer, or relate to ICE efforts 

to reduce the backlog of pending FOIA cases before the agency. 

ANSWER: Defendant objects to this request on the grounds that it is vague, ambiguous, 

overly broad, and unduly burdensome, and that it seeks information that is not relevant to either 

party’s claim or defense and is not proportional to the needs of the case. Wheeler v. CIA, 271 

F.Supp.2d 132, 139 (D.D.C. 2003) (“Discovery is generally unavailable in FOIA actions.”).

5. Please produce all policies, procedures, manuals, directives, memoranda, or other 

documents in effect from 1 January 2016 to the present that identify, refer, relate, or explain ICE 

policies and practice to determine that exceptional circumstances justify ICE’s delay in processing 

FOIA requests beyond the statutory period stated in the Act. 

ANSWER: Defendant objects to this request on the grounds that it is vague, ambiguous, 

overly broad, and unduly burdensome, and that it seeks information that is not relevant to either 

party’s claim or defense and is not proportional to the needs of the case. Wheeler v. CIA, 271 

F.Supp.2d 132, 139 (D.D.C. 2003) (“Discovery is generally unavailable in FOIA actions.”).

6. Please produce all policies, procedures, manuals, directives, memoranda, or other 

documents in effect from 1 January 2016 to the present that identify, refer, relate, or explain ICE 

policies and practice in responding and processing remanded appeals.

ANSWER: Defendant objects to this request on the grounds that it is vague, ambiguous, 

overly broad, and unduly burdensome, and that it seeks information that is not relevant to either 

party’s claim or defense and is not proportional to the needs of the case. Wheeler v. CIA, 271 

F.Supp.2d 132, 139 (D.D.C. 2003) (“Discovery is generally unavailable in FOIA actions.”).

7. Please produce all policies, procedures, manuals, directives, memoranda, or other 
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documents in effect from 1 January 2016 to the present that identify, refer, relate, or explain ICE 

policies and practice in producing responsive records where an appeal has been remanded to the 

agency for further responses. 

ANSWER: Defendant objects to this request on the grounds that it is vague, ambiguous, 

overly broad, and unduly burdensome, and that it seeks information that is not relevant to either 

party’s claim or defense and is not proportional to the needs of the case. Wheeler v. CIA, 271 

F.Supp.2d 132, 139 (D.D.C. 2003) (“Discovery is generally unavailable in FOIA actions.”).

8. Please produce all policies, procedures, manuals, directives, memoranda, or other 

documents in effect from 1 January 2016 to the present that identify, refer, relate, or explain ICE 

policies and practice to determine whether a FOIA request made to the agency is not stated with 

sufficient particularity, requires further clarification[], or is “overly broad” or “too broad”, etc. 

ANSWER: Defendant objects to this request on the grounds that it is vague, ambiguous, 

overly broad, and unduly burdensome, and that it seeks information that is not relevant to either 

party’s claim or defense and is not proportional to the needs of the case. Wheeler v. CIA, 271 

F.Supp.2d 132, 139 (D.D.C. 2003) (“Discovery is generally unavailable in FOIA actions.”).

9. Please produce all documents reflecting FOIA operational costs for fiscal years 

2016 - 2021, including but not limited to its decreased budget for portion including FOIA 

operations in FY 2020 Bu[d]get Justification, at O & S-57 (reducing by $5,593,000 “Other Costs,” 

the section that includes “FOIA Express.”

ANSWER: Defendant objects to this request on the grounds that it is vague, ambiguous, 

overly broad, and unduly burdensome, and that it seeks information that is not relevant to either 

party’s claim or defense and is not proportional to the needs of the case. Wheeler v. CIA, 271 

F.Supp.2d 132, 139 (D.D.C. 2003) (“Discovery is generally unavailable in FOIA actions.”).

10. Please produce all policies, procedures, manuals, directives, memoranda, or other 

documents in effect from 1 January 2016 to the present that identify, refer, relate, or explain ICE 

performance standards for FOIA operations. 

ANSWER: Defendant objects to this request on the grounds that it is vague, ambiguous, 

overly broad, and unduly burdensome, and that it seeks information that is not relevant to either 
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party’s claim or defense and is not proportional to the needs of the case. Wheeler v. CIA, 271 

F.Supp.2d 132, 139 (D.D.C. 2003) (“Discovery is generally unavailable in FOIA actions.”).

11. Please produce all staffing chart of personnel responsible for processing FOIA 

requests, including but not limited to contract employees for the period from 1 January 2016 to 

present. 

ANSWER: Defendant objects to this request on the grounds that it is vague, ambiguous, 

overly broad, and unduly burdensome, and that it seeks information that is not relevant to either 

party’s claim or defense and is not proportional to the needs of the case. Wheeler v. CIA, 271 

F.Supp.2d 132, 139 (D.D.C. 2003) (“Discovery is generally unavailable in FOIA actions.”).

12. Please produce all documents on which ICE relied for its Homeland Security 

Investigations budget statements to Congress for fiscal years 2016 to present.

ANSWER: Defendant objects to this request on the grounds that it is vague, ambiguous, 

overly broad, and unduly burdensome, and that it seeks information that is not relevant to either 

party’s claim or defense and is not proportional to the needs of the case. Wheeler v. CIA, 271 

F.Supp.2d 132, 139 (D.D.C. 2003) (“Discovery is generally unavailable in FOIA actions.”).

13. Please produce the screenshots of all interfaces on which ICE employees rely or 

use for purposes of tracking and responding to FOIA requests. 

ANSWER: Defendant objects to this request on the grounds that it is vague, ambiguous, 

overly broad, and unduly burdensome, and that it seeks information that is not relevant to either 

party’s claim or defense and is not proportional to the needs of the case. Wheeler v. CIA, 271 

F.Supp.2d 132, 139 (D.D.C. 2003) (“Discovery is generally unavailable in FOIA actions.”).

14. Please produce all policies, procedures, manuals, directives, memoranda, or other 

documents in effect from 1 January 2016 to the present that identify, refer, relate, or explain how 

ICE personnel should respond to FOIA requests, including but not limited to a) initial requests; b) 

appeals; c) remanded requests. 

ANSWER: Defendant objects to this request on the grounds that it is vague, ambiguous, 

overly broad, and unduly burdensome, and that it seeks information that is not relevant to either 
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party’s claim or defense and is not proportional to the needs of the case. Wheeler v. CIA, 271 

F.Supp.2d 132, 139 (D.D.C. 2003) (“Discovery is generally unavailable in FOIA actions.”).

15. Please produce all documents that identify, refer, relate, or explain how ICE 

personnel have responded to FOIA requests from Jacqueline Stevens, including but not limited to 

a) initial requests; b) appeals; c) remands; d) FOIA complaints; e) court orders from 1/1/2012 to 

present. 

ANSWER: Defendant objects to this request on the grounds that it is vague, ambiguous, 

overly broad, and unduly burdensome, and that it seeks information that is not relevant to either 

party’s claim or defense and is not proportional to the needs of the case. Wheeler v. CIA, 271 

F.Supp.2d 132, 139 (D.D.C. 2003) (“Discovery is generally unavailable in FOIA actions.”).

Respectfully submitted,

JOHN R. LAUSCH, Jr.

United States Attorney

By: s/ Alex Hartzler 

ALEX HARTZLER 

Assistant United States Attorney

219 South Dearborn Street

Chicago, Illinois 60604

(312) 886-1390

alex.hartzler@usdoj.gov
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I, Alex Hartzler, an attorney, hereby certify that on November 13, 2020, I caused

DEFENDANT’S RESPONSE TO PLAINTIFF’S DOCUMENT REQUESTS to be served by 

email (the parties having agreed to serve by email) upon the following counsel of record:

Nicolette Glazer

Law Office of Larry R. Glazer

Watt Plaza

1875 Century Park East #700

Century City, California 90067

(708) 435-0404

nicolette@glazerandglazer.com

s/ Alex Hartzler

ALEX HARTZLER

Assistant United States Attorney

219 South Dearborn Street

Chicago, Illinois 60604

(312) 886-1390

alex.hartzler@usdoj.gov