Opinion ID: 2763094
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: DaSilva’s FOIA Request

Text: While his immigration case was pending, DaSilva sought access via FOIA to his Alien File (“A-File”), USCIS’s complete collection of documents pertaining to his presence in the United States. DaSilva planned to use his A-File to support his permanent residency claim. His FOIA request, filed on December 3, 2012, asked for “any and all documents, forms, or other written, photographic, electronic, computer generated, or recorded materials relating to Mr. Dasilva in the possession of the Department of Homeland Security.” In addition, DaSilva requested “copies of all written or electronic correspondence or communication, including, but not limited to, any email correspondence sent to or received by [the several USCIS employees who had worked on DaSilva’s residency application] regarding Mr. Dasilva.” 1 See DaSilva v. U.S. Att’y Gen., Nos. 12-538 & 12-807, 2012 WL 5289387, at –2 (E.D. La. Oct. 24, 2012). 2 Case: 14-30296 Document: 00512876525 Page: 3 Date Filed: 12/19/2014 No. 14-30296 The USCIS department in charge of processing DaSilva’s FOIA request received his filing and sent him a letter that included a tracking number. On January 3, 2013, DaSilva filed a complaint against USCIS in federal district court for a violation of FOIA’s statutory twenty-day response period. 2 USCIS located 1,387 pages of documents responsive to DaSilva’s FOIA request and disclosed the vast majority of them on February 12, 2013. 3 The government submitted an affidavit to the district court essentially declaring that the FOIA records search was complete. This initial disclosure (the “first set of documents”), however, was responsive only to DaSilva’s request for his A-File, not his request for all pertinent “written or electronic correspondence.” USCIS apparently missed that second request and, critically, realized its mistake on April 3, 2013, but did not inform the district court until May 7. During this intervening time period, the government continued to maintain that it had completely fulfilled its obligations under FOIA. Finally, on May 20, 2013, an additional 1,071 pages of emails from the relevant USCIS employees’ email accounts were found and disclosed (the “second set of documents”).