Case 2:17-cv-00094-RAJ Document 107 Filed 02/06/18 Page 1 of 8 1 The Honorable Richard A. Jones 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 7 8 9 10 ABDIQAFAR WAGAFE, et al., Plaintiffs, 11 12 v. 13 UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND 14 IMMIGRATION SERVICES, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 No. 2:17-cv-00094-JCC DEFENDANTS’ STATEMENT ON COURT’S ORDER ON LCR 37 SUBMISSION REGARDING REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION NOS. 23 & 24 Defendants respectfully submit this statement pursuant to the Court’s February 1, 17 2018 Order setting a hearing on the Court’s January 10, 2018 Order, ECF No. 104. 1 18 The dispute now before the Court arises from the Court’s order directing the 19 parties “to discuss search terms and other means of review, as well as alternative 20 custodians and non-custodial sources, if necessary, that Defendants will use to search for 21 relevant documents” responsive to Plaintiffs Requests for Production (“RFP”) Numbers 22 23 and 24. ECF No. 104, at 4, 5. The parties met and conferred twice (January 26 and 31, 23 2018), and have exchanged correspondence between those dates. Should the Court find it 24 helpful, a detailed list of the agreed upon and disputed search terms, custodians, date 25 ranges, and non-custodial sources is attached hereto as Exhibit 1. 26 27 28 Although the parties agree on a large number of search parameters, they disagree 1 On February 1, 2018, Plaintiffs informed Defendants that Plaintiffs “decided to file [their] own submission” without discussion as to whether the parties could reach agreement on a joint briefing. STATEMENT ON COURT’S ORDER ON LCR 37 SUBMISSION - 1 (2:17-cv-00094-RAJ) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Civil Division, Office of Immigration Litigation District Court Section Ben Franklin Station, P O Box 868 Washington, DC 20044 (202) 532-4542 Case 2:17-cv-00094-RAJ Document 107 Filed 02/06/18 Page 2 of 8 1 about certain additional search terms, custodians, and non-custodial sources, 2 as well as 2 whether Defendants have an obligation to search President-Elect Transition Team 3 (“PETT”) materials and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) records. 3 4 President-Elect Transition Team Materials: For the first time on January 31, 5 2018, Plaintiffs asked Defendants to search president-elect transition team materials not 6 on Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) information systems. Although 7 Defendants had agreed to search the e-mail of the “DHS beachhead team” assigned to 8 USCIS, who later assumed federal government positions, Defendants did not agree to 9 search materials in the legal control of the PETT, and could not so agree as such 10 materials are not federal government records. Now, even though Defendants are 11 searching the records of high-level political appointees housed on DHS systems, such as 12 former Secretary Kelly and current Secretary Nielsen, Plaintiffs seek non-government 13 PETT materials located on a server “hosted by GSA(or some other agency), another 14 government/military address, or something else.” D. A. Perez e-mail to E.S. White (Feb. 15 5, 2018). PETT materials are not within the legal control of Defendants. In this Circuit, 16 17 “[c]ontrol is defined as the legal right to obtain documents upon demand.” 7-UP Bottling 18 Co. v. Archer Daniels Midland Co. (In re Citric Acid Litig.), 191 F.3d 1090, 1107 (9th 19 Cir. 1999) (quotations omitted). “The materials that [PETT] members create or receive 20 are not federal or presidential records, but are considered private materials.” L. Brewer, 21 MEMO. TO FED. AGENCY RECORDS OFFICERS: GUIDANCE RELATING TO PRESIDENTIAL 22 TRANSITION TEAM MATERIALS (available at www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/memos/ 23 ac09-2017). Mr. Brewer is the Chief Records Officer for the U.S. Government. Id. 24 25 Although Defendants have agreed to certain search parameters in light of the Court’s prior rulings, Defendants maintain and preserve all objections. 26 3 27 28 2 Plaintiffs may seek to raise other issues, but have not informed Defendants of precisely what those issues might be. Despite a request for such information, Plaintiffs declined to provide specifics, indicating only that they “intend to advise the court about the status of discovery . . . and the status of other issues on which the Court ordered compliance in its October 19 Order.” D.A. Perez e-mail to E.S. White (Feb. 2, 2018). STATEMENT ON COURT’S ORDER ON LCR 37 SUBMISSION - 2 (2:17-cv-00094-RAJ) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Civil Division, Office of Immigration Litigation District Court Section Ben Franklin Station, P O Box 868 Washington, DC 20044 (202) 532-4542 Case 2:17-cv-00094-RAJ Document 107 Filed 02/06/18 Page 3 of 8 1 Additionally, pursuant to the Transition Act, Pub. L. 88-277, 78 Stat. 153 (Mar. 7, 2 1964) (codified, as amended, at 3 U.S.C. § 102 note), “[t]he transition staff . . . is outside 3 of the executive branch.” Illinois Inst. for Continuing Legal Educ. v. U.S. Dep’t of Labor, 4 545 F. Supp. 1229, 1232–33 (N.D. Ill. 1982) (presidential transition report stored by 5 Labor Secretary in his Department office not “agency record” under FOIA). See also 6 Kissinger v. Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press, 445 U.S. 136, 157 (1980) (notes 7 Kissinger took while National Security Advisor and brought to State Department not 8 subject to State Department control); Wolfe v. Dep’t of Health & Human Svcs., 711 F.2d 9 1077, 1082 (D.C. Cir. 1983) (transition report simply stored in HHS employee’s office 10 not “agency record”). Finally, given the recent notice, Defendants have not yet had the 11 opportunity to complete an inquiry into this issue. 4 12 ICE Records: Plaintiffs have demanded that Defendants search DHS sub- 13 components, explicitly identifying ICE, for documents responsive to their RFPs. Such 14 discovery is beyond the scope of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b), because (1) ICE 15 is not a party, and (2) as ICE does not adjudicate immigration benefit applications, the 16 materials sought are irrelevant to the claims and defenses. Further, such discovery would 17 be disproportionate. 18 ICE is not a party, and therefore Plaintiffs may not use discovery tools, such as 19 requests for production, that may only be directed to parties. FED. R. CIV. P. 34(a). 20 Although ICE is a DHS subcomponent, Plaintiffs did not name it as a party, and in 21 describing then-Secretary Kelly in the Second Amended Complaint, stated he “has 22 supervisory responsibility over USCIS”; they did not invoke his supervisory authority 23 over ICE. ECF No. 47 at ¶ 31. Further, Plaintiffs described their case as “seek[ing] to 24 stop the federal government from unconstitutionally preventing Plaintiffs, and others like 25 them, from obtaining immigration benefits.” Id. at ¶ 1 (emphasis added). Notably, 26 Plaintiffs named fellow subcomponent USCIS as a party. 27 28 4 To the extent the Court has remaining questions regarding whether PETT records are discoverable from Defendants, Defendants respectfully submit the Court should order further briefing, providing sufficient time for further inquiry. STATEMENT ON COURT’S ORDER ON LCR 37 SUBMISSION - 3 (2:17-cv-00094-RAJ) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Civil Division, Office of Immigration Litigation District Court Section Ben Franklin Station, P O Box 868 Washington, DC 20044 (202) 532-4542 Case 2:17-cv-00094-RAJ Document 107 Filed 02/06/18 Page 4 of 8 1 ICE does not adjudicate immigration benefit applications. Rather, it is tasked with 2 immigration enforcement functions. See 6 U.S.C. § 251; cf. 6 U.S.C. § 271(b) (transferring 3 immigration benefit application adjudication to USCIS). In addition, ICE has no role in 4 CARRP, other than that of a law enforcement agency that USCIS interacts with in carrying 5 out its own assigned duties. Further, searching ICE for responsive documents would be 6 disproportionate in this case. To the extent ICE has materials relevant to immigration benefit 7 adjudication, there is no reason to think those records would not also be found at USCIS, the 8 agency responsible for adjudicating such applications. To the extent Plaintiffs seek records 9 not related to the adjudication of immigration benefit applications, their requests are not 10 relevant to the claims and defenses in this case. 11 Search and Collection Methodology: Defendants’ search and collection 12 methodology as proposed to Plaintiffs amounts to a reasonable inquiry to locate documents 13 potentially responsive to RFP Nos. 23 and 24. See FED. R. CIV. P. 26(g) (requiring a 14 reasonable inquiry occur before certifying a discovery response). After consultation with the 15 agencies, Defendants have proposed searching the e-mails of the DHS and USCIS officials 16 most likely to hold responsive documents, applying search terms that are tailored to return 17 the documents sought and collecting documents from non-custodial sources that are most 18 likely to hold responsive documents. Defendants have been open and cooperative with 19 Plaintiffs on attempting to reach consensus on search terms, custodians, non-custodial 20 sources, and date ranges. In an effort to resolve disputes without court intervention, 21 Defendants agreed to additional custodians, additional search terms, and broader date ranges 22 than they consider necessary to locate responsive materials. But this cooperation does not 23 discount the need for balance and proportionality required under Federal Rules of Civil 24 Procedure 26(b)(1) and (b)(2)(C). See Salazar v. McDonald’s Corp., No. 14-cv-02096, 2016 25 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23293, *6, 7 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 5, 2016) (“the revised rule places a shared 26 responsibility on all the parties to consider the factors bearing on proportionality before 27 propounding discovery requests, issuing responses and objections, or raising discovery 28 disputes before the courts”); see also Hon. Elizabeth C. Laporte & Jonathan M. Redgrave, A STATEMENT ON COURT’S ORDER ON LCR 37 SUBMISSION - 4 (2:17-cv-00094-RAJ) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Civil Division, Office of Immigration Litigation District Court Section Ben Franklin Station, P O Box 868 Washington, DC 20044 (202) 532-4542 Case 2:17-cv-00094-RAJ Document 107 Filed 02/06/18 Page 5 of 8 1 Practical Guide to Achieving Proportionality Under New Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 2 26, 9 Fed. Cts. L. Rev. 19, 64 (2015) (“transparency should not be morphed into an 3 opportunity for unending questions and fishing expeditions”). 4 For RFP No. 23, Defendants have agreed to search the e-mails of 16 custodians, 5 including the then-Secretary of Homeland of Security and the then-Director of USCIS 6 and their immediate subordinates, and to use the search terms “Controlled Application 7 Review and Resolution Program,” “CARRP,” and “Articulable Link” (a term unique to 8 the CARRP). Defendants’ proposed methodology focused on the specific language of the 9 RFP, which seeks documents that discuss the specific consideration of the Controlled 10 Application Review and Resolution Program (“CARRP”) in the drafting of Executive 11 Orders 13769 and 13780. See ECF No. 92, Ex. A; ECF No. 104, at 4 (finding RFP No. 23 12 was targeted to seek “documents specifically related to CARRP”). Plaintiffs insist, 13 however, on 12 additional search terms, all of which are not exclusively used to refer to 14 the CARRP. See W.D. Wash. Model ESI Agreement (noting that “focused terms and 15 queries should be employed; broad terms or queries . . . generally should be avoided”). 16 For RFP No. 24, Defendants have agreed to search the e-mails of 17 DHS and USCIS 17 custodians, including those who are either responsible for the oversight of USCIS actions or 18 responsible to track DHS and DHS component actions related to the programs, policies, or 19 procedures implemented pursuant to section 4 of E.O. 13769 and sections 4 and 5 of E.O. 20 13780, as well as to collect documents from 8 non-custodial sources. Defendants have 21 agreed to use 11 search terms that relate or refer to implementation of sections 4 of E.O. 22 13769 and sections 4 and 5 of E.O. 13780. Plaintiffs insist, however, on an additional 16 23 custodians—senior leaders who would likely only hold responsive communications between 24 themselves and Defendants’ proposed custodians. A search of the senior leaders’ e-mails is 25 not proportional to the needs of the case, see FED. R. CIV. P. 26(b)(2)(C)(i) (the court should 26 limit the frequency or extent of discovery . . . if it determines that the discovery sought is 27 unreasonably cumulative or duplicative”), and the burden of including them as custodians 28 outweighs any likely benefit. See FED. R. CIV. P. 26(b)(1). STATEMENT ON COURT’S ORDER ON LCR 37 SUBMISSION - 5 (2:17-cv-00094-RAJ) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Civil Division, Office of Immigration Litigation District Court Section Ben Franklin Station, P O Box 868 Washington, DC 20044 (202) 532-4542 Case 2:17-cv-00094-RAJ Document 107 Filed 02/06/18 Page 6 of 8 1 Dated: February 6, 2018 Respectfully submitted, 2 CHAD A. READLER Acting Assistant Attorney General /s/ Edward S. White EDWARD S. WHITE Senior Litigation Counsel, National Security & Affirmative Litigation Unit District Court Section Office of Immigration Litigation U.S. Department of Justice P.O. Box 868, Ben Franklin Station Washington, D.C. 20044-0868 Tel: (202) 616-9131 Fax: (202) 305-7000 Email: edward.s.white@usdoj.gov 3 4 5 WILLIAM C. PEACHEY Director, District Court Section Office of Immigration Litigation 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Timothy M. Belsan Deputy Chief, National Security & Affirmative Litigation Unit AARON R. PETTY Trial Attorney, National Security & Affirmative Litigation Unit JOSEPH F. CARILLI, JR. Trial Attorney, National Security & Affirmative Litigation Unit Counsel for Defendants 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 STATEMENT ON COURT’S ORDER ON LCR 37 SUBMISSION - 6 (2:17-cv-00094-RAJ) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Civil Division, Office of Immigration Litigation District Court Section Ben Franklin Station, P O Box 868 Washington, DC 20044 (202) 532-4542 Case 2:17-cv-00094-RAJ Document 107 Filed 02/06/18 Page 7 of 8 1 2 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I HEREBY CERTIFY that on February 6, 2018, I electronically filed the 3 foregoing with the Clerk of the Court using the CM/ECF system, which will send 4 notification of such filing to the following CM/ECF participants: 5 Harry H. Schneider, Jr., Esq. Nicholas P. Gellert, Esq. David A. Perez, Esq. Kathryn Reddy, Esq. Perkins Coie L.L.P. 1201 Third Ave., Ste. 4800 Seattle, WA 98101-3099 PH: 359-8000 FX: 359-9000 Email: HSchneider@perkinscoie.com Email: NGellert@perkinscoie.com Email: DPerez@perkinscoie.com Email: KReddy@perkinscoie.com 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Matt Adams, Esq. Glenda M. Aldana Madrid, Esq. Northwest Immigrant Rights Project 615 Second Ave., Ste. 400 Seattle, WA 98104 PH: 957-8611 FX: 587-4025 E-mail: matt@nwirp.org E-mail: glenda@nwirp.org Emily Chiang, Esq. ACLU of Washington Foundation 901 Fifth Avenue, Suite 630 Seattle, WA 98164 Telephone: (206) 624-2184 E-mail: Echiang@aclu-wa.org Jennifer Pasquarella, Esq. ACLU Foundation of Southern California 1313 W. 8th Street Los Angeles, CA 90017 Telephone: (213) 977-5211 STATEMENT ON COURT’S ORDER ON LCR 37 SUBMISSION - 7 (2:17-cv-00094-RAJ) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Civil Division, Office of Immigration Litigation District Court Section Ben Franklin Station, P O Box 868 Washington, DC 20044 (202) 532-4542 Case 2:17-cv-00094-RAJ Document 107 Filed 02/06/18 Page 8 of 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Facsimile: (213) 997-5297 E-mail: jpasquarella@aclusocal.org Stacy Tolchin, Esq. Law Offices of Stacy Tolchin 634 S. Spring St. Suite 500A Los Angeles, CA 90014 Telephone: (213) 622-7450 Facsimile: (213) 622-7233 E-mail: Stacy@tolchinimmigration.com Trina Realmuto, Esq. Kristin Macleod-Ball, Esq. National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild 14 Beacon St., Suite 602 Boston, MA 02108 Telephone: (617) 227-9727 Facsimile: (617) 227-5495 E-mail: trina@nipnlg.org E-mail: kristin@nipnlg.org Hugh Handeyside, Esq. Lee Gelernt, Esq. Hina Shamsi, Esq. American Civil Liberties Union Foundation 125 Broad Street New York, NY 10004 Telephone: (212) 549-2616 Facsimile: (212) 549-2654 E-mail: lgelernt@aclu.org E-mail: hhandeyside@aclu.org E-mail: hshamsi@aclu.org 22 23 24 25 /s/ Edward S. White EDWARD S. WHITE Senior Litigation Counsel, National Security & Affirmative Litigation Unit 26 27 28 STATEMENT ON COURT’S ORDER ON LCR 37 SUBMISSION - 8 (2:17-cv-00094-RAJ) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Civil Division, Office of Immigration Litigation District Court Section Ben Franklin Station, P O Box 868 Washington, DC 20044 (202) 532-4542 Case Document 107-1 Filed 02/06/18 Page 1 of 5 Eh?tl Custodians (ICE) Date Range Custodians (DHS) Custodians (USCIS) Search Terms Item Search Terms Description “CARRP,” “Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program,” “Articulable Link” “Deconflict*,” “Known or Suspected Terrorist,” “KST,” “National Security Concern,” “National Security Indicator,” “Non National Security,” “Non-Known or Suspected Terrorist,” “Non-KST,” “NS Activities,” “NS Concern,” “NS Hit,” “NS Indicator” Lori Scialabba (Acting Director); Tracy Renaud (Acting Deputy Director); Molly Groom (Acting Chief Counsel); Larry Levine (Acting Policy Director); Craig Symons, Carl Risch, and Kathy Neubel Kovarik (DHS transition beachhead team); Daniel M. Renaud (Associate Director of Field Operations); Donald Neufeld (Associate Director of Service Center Operations); Matthew D. Emrich (Associate Director of the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate) John Kelly (Secretary); Elaine Duke (Acting Secretary and Deputy Secretary); Kirstjen Nielsen (Secretary and Chief of Staff); Joseph Maher (Acting General Counsel); Gene Hamilton (Senior Counselor to the Secretary); Chip Fulghum (Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security) Thomas Homan (Acting Director); Daniel Ragsdale (Deputy Director) November 9, 2016 to March 6, 2017 Request for Production Number 23 Case 2:17-cv-00094-RAJ Document 107-1 Filed 02/06/18 Page 2 of 5 Disputed Agreed Agreed Agreed Disputed Agreed / Disputed Agreed Search Terms Custodians (USCIS) Search Terms Search Terms Search Terms Item Search Terms Description “13769,” “13780,” “Continuous Immigration Vetting,” “Extreme Vetting,” “Interview Expansion,” “Interview Waiver,” “Recurrent Vetting,” “Section 4,” “Section 5,” “Uniform Screening,” “Uniform Vetting” (“Protecting the Nation” OR “Foreign Terrorist Entry” OR “Executive Order” OR “EO”) AND (screen* OR vet* OR adjudicate* OR “national security” OR suspend*) “Wicklander” and “Enhanced Communication Course” to custodian Julie Spencer (Branch Chief of Field Operations Training Division) “Code 5,” “ASC” AND “Identity Verification,” “Livescan” AND “Identity Verification” to custodian Lee Bowes (Acting Deputy Associate Director, Immigration Records and Identity Services) “Application Support Center” AND “Identity Verification” Julie Farnam (Chief, Case Analysis Branch, Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate, formerly detailed to the USCIS Acting Director’s Office as a Senior Advisor); Vania Lockett (Special Assistant, Front Office, Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate); Teresa Downey (Chief, Screening Coordination Office, Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate); Christopher Heffron (Immigration Officer, Program Management Office, Field Operations Directorate, formerly Chief, Screening Coordination Office, Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate); Brett Rinehart (Chief, Program Management Office, Field Operations Directorate); Julie Spencer (Chief, Training Division, Field Operations Directorate); Brandi Blackburn (Assistant Center Director, National Benefit Center, Field Operations Directorate); Linda Dougherty (Chief, Adjustment and Naturalization Team, Service Center Operations); Albert Davis (Chief, Program Management Office, Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate); Lee Bowes (Acting Deputy Associate Director, Immigration Records and Identity Services) Request for Production Number 24 Case 2:17-cv-00094-RAJ Document 107-1 Filed 02/06/18 Page 3 of 5 Disputed Agreed Disputed Disputed Disputed Agreed / Disputed Agreed Custodians (ICE) Non-custodial Sources (USCIS) Custodians (DHS) Custodians (DHS) Item Custodians (USCIS) Description Lori Scialabba (Acting Director); Tracy Renaud (Acting Deputy Director); Molly Groom (Acting Chief Counsel); Larry Levine (Acting Policy Director); Craig Symons, Carl Risch, and Kathy Neubel Kovarik (DHS transition beachhead team); Daniel M. Renaud (Associate Director of Field Operations); Donald Neufeld (Associate Director of Service Center Operations); Matthew D. Emrich (Associate Director of the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate) Olivia Troye (Chief, Strategy, Policy, and Plans, Office of Intelligence and Analysis); Teresa Downey (Advisor, Office of Intelligence and Analysis); Frank Wuco (Executive Director, Executive Order Task Force); John Latta (Director, Screening Coordination Office, Office of Policy); Victoria Lester-Saura (Acting Principal Director, Screening Coordination Office, Office of Policy); Michael Scardaville (Principal Director and Senior Advisor, Information Sharing, Office of Policy); Briana Petyo (Chief Of Staff, Office of Policy); John Dermody (Attorney Advisor, Office of the General Counsel) John Kelly (Secretary); Elaine Duke (Acting Secretary and Deputy Secretary); Kirstjen Nielsen (Secretary and Chief of Staff); Joseph Maher (Acting General Counsel); Gene Hamilton (Senior Counselor to the Secretary); Chip Fulghum (Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security) Thomas Homan (Acting Director); Daniel Ragsdale (Deputy Director) USCIS Field Operations Directorate ECN sites relevant to Continuous Immigration Vetting and Expanded Interview efforts; USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate ECN sites relevant to Continuous Immigration Vetting and Expanded Interviews; USCIS National Benefits Center ECN sites relevant to Expanded Interviews; USCIS Field Operations Directorate share drive folders related to interview training; USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate share drive folders related to Continuous Immigration Vetting; USCIS National Benefits Center share drive folders related to Expanded Interviews; USCIS Immigration Records and Identity Services Directorate ECN site pages relevant to ASC identity verification Case 2:17-cv-00094-RAJ Document 107-1 Filed 02/06/18 Page 4 of 5 Disputed Agreed Disputed Agreed Agreed / Disputed Disputed Item Non-custodial Sources (DHS) Non-custodial Sources (ICE) Date Range Disputed Agreed November 9, 2016 to present Agreed / Disputed Disputed Description Section of DHS Executive Order Task Force SharePoint site related to Section 5 of E.O. 13780 None named Case 2:17-cv-00094-RAJ Document 107-1 Filed 02/06/18 Page 5 of 5