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A whistleblower report published today in Government Executive shows how U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is circumventing a court order that requires the agency to provide immigrants with their immigration records within the legal timelines.
The revelations state that USCIS has adopted certain practices leading the agency to reject thousands of requests for Alien Files, or A-Files, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that would have been processed in the past. The whistleblower disclosed to Congress that these rejections allow the agency to lower the number of requests it is processing to avoid the court’s requirement that it substantially comply with the FOIA deadline.
The only way in which immigrants can get their immigration history is by filing a request under FOIA for their A-Files. In June 2019, the Council, along with National Immigration Litigation Alliance, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and the Law Offices of Stacy Tolchin filed a lawsuit, Nightingale v. USCIS, on behalf of three immigration attorneys and two noncitizens to ensure USCIS responded to these requests within the 20 business-day deadline, or 30 business days under some circumstances, established by FOIA.
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