On June 7, 2012, the American Immigration Council (AIC), a pro-immigration non-profit organization, filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The AIC sued the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). On September 9, 2011, AIC had filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA, 5 U.SC. §1552) request with CBP to disclose all materials "prepared, received, transmitted, collected, and/or maintained" regarding their "voluntary return program," in which non-citizens can voluntarily return to their native country instead of being deported by CBP. AIC alleged that CBP had failed to inform prospective participants of the consequences of participation in the program, and even compelled individuals to participate. In response to the FOIA request, CBP had disclosed two documents, totaling four pages. Citing previous FOIA disclosures and publicly released documents that show additional available documents that CBP had failed to disclose, AIC sought a declaration that CBP violated FOIA and an order that CBP and any of its departments conduct a reasonable search for records of the voluntary return program.

Beginning on August 10, 2012, CBP began to and continued to provided the AIC with additional documents to supplement the original FOIA request. On April 21, 2014, the AIC agreed not to produce any further challenges and the parties entered into negotiations regarding attorneys' fees. The parties informed the Court (Judge Tanya S. Chutkan) on September 5, 2014, that they had reached a settlement, and the Court filed an Order of Dismissal to dismiss the action with prejudice. This case is now closed.

Dan Osher - 05/27/2013
Allison Hight - 11/06/2015


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