Jewish Legal News, Inc. v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Background

Jewish Legal News, Inc. brought this Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case against U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The request, submitted to ICE on October 23, 2023, sought law-enforcement and intelligence information concerning potential movement by Hezbollah and Hamas fighters across the southern border of the United States. The request was later narrowed to five categories, including incident reports, interagency communications, risk assessments, public-awareness materials, and data about reported crossings. ICE referred the request to CBP on October 31, 2023.

The parties reported that production of potentially responsive records was still ongoing. They were conferring about the request’s scope and planned to negotiate a production schedule after identifying the number of potentially responsive records. No discovery had occurred, and the parties agreed that discovery was not appropriate in this FOIA action.

Issues and Positions

The parties identified possible future disputes about whether the defendants adequately responded to the FOIA request and whether they improperly withheld records under FOIA exemptions. They also identified a possible dispute about Jewish Legal News’s entitlement to attorney’s fees and other litigation costs. Jewish Legal News sought declaratory and injunctive relief, disclosure of responsive records, and fees and costs. The defendants denied that Jewish Legal News was entitled to relief and sought dismissal and costs.

Jewish Legal News also reserved the right to seek permission to amend its complaint if CBP did not respond to a second FOIA request, assigned tracking number CBP-FO-2024-046369. The parties anticipated that any unresolved issues could ultimately be addressed through cross-motions for summary judgment, but they said scheduling such motions was premature while production continued.

Order

Judge Lisa J. Cisneros approved the parties’ stipulation as the case-management order. The court also approved their request to continue the initial case-management conference, but set it for August 15, 2024, at 10:30 a.m., rather than the requested August 13 date. The court set August 8, 2024, as the deadline for an updated joint case-management statement.

This order addressed case management and scheduling. It did not resolve whether the defendants violated FOIA, whether any withholding was proper, or whether Jewish Legal News was entitled to fees or other relief.