Practice Resources
IRAP Practice Advisory: FOIA Behind the Scenes
12/14/23
AILA Doc. No. 23121404.
To better understand how USCIS and DOS process FOIA requests behind the scenes, IRAP submitted “meta-FOIA” requests in August 2021. IRAP asked and subsequently sued for policies, guidelines, and training materials explaining how these agencies process and respond to FOIA requests. IRAP has shared all of the documents released by the agency and also provided a practice advisory that offers best practices for filing FOIA requests for immigration clients that will produce all of the relevant documents needed to successfully handle the client’s case. The advisory also outlines questionable agency practices that delay—or prevent—the release of critical information and identifies opportunities to improve FOIA by challenging unlawful policies.