Ibrahim v. U.S. Dep't of State

311 F. Supp. 3d 134
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedMay 7, 2018
DocketCase No. 1:16–cv–01330 (TNM)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 311 F. Supp. 3d 134 (Ibrahim v. U.S. Dep't of State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ibrahim v. U.S. Dep't of State, 311 F. Supp. 3d 134 (D.C. Cir. 2018).

Opinion

TREVOR N. MCFADDEN, United States District Judge *138Plaintiff Zead Khalaf Ibrahim lives in Jordan as an Iraqi political refugee. He tried to come to the United States, but the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service denied his I-590 Iraqi Resettlement Application and, subsequently, denied his Request for Reconsideration of that denial. At issue in this case is the Department of State's response to Mr. Ibrahim's Freedom of Information Act requests for all records in the Department's possession related to the denial of his application and the denial of his Request for Reconsideration. The Department of State has produced some responsive records and has redacted or withheld other records. Before this Court are the Department of State's motion for summary judgment and Mr. Ibrahim's crossmotion for partial summary judgment. Because some exemptions that the Department of State invokes properly apply but others do not, the Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment will be granted in part and denied in part, as will the Plaintiff's Cross-Motion for Partial Summary Judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

Mr. Ibrahim submitted an I-590 Iraqi Resettlement Application to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) and registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Id. ¶¶ 21, 24. The USCIS denied Mr. Ibrahim's resettlement application in November, 2010. Id. ¶ 24. Almost a year later, in September 2011, the UNHCR certified Mr. Ibrahim as a refugee. Id. ¶ 21. In October 2011, Mr. Ibrahim submitted his first Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of State, requesting all records in its possession related to the USCIS's denial of his Resettlement Application. Id. ¶ 30; id. Ex. B 2.

In 2014, Mr. Ibrahim submitted a Request for Reconsideration to the USCIS, arguing that it erroneously denied his Resettlement Application and that it should consider new evidence. Id. ¶ 26. At least part of the new evidence in question appears to be Mr. Ibrahim's diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which he says "explains Mr. Ibrahim's inability to recall particular facts about his abductions and also explains any inconsistencies in his original Resettlement Application." Id. ¶ 25. The USCIS denied Mr. Ibrahim's Request for Reconsideration in April 2014. Id. ¶ 27. In January, 2015, Mr. Ibrahim made a second FOIA request, asking for all records related to the denial of reconsideration as well as all records related to the initial denial of his Resettlement Application. Id. Ex. B 1.

Unsatisfied with the Department of State's response to his FOIA requests, Mr. Ibrahim filed this lawsuit. After discussing the case with Mr. Ibrahim, the Department of State performed a supplemental search, produced additional records, and informed Mr. Ibrahim that it had withheld *139other records under FOIA's exemptions. Def.'s Memo. ISO Mot. Summary J. 2-3; Pl.'s Memo. ISO Cross-Mot. Summary J. 6-7. The parties have agreed that certain redactions are appropriate under FOIA Exemptions 6 and 7(C) and have narrowed the issues in dispute so that the only question now before me is whether FOIA Exemptions 3, 5, and 7(E) properly apply to four documents that the Department of State withheld or redacted: (1) Document C06268823, which is the UNHCR's Resettlement Registration Form for Mr. Ibrahim; (2) Document C06268856, which is the USCIS's Refugee Application Assessment for Mr. Ibrahim; (3) Document C062658852, which is the USCIS's official assessment of Mr. Ibrahim's Request for Reconsideration; and (4) Document C06268858, which is a chronology of the USCIS's processing of Mr. Ibrahim's case. See Pl.'s Memo. ISO Cross-Mot. Summary J. 15.1 The Department of State produced these documents to the Court for in camera review and indicated on the face of the redacted documents which exemptions formed the basis for which redactions. I have reviewed the in camera filing as well as the parties' briefing and relevant law.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

To prevail on a motion for summary judgment, a movant must show that "there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a) ; see also Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. , 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) ; Celotex Corp v. Catrett , 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). FOIA requires federal agencies to "disclose information to the public upon reasonable request unless the records at issue fall within specifically delineated exemptions." Judicial Watch, Inc. v. FBI , 522 F.3d 364, 365-66 (D.C. Cir. 2008) ; see also 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(3)(A) (records sought must be "reasonably describe[d]"). Thus, a FOIA defendant is entitled to summary judgment if it demonstrates that there is no genuine dispute about whether "each document that falls within the class requested either has been produced, is unidentifiable or is wholly exempt from the Act's inspection requirements." See Weisberg v. Dep't of Justice , 627 F.2d 365, 368 (D.C. Cir. 1980). The "vast majority" of FOIA cases are decided on motions for summary judgment. See Brayton v. Office of United States Trade Rep. , 641 F.3d 521, 527 (D.C. Cir. 2011). To show that unproduced documents are exempt from FOIA, an agency may file "affidavits describing the material withheld and the manner in which it falls within the exemption claimed." King v. Dep't of Justice

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311 F. Supp. 3d 134, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ibrahim-v-us-dept-of-state-cadc-2018.