Khalid v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services ( 2011 )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
______________________________________________
MOHAMMAD KHALID,
Plaintiff,
v. 1:09-CV-96
(FJS)
UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND
IMMIGRATION SERVICES; T. DIANE
CEJKA, Director, The National Records
Center, USCIS; SARAH TAYLOR,
USCIS, Acting District Director of Washington;
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, Secretary,
Department of Homeland Security; and
MICHAEL MUKASEY, Attorney General,
Department of Justice,
Defendants.
______________________________________________
APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL
PAUL SHEARMAN ALLEN PAUL SHEARMAN ALLEN, SR., ESQ.
& ASSOCIATES MICHELLE BENITEZ, ESQ.
1329 18th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
Attorneys for Plaintiff
OFFICE OF THE UNITED GABRIEL R. MARTINEZ, AUSA
STATES ATTORNEY
555 Fourth Street, NW
Suite 4817
Washington, D.C. 20530
Attorneys for Defendants
SCULLIN, Senior Judge
ORDER
Plaintiff commenced this action against Defendants under the Freedom of Information
Act ("FOIA"), seeking all records in his alien file, which he argued he needed to assist him in an
underlying immigration matter. See generally Complaint. On July 23, 2009, Defendants filed a
motion to dismiss the complaint against the individual Defendants on the ground that the Court
lacked subject matter jurisdiction to hear FOIA claims against federal officers. See Dkt. No. 7.
In addition, Defendants moved for summary judgment on the grounds that Defendant United
States Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS") conducted an adequate search for records
responsive to Plaintiff's request, processed the records that Defendant USCIS located in
accordance with the governing law and released to Plaintiff all responsive records, or portions
thereof, to which he was entitled. See id. On August 20, 2009, Plaintiff filed papers in
opposition to this motion. See Dkt. No. 8. On September 10, 2009, Defendants filed reply
papers in response to Plaintiff's opposition and in further support of their motion. See Dkt. No. 9.
On July 22, 2011, the Court held an in-person status conference with counsel to
determine which pages were still in dispute. At the conclusion of that conference, the Court
directed Defendant to provide the disputed pages to the Court for its in camera review. See
Minute Entry dated July 22, 2011. On August 17, 2011, Defendants submitted the disputed
pages. See Dkt. No. 18.
Having reviewed the disputed pages, the Court hereby
ORDERS that Defendants' motion to dismiss Plaintiff's FOIA claims against the
individual Defendants is GRANTED;1 and the Court further
ORDERS that Defendants' motion summary judgment is GRANTED in part and
DENIED in part; and the Court further
1
The Court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate FOIA claims against individual defendants
even if the plaintiff names such individuals in their official capacity. See Santini v. Taylor, 555
F. Supp. 2d 181, 183-84 (D.D.C. 2008) (citations omitted).
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ORDERS that Defendant USCIS properly withheld the following pages: #272, #286,
#287, #296-297, #311-314, #318, #319, #320-322, #324, #334-335, #344-345, #348-351, and
#389-390; ;and the Court further
ORDERS that, after redacting employee identification numbers pursuant to Exemption
(b)(7)(C), Defendant USCIS shall release the remainder of page #17 to Plaintiff; and the Court
further
ORDERS that Defendant USCIS shall release the following pages in their entirety to
Plaintiff: #23-24; #209, #327, #357-358, and #381; and the Court further
ORDERS that, after redacting employee identification numbers pursuant to Exemption
(b)(6), Defendant USCIS shall release the remainder of pages #189 and #202; and the Court
further
ORDERS that, after redacting any personal information that identifies the third person,
Defendant USCIS shall release the remainder of page #274; and the Court further
ORDERS that, after redacting the alien registration numbers of third parties, Defendant
USCIS shall release the remainder of pages #355-356; and the Court further
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ORDERS that, after redacting the type-written comment at the bottom of this form,
Defendant USCIS shall release the remainder of page #378; and the Court further
ORDERS that Defendant USCIS properly withheld the redacted portions of pages #229-
233 pursuant to Exemption (b)(6).
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: August 31, 2011
Syracuse, New York
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