Denise Gilman, a clinical law professor at the University of Texas and member of the UT Working Group on Human Rights and the Border Wall , submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in April, 2008 for records that would show where the fence would be built, including maps, surveys and appraisals of affected properties. She also requested information about the criteria for deciding where segments of the wall would be built and agency assessments of the impact of the wall on surrounding communities.
Almost a year later, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have not complied with Gilman's request. Despite initial indications that the agencies possessed volumes of records responsive to Gilman's request, the corps of engineers denied part of her request outright and released only a few documents with substantial redactions. DHS referred her entire request to CBP, which released a mere two redacted documents. In January 2009, CBP told Gilman that it was still processing her request despite a federal requirement that it respond to her April 2008 request within 20 days.
In the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Public Citizen asks the court to order the agencies to make the requested records available to Gilman. The suit also challenges the redactions taken in some key documents, including information about property ownership in affected areas. The agencies are now producing documents under a stipulated schedule, and any briefing on any withholdings will commence after the production is complete. |
