H-1B Fraud Investigations FOIA

On behalf of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the Council, in cooperation with counsel at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, filed a FOIA lawsuit in July 2010 against DHS and USCIS seeking the public release of records concerning agency policies and procedures related to fraud investigations in the H-1B program. There was significant public interest in these records because USCIS’s H-1B practices have caused confusion and concern among U.S. businesses that legitimately depend on temporary foreign workers with specialized knowledge to operate successfully.

Following the release of some heavily redacted documents by USCIS and an exchange of summary judgment motions by both sides, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan issued a lengthy decision in March 2012 in which he denied the government’s motion and partially granted AILA’s motion. He found the government’s privilege log to be inadequate and ordered the agency to better explain its claimed exemptions in the form of a revised Vaughn index. Subsequently, USCIS agreed to disclose the documents in full.