Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University v. Department of Homeland Security et al, No. 1:2017cv07572 - Document 141 (S.D.N.Y. 2019)

Court Description: OPINION AND ORDER re: 95 MOTION for Summary Judgment as to USCIS and ICE filed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 89 MOTION for Summary Judgment as to OLC, ICE and the S tate Department filed by U.S. Department of State, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Justice, 104 MOTION for Summary Judgment as to ICE and USCIS filed by Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbi a University. For the foregoing reasons, Defendants' Motions for Summary Judgment are GRANTED in part and DENIED in part, and Plaintiff's Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part as follows: (1) ICE's Mot ion is granted and Plaintiff's Cross-Motion is denied with respect to its application of Exemption 5 to the First Amendment Concerns Memo, the 235(c) Memo, the EO Implementation Memo. (2) Plaintiff's Cross-Motion is granted and ICE's M otion is denied with respect to the Extreme Vetting Memo, the Foreign Policy Provisions Memo, and the HSI Updates Memo. ICE must re-assess its applied exemptions to these records, using this Opinion as guidance, and disclose all responsive non-exempt materials that can reasonably be segregated from exempt materials. (3) USCIS' Motion is granted and Plaintiff's Cross-Motion denied with respect to the TRIG Options Paper and TRIG Exemptions. (4) Plaintiff's Cross-Motion is granted an d USCIS' motion is denied with respect to the Acting Director Memo and Senior Policy Council Paper. USCIS must release the reasonably segregable information in these records. (5) The government's motions for summary judgment regarding the unchallenged documents are granted. (Signed by Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr on 9/23/2019) (ne)