Welcome to the FOIA Project
This site’s goal is to bring transparency to the process by which the U.S. government withholds information. Initially, we are featuring documents from FOIA cases against government defendants filed in district court or completed since October 1, 2009, and provide a number of ways of getting at these documents. Note: we plan on expanding coverage. Look for a new feature soon that will let individuals upload specific FOIA cases in which they are involved.
Here’s some of what you can do here:
- See what’s new.
- Find out about the project.
- Learn about the data and search tools.
- View the geographic distribution of FOIA cases.
- Search for cases and documents.
- Make a suggestion.
- Sign up to volunteer.
- Keep up to date via RSS or Twitter.
7 days 
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over 30 days
Please include my FOIA lawsuit in your project: Hajro v USCIS CV 08 1350 PSG (NDCA)
Pleadings can be found on PACER or the American Immigration Council Legal Action Center website: http://www.legalactioncenter.org/clearinghouse/litigation-issue-pages/freedom-information-act
Please let me know if you track this lawsuit in your project.
We definitely want to expand our coverage. We are awaiting word on funding to add a new feature that would let you upload FOIA cases you are involved in. Stay tuned…
As Kip Steinberg mentions above, the American Immigration Council offers updates and court documents related to immigration-related FOIA lawsuits on our FOIA Litigation Issue Page: http://www.legalactioncenter.org/clearinghouse/litigation-issue-pages/freedom-information-act
The Immigration Council, on behalf of AILA, is currently involved in a lawsuit against DHS related to a FOIA request for documents related to the H-1B Program. The lawsuit is AILA v. DHS, No. 10-01224 (D.D.C. July 20, 2010). More on that lawsuit is available here, http://www.legalactioncenter.org/litigation/freedom-information-act-litigation-h-1b
Rule 101. Scope; Definitions
(a) Scope. These rules apply to proceedings in United States courts. The specific courts and proceedings to which the rules apply, along with exceptions, are set out in Rule 1101.
(b) Definitions. In these rules
(1) “civil case” means a civil action or proceeding;
(2) “criminal case” includes a criminal proceeding;
(3) “public office” includes a public agency;
(4) “record” includes a memorandum, report, or data compilation;
(5) a “rule prescribed by the Supreme Court” means a rule adopted by the Supreme Court under statutory authority; and
(6) a reference to any kind of written material or any other medium includes electronically stored information.
The definitions section is new as of 12/1/2011