FOIA: Muslim Ban documents

IRAP is representing the Council on American-Islamic Relations – Connecticut and Make the Road New York in a Freedom of Information Act case that seeks records about the Muslim Ban.

Impact

When President Trump took office in 2017, he issued successive executive orders, commonly referred to as “Muslim Bans,” that were designed to prevent people from Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. These orders imposed outright suspensions on entry of nationals of certain countries and also ordered executive agencies to implement so-called “extreme vetting.”

Despite President Biden’s admonition that the Muslim Ban was a “stain on our national conscience” and his professed commitment to shine a light on its abuses, many of the policies implementing the Muslim Bans, particularly the “extreme vetting” policies, continue to keep people, especially from Muslim-majority countries, out of the United States. This case seeks to bring to light documents from this shameful period of U.S. history.

Case status

The Parties are briefing the public’s right to review the report that describes the actions that government agencies took to implement the “extreme vetting” program ordered by the Muslim Ban.

• June 27, 2017: Complaint is filed.

• January 25, 2023: Defendants file a Motion for Summary Judgment, defending the withholding of the Muslim Ban report.

• February 13, 2023: IRAP files a Motion for Summary Judgment seeking to bring to light documents related to the Muslim Ban.

The National Immigration Law Center and the Yale Law School Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic are co-counsel in this case.