USCIS' arbitrarily strict FOIA policy is keeping some migrants from receiving their immigration records, whistleblower alleges
A whistleblower has accused US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of systematically rejecting Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from migrants since 2024. The claims suggest officials have been closing cases without proper searches or releasing relevant records. Senator Dick Durbin has now raised concerns that these actions may breach federal transparency laws and a key court ruling.
In March 2024, USCIS FOIA officials reportedly instructed staff to tell Cuban nationals that no records existed—even when the agency held the requested documents. This directive followed years of backlogs, which a 2020 federal court order (Nightingale v. USCIS) had sought to resolve by mandating faster processing of A-File immigration record requests.
The whistleblower, who was later rated the lowest-performing supervisor in their branch for fiscal 2025, claims they were told to 'disengage' with USCIS counsel after raising concerns. Meanwhile, FOIA staff were allegedly ordered to reject requests if an applicant’s last name didn’t match records or if they listed an attorney’s address instead of their own. Between September and December 2024, USCIS closed 5,427 FOIA cases due to 'incorrect information'—a figure that surged to 41,918 in the same period of 2025. Migrants have also received heavily redacted documents, even when the withheld details were self-provided. Senator Durbin has argued that these practices may violate both the *Nightingale* ruling and FOIA’s legal requirements. USCIS, which manages over 55.6 million immigration records and runs the largest federal FOIA programme, has faced criticism over policy shifts under Chief FOIA Officer Thomas H. Harker. Critics allege his 2025 changes were designed to comply with the *Nightingale* order but instead led to more rejections.
The allegations point to a pattern of closed cases and withheld records, affecting thousands of migrants. USCIS has not publicly addressed the claims, but the whistleblower’s testimony and Senator Durbin’s remarks suggest potential legal and procedural consequences. The agency’s handling of FOIA requests remains under scrutiny as the number of rejections continues to rise.
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