Amadis v. Dep't of Justice

• Decision Date: 22 May 2019
• Docket Number: Case No. 1:16-cv-2230 (TNM)
• Citation: 388 F.Supp.3d 1
• Parties: Juan Luciano MACHADO AMADIS, Plaintiff, v. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

388 F.Supp.3d 1

Juan Luciano MACHADO AMADIS, Plaintiff,

v.DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 1:16-cv-2230 (TNM)

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Signed May 22, 2019

Kelly Brian McClanahan, National Security Counselors, Rockville, MD, for Plaintiff.

April Denise Seabrook, U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, Washington, DC, for Defendants.

AMENDED MEMORANDUM OPINION ¹

TREVOR N. McFADDEN, U.S.D.J.

Plaintiff Juan Luciano Machado Amadis sues the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") and the U.S. Department of State ("State") under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552 ("FOIA"). He also seeks relief under the Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201, and the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651. At issue are Government's responses to Mr. Machado Amadis's requests for documents about State's decision to deny his visa applications based on events that occurred nearly four decades ago.

Mr. Machado Amadis alleges that State and DOJ's components—the Drug Enforcement Agency ("DEA") and the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI")—conducted inadequate searches in response to his FOIA requests. He also contends that the FBI and DOJ's Office of Information Policy ("OIP") improperly withheld records. Before the Court is the Government's Motion for Summary Judgment and Mr. Machado Amadis's Cross-Motion for Partial Summary Judgment. For the reasons given below, the Court will grant summary judgment to the Government and deny Mr. Machado Amadis's cross-motion.

I. BACKGROUND

Juan Luciano Machado Amadis is a Dominican citizen who lives in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Am. Compl., ECF No. 15, ¶ 3. In 1989, he was denied a visa by the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo. Cross Mot. for Summ. J., Ex. D, ECF No. 31-4, p. 1. State explained that Mr. Machado Amadis was inadmissible under Section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act because he had been arrested for possession of over 100 grams of cocaine. Id. Section 212 allows State to refuse visas to persons who it has reason to believe "is or has been" a drug trafficker. Id. at 2. The cocaine charge, however, was dismissed, see Cross Mot. for Summ. J., Ex. B, ECF No. 31-2, pp. 4–5, and Mr. Machado Amadis provided evidence to State that he had no conviction record, Cross Mot. for Summ. J., Ex. D, ECF No. 31-4, p. 2.

State again found Mr. Machado Amadis ineligible for a visa under Section 212(a) in 1990. Cross Mot. for Summ. J., Ex. D, ECF No. 31-4, p. 2. It explained that while Mr. Machado Amadis "has no conviction record ... this does not address whether or not he was arrested," and Section 212(a) does not require a conviction for State to make an ineligibility finding. Id. "According to information available to [State], [Mr. Machado Amadis] was arrested December 10, 1980, at the Santo Domingo Airport at which time 125 grams of cocaine was confiscated from his luggage." Id. In 2012, Mr. Machado Amadis again applied for a visa, and for a third time, State refused his request. Id. at 3. State cited Section 212(a)(2)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which makes known and suspected drug traffickers inadmissible, see 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(C). Id.

Mr. Machado Amadis maintains that State is misinformed. He acknowledges that on December 10, 1980, he flew from New York to Santo Domingo where local authorities detained him on suspicion of drug trafficking. Cross Mot. for Summ. J., Ex. A, ECF No. 31-1, ¶¶ 11, 13, 17. But he claims that he was never searched for drugs, no drugs were confiscated from his luggage, and he was only arrested two weeks later at his home. Id. ¶¶ 11–17. Even though his own version of events would likely justify a visa denial under Section 212, Mr. Machado Amadis filed FOIA requests with State, the FBI, and the DEA hoping to determine the basis for State's decisions denying his visa applications.

First, Mr. Machado Amadis submitted a FOIA request to State for records "regarding alleged criminal activities that have led to his visa revocation/denial" ("First State Request"). See Stein Decl. Ex. 1, ECF No. 20-5, p. 1. After searching its Consular Consolidated Database, the Consular Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo, and State Archiving System, State retrieved 53 responsive records. Stein Decl., ECF No. 20-4, ¶¶ 11, 29–36. State informed Mr. Machado Amadis of the search results, and it released 32 documents in full, released 9 documents in part, and withheld 12 documents in full. Id. ¶ 11; Stein Decl. Ex. 4, ECF No. 20-5, p. 22.

Next, Mr. Machado Amadis submitted a FOIA request to the DEA for "all records related to [himself], as well as [his] entire record[ ] within the [DEA]" ("First DEA Request"). Myrick Decl. Ex. A, ECF No. 20-7, p. 2. Given the request's breadth, the DEA construed Mr. Machado Amadis to be seeking the DEA's investigative files about himself. Myrick Decl., ECF No. 20-6, ¶ 26. After searching its Investigative Reporting and Filing System and its Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Information System, the DEA found no responsive records. Id. ¶¶ 30–31. The DEA informed Mr. Machado Amadis of its search results by letter. Id. ¶ 6.²

Finally, Mr. Machado Amadis submitted a FOIA request to the FBI for "[i]nformation regarding any/all criminal and/or drug trafficking related crimes" about himself ("First FBI Request"). Hardy Decl., ECF No. 20-8, ¶5; Hardy Decl. Ex. A, ECF No. 20-9, p. 2. The FBI searched its Central Records System, and because Mr. Machado Amadis's FOIA request included an attachment about his 1990 visa application, the FBI searched its manual indices, index cards cataloguing pre-1995 records not searchable through electronic indices. Hardy Decl., ECF No. 20-8, ¶¶ 41, 43–45, 50, 52–54. The FBI informed Mr. Machado Amadis that it uncovered no responsive records and stated that its FOIA response "neither confirms nor denies the existence of [Mr. Machado Amadis's] name on any watch lists." See Hardy Decl. Ex. B, ECF No. 20-9, p. 8 (citing FOIA exemption (b)(7)(E)).³ Because the FBI determined that Mr. Machado Amadis was likely seeking a copy of his FBI identification records ("rap sheet"), it referred his First FBI Request to its Criminal Justice Information Services ("CJIS") for processing. Hardy Decl., ECF No. 20-8, ¶¶ 7–8. Generally, a person must request a copy of his or her rap sheet directly from CJIS. Id. ¶ 8, n.1.⁴

Dissatisfied with the agencies' search results, Mr. Machado Amadis filed six new FOIA requests. He requested that each agency provide records "memorializing or describing the processing" of his previous FOIA requests (Count VI-"Second DEA Request," Count VII-"Second FBI Request," and Count IX-"Second State Request"). He also sought "all records, including emails, memorializing or describing the processing" of the appeals of his First DEA Request and First FBI Request from OIP (Count VIII-"OIP Request"). Finally, he renewed his attempts to find the information causing State to deny his visa requests. He requested that the DEA disclose "copies of all records, including emails, about him[self]" (Count IV-"Third DEA Request"). And he requested that the FBI provide "all records, including emails and cross references, about him[self]" (Count V-"Third FBI Request"). These six FOIA requests are the basis for this action.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

Under FOIA, agencies must conduct "a good faith effort to [ ] search for the requested records, using methods which can be reasonably expected to produce the information requested." Oglesby v. U.S. Dep't of the Army , 920 F.2d 57, 68 (D.C. Cir. 1990) ( Oglesby I ). FOIA also requires agencies "to comply with requests to make their records available to the public, unless the requested records fit within one or more of nine categories of exempt material. Oglesby v. U.S. Dept. of the Army , 79 F.3d 1172, 1176 (D.C. Cir. 1996) ( Oglesby II ). The "vast majority" of FOIA cases are resolved on motions for summary judgment. See Brayton v. Office of U.S. Trade Rep. , 641 F.3d 521, 527 (D.C. Cir. 2011).

A party moving for summary judgment must show an absence of a genuine issue of material fact—a fact that "might affect the outcome of the suit under governing law." See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc. , 477 U.S. 242, 247–48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). "In the FOIA context, a district court reviewing a motion for summary judgment conducts a de novo review of the record, and the responding federal agency bears the burden of proving that it has complied with its obligations under FOIA." Pinson v. Dep't of Justice , 160 F. Supp. 3d 285, 292 (D.D.C. 2016). So a court may grant summary judgment to an agency only if it can establish that any withheld document falls into one of the enumerated exemptions, see 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B), and its search was reasonably calculated to uncover all relevant documents, see Valencia-Lucena v. U.S. Coast Guard , 180 F.3d 321, 325 (D.C. Cir. 1999).

III. ANALYSIS

A. Mr. Machado Amadis has waived his claims under the Declaratory Judgment Act and the All Writs Act fail.

In their motion for summary judgment, DOJ and State argued that Mr. Machado Amadis's claims under the Declaratory Judgment Act and the All Writs Act fail for two reasons. First, they argued that a request for declaratory relief does not confer jurisdiction on the federal courts if jurisdiction would not otherwise exist. See Skelly Oil Co. v. Phillips Petrol. Co. , 339 U.S. 667, 671, 70 S.Ct. 876, 94 L.Ed. 1194 (1950). And since Mr. Machado Amadis's underlying FOIA claims fail, he also cannot establish entitlement to relief under the Declaratory Judgment Act. See Def. Mot. for Summ. J., ECF No. 20-2, p. 11 (citing Kenney v. U.S. Dep't of Justice , 603 F. Supp. 2d 184, 190 n. 4 (D.D.C. 2009) ). Second, they claimed that "the ‘comprehensiveness of FOIA’ forecloses any claims purportedly also brought under [the Declaratory Judgment Act or the All Writs Act]." Id. (citing Johnson v. Exec. Office for U.S. Attorneys , 310 F.3d 771, 777 (D.C....