Filed: Sep. 08, 2017
Latest Update: Sep. 08, 2017
Summary: [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING LETTER MOTION FOR EXPEDITED DISCOVERY VINCE CHHABRIA , District Judge . THIS MATTER came before the Court on September 1, 2017 on the Letter re: Expedited Discovery ("the Letter"), filed jointly by Plaintiffs Gomez et al. and Defendants Sessions et al. on August 28, 2017, and on the Status Report Regarding Expedited Discovery, filed jointly by the parties on August 31, 2017. The Court, having considered the Letter, the Requests for Production of Documents submi
Summary: [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING LETTER MOTION FOR EXPEDITED DISCOVERY VINCE CHHABRIA , District Judge . THIS MATTER came before the Court on September 1, 2017 on the Letter re: Expedited Discovery ("the Letter"), filed jointly by Plaintiffs Gomez et al. and Defendants Sessions et al. on August 28, 2017, and on the Status Report Regarding Expedited Discovery, filed jointly by the parties on August 31, 2017. The Court, having considered the Letter, the Requests for Production of Documents submit..
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[PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING LETTER MOTION FOR EXPEDITED DISCOVERY
VINCE CHHABRIA, District Judge.
THIS MATTER came before the Court on September 1, 2017 on the Letter re: Expedited Discovery ("the Letter"), filed jointly by Plaintiffs Gomez et al. and Defendants Sessions et al. on August 28, 2017, and on the Status Report Regarding Expedited Discovery, filed jointly by the parties on August 31, 2017. The Court, having considered the Letter, the Requests for Production of Documents submitted therewith, the Status Report, and oral argument by the parties on September 1, 2017, finds that good cause exists to grant Plaintiffs' request for expedited discovery. Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that:
1. Defendants United States Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") and United States Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") produce all documents relevant to the decisions to arrest, detain, or retain in custody (including any documents relevant to Defendants' decisions as to location and security level of custody placements of) the three named children, including documents in DHS's or HHS's possession that originated with, or reflect communications with, other law enforcement agencies;
2. DHS and HHS produce:
a. Any criteria or guidance used to identify any and all unaccompanied alien children ("UCs") that were targeted for arrest as part of Operation Matador;
b. Any policy, procedure or instruction directing ICE or other federal agents to "arrest, among others, teenagers who entered the country without guardians and are suspected gang members," and to "identify people in their areas that meet the criteria," as alleged in ¶ 41 of the Plaintiffs' Amended Petition, Dkt. No. 31;
c. Any memoranda instructing ICE field offices to prepare for immigration enforcement actions targeting suspected gang members, as alleged in ¶ 41 of Plaintiffs' Amended Petition, Dkt. No. 31;
d. Documents and communications related to the June 12, 2017 amendment to § 1.2.4 of the Office of Refugee Resettlement Guide: "Children Entering the United States Unaccompanied" ("ORR" and "ORR Guide"), which added to the criteria for determining whether to place a UC in secure care whether a UC "Has reported gang involvement or displays gang affiliation while in care" or "Has self-disclosed violent criminal history or gang involvement";
e. Documents sufficient to show the identities, dates of arrest, locations of arrest, and locations of subsequent detention of any UCs previously released from HHS custody pursuant to a sponsorship agreement, but who have since been arrested by DHS since April 1, 2017 and transferred to a secure or staff secure facility, as defined in the ORR Guide, under the authority of the San Francisco-based ORR Federal Field Specialist, where an allegation of "gang involvement" or "gang affiliation" has been made as to the UCs;
f. Documents sufficient to show any and all revisions to policies, procedures and practices, or any other measures, undertaken since July 5, 2017 by ORR to comply with the Ninth Circuit's recent decision, Flores, et al. v. Sessions, et al., 862 F.3d 863 (9th Cir. Jul. 5, 2017);
g. Any policies and procedures used to determine whether a UC in DHS or HHS custody should be placed in a secure facility or staff secure facility, as defined in the ORR Guide.
3. DHS and HHS make a good faith effort to locate and turn over these documents at the earliest possible time, and on a rolling basis, with HHS complete case files for the named children produced by September 8, 2017, and a significant portion of the remaining responsive documents produced well before September 18, 2017;
4. DHS and HHS may assert any applicable privileges, including but not limited to deliberative process privilege and law enforcement privilege, over responsive documents (or specific portions thereof), and will maintain a privilege log which will be updated and provided to Plaintiffs on a rolling basis;
5. In complying with this Order, in lieu of conducting a complete review of all ESI at this time, DHS and HHS shall make a good faith effort to identify key custodians who have documents responsive to the above Requests (including communicating with Plaintiffs regarding the selection of custodians), and shall conduct a good faith review of the e-mails of these custodians to locate responsive documents.
