American Immigration Lawyers Association v. United States Department of Homeland Security, 852 F. Supp. 2d 66

AILA sues DHS/USCIS under FOIA seeking withheld information.
USCIS produced redacted documents and asserted exemptions, including 7(E).
AILA challenged waiver via public-domain doctrine and asserted improper withholding of three documents.
Key documents at issue: Compliance Review Report, Neufeld Memorandum, H-1B Petition Fraud Referral Sheet.
Court ordered revised Vaughn submissions due; cross-motions for summary judgment were resolved with partial grant to AILA and denial without prejudice to USCIS.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Waiver/public-domain doctrine applicability	Public-domain duplication waives 7(E)	No official disclosure; no waiver	No waiver established; 7(E) preserved
Exemption 7(E) applicability to three documents	Documents contain public indicators; should be released	7(E) properly protects fraud indicators	Exemption 7(E) properly invoked for all three documents
Segregability of non-exempt portions	Vaughn submissions insufficient; non-exempt portions exist	Non-exempt portions not adequately identified	Requires revised, detailed Vaughn submissions to assess segregability

Public Citizen v. Dep't of State, 11 F.3d 198 (D.C. Cir. 1993) (public-domain doctrine requires specific disclosure in public domain)
Afshar v. Dep’t of State, 702 F.2d 1125 (D.C. Cir. 1983) (public-domain concept; exemptions cannot cloak public information)
Fitzgibbon v. CIA, 911 F.2d 755 (D.C. Cir. 1990) (official disclosure thresholds for waiver analysis)
Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 820 (D.C. Cir. 1973) (establishes need for detailed Vaughn indices)
ACLU v. Dep't of the Defense, 628 F.3d 612 (D.C. Cir. 2011) (agency can sustain exemption with plausibly detailed justification)
Army Times Pub. Co. v. Dep’t of Air Force, 998 F.2d 1067 (D.C. Cir. 1993) (segregability requirements; disclose non-exempt portions)