Case Information
*1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION NATIONAL TPS ALLIANCE, MARIELA Case No. 3:25-cv-01766-EMC (SK) GONZÁLEZ, FREDDY JOSE ARAPE RIVAS,
M.H., CECILIA DANIELA GONZÁLEZ [PROPOSED] ORDER REGARDING NON- HERRERA, ALBA CECILIA PURICA RESPONSIVENESS DETERMINATIONS HERNÁNDEZ, E.R., HENDRINA VIVAS
CASTILLO, A.C.A., SHERIKA BLANC, VILES
DORSAINVIL, and G.S.,
Plaintiffs,
vs.
KRISTI NOEM, in her official capacity as Secretary of Homeland Security, UNITED
STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, and UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA,
Defendants. *2
Pursuant to the Court’s direction at the June 23, 2025 discovery hearing, Plaintiffs submit the following proposed order regarding nonresponsiveness determinations:
The parties submitted a joint discovery letter brief to this Court concerning, among other issues, Defendants’ withholding of documents on the basis of purported nonresponsiveness. (Dkt. No. 211.) Having considered the Parties’ positions raised in the joint discovery brief as well as during the June 23, 2025 hearing, it is hereby ORDERED that: Documents related to Defendants’ assessment of Venezuela and TPS as a whole are
responsive. Defendants’ must re-review all documents originally deemed non-responsive to determine whether any previously withheld document related to this category is responsive in light of this order. Any documents identified as responsive must be produced or logged, as applicable, by June 26, 2025. On June 26, 2025, Defendants must submit an affidavit that they conducted this re-review and that no additional documents exist related to this category that have not been produced or logged. Defendants must gather all documents in the following categories that hit on the search terms
and were withheld as nonresponsive. Defendants may exclude communications concerning press clippings or about press releases; or family members of documents that hit on the search terms, but which do not themselves hit on the search terms. If the number of documents in any of these categories is fewer than 10, Defendants must submit those documents in camera for the Court’s review by June 26, 2025. If the number of documents in any of these categories is greater than 10, Defendants must randomly identify 10 documents from that category to provide in camera for the Court’s review by June 26, 2025.
a. Documents custodial to Secretary Noem;
b. Documents custodial to Corey Lewandowski; c. Documents custodial to any producing custodian dated between January 20, 2025 through January 24, 2025, inclusively (that is, including documents dated January 20, 2025 and documents dated January 24, 2025); d. Documents that hit on the search term: [“Temporary Protected Status” OR TPS OR 1254a] AND [vacat*];
ETERMINATIONS *3 e. Documents that hit on the search term: [Temporary Protected Status” OR “TPS” OR 1254a] AND [Haiti].
3. For each of the above categories, to the extent Defendants do not identify any documents,
they must submit an affidavit by June 26, 2025, stating that no documents within that category exist. Defendants shall name Secretary Noem’s Executive Secretary as a custodian in light of their
assertion during the hearing that Secretary Noem principally communicates with and through her Executive Secretary; and shall conduct a search of records using the same date ranges and search terms used for other custodians and produce or log all responsive communications by June 26, 2025 custodial to Secretary Noem’s Executive Secretary. Defendants shall verify by June 26 that all responsive documents have been produced or
logged.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: ___________, 2025 SALLIE KIM
United States Magistrate Judge 3