Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act: The ICE Commitment to Openness

To ensure openness and transparency and to better serve those seeking more information about ICE and its operations, the agency centralized processing of all ICE-related Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests in a single office.

The centralized office receives, tracks, and processes all FOIA requests except those that relate to sensitive investigative matters.

ICE FOIA/PA Headquarters Office:
Main Number: (202) 732-0300 or (866) 633-1182
Fax Number: (202) 732-0310
Email: ICE-FOIA@dhs.gov

Mail (U.S.Postal System and all overnight mail/Fedex):
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Office,
800 North Capitol Street, NW, Room 585
Washington, DC 20536-5009

Headquarters Staff:
Catrina M. Pavlik-Keenan, FOIA Officer
Anastazia N. Taylor, Supervisory FOIA Paralegal – FOIA Public Liaison
Belinda Minick, FOIA Secretary
Ryan Law, FOIA Paralegal
Richard Stevens, FOIA Paralegal
Kevin King, FOIA Paralegal
Marqui Barnes, FOIA Paralegal
Vacant, FOIA Paralegal
Vacant, FOIA Assistant

The Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552), establishes a presumption that records in the possession of agencies and departments of the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government are available to the public. The FOIA sets standards for determining when Government records must be made available and which records may be withheld. The FOIA also gives requesters specific legal rights and provides administrative and judicial remedies when access to records or portions of records is denied. The FOIA statute requires that Federal agencies provide access to and disclosure of information pertaining to the Government's business to the fullest extent possible.

The Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, establishes a code of fair information practices that governs the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of personally identifiable information about individuals that is maintained in systems of records by federal agencies. A system of records is a group of records under the control of an agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifier assigned to the individual. The Privacy Act requires that agencies give the public notice of their systems of records by publication in the Federal Register. The Privacy Act prohibits the disclosure of information from a system of records absent the written consent of the subject individual, unless the disclosure is pursuant to one of twelve statutory exceptions. The Act also provides individuals with a means by which to seek access to and amendment of their records, and sets forth various agency record-keeping requirements.

NOTE: All requests for alien files, including all records therein, should be requested from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, the National Records Center (NRC), FOIA division, P.O. Box 648010, Lee's Summit, MO 64064-5570. Alien files are under the control of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Please refer any questions about alien file record requests to 1 (816) 350-5570.

FOIA Links:
ICE FOIA Electronic Reading Room
ICE Privacy Policy
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services web site
U.S. Department of Justice FOIA web site
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, The Privacy/FOIA Office