How To Get Your Government File

I’ll never get tired of quoting the geographer Trevor Paglen: “One of the contradictory things about the United States is that an incredible amount of the government is dedicated to doing things in secret. At the same time, it’s one of the world’s most open governments.” America is one of the best places to be a national security journalist, because there’s both a bloated surveillance state and a legal right to pick at its secrets. 

In a recent article about being detained at the border, I mentioned that I filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to find out what files the agency had on me. “However long it takes for CBP to respond, and however heavily they redact the documents, I’m legally entitled to a response. And so are you,” I wrote. Some readers reached out asking exactly how they could do the same. So here’s a guide that I’ve written for your benefit.

FOIA is a powerful tool, but it requires knowing exactly how to use it. Requesters can’t force the government to create new documents, only to hand over documents it already has. A request has to be directed at the right agency and include specific enough instructions for its archivists to find the records in question. The guy who famously asked the National Security Agency (NSA) for “everything you’ve got” did not, in fact, get everything it’s got. 

Requesting your own file both makes the matter simpler and more complicated. On one hand, it significantly narrows down the types of records requested and the agency to request them from. On the other hand, FOIA requests for personal information on living human beings overlap with the Privacy Act and require the consent of the subject. And unlike regular FOIA requests—which anyone can file, no questions asked—FOIA/Privacy Act requests can only be filed by U.S. citizens or green card holders.

The FBI, which receives reams of these requests, makes the process quite simple. The bureau has a handy online portal that allows Americans to put in their personal information for a FOIA request and electronically sign a statement that they are the person requesting it. For those who prefer to send a request through snail mail, the FBI also provides a form letter and a printable standard consent form. Remember to sign and mail both together. The bureau tends to say up front when it doesn’t have files on you.

Other agencies are not so straightforward. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has many different subcomponents for you to direct your request to. The DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis, its main spy agency, tends to “neither confirm nor deny” that it has records on any specific individual. CBP, the DHS agency that Americans are most likely to interact with, is a little more forthcoming.

CBP, unlike the FBI, doesn’t include a ready-made form letter for requesting records on a person. Some people have had success with simple one-line requests: “All records of border crossing, secondary screening, and interactions with CBP with” a specific person. For my own request, I wrote a long letter listing known CBP watch lists and databases, just to make sure. Feel free to use my template. CBP and other DHS agencies accept requests through the online Secure Release platform. Simply select the agency, paste the text of your request letter, and upload your signed proof of consent.

Although filing a FOIA request is free, agencies may or may not charge a fee for photocopying documents, and requesters have to indicate up front how much they are willing to pay. Requesters also have an option to request fee waivers and expedited processing. Privacy Act requesters are typically exempt from most fees. Expedited processing is usually for life-and-death situations, and requesting it can ironically slow down the process, because agencies will take their time answering the request for expedited processing before moving on to the request itself.

FOIA allows agencies to withhold information under nine exemptions, which the FOIA nonprofit MuckRock outlined in a handy guide. Frustratingly, the government can also refuse to confirm or deny that a document exists in the first place, a tactic known as the Glomar exemption, named after a FOIA lawsuit about the spy ship Glomar Explorer. Along with the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis, the CIA and NSA tend to give Glomar responses to requests for individuals’ files. FOIA gives requesters an opportunity to file an administrative appeal to these denials and to sue in court if the appeal isn’t satisfactory.

The same FOIA techniques can work on any three-letter (or longer) agency you can think of, with some light changes in language to target the specific kinds of records that these agencies hold. And although you can’t request the records of other living people without their consent, the dead don’t have such privacy protections in the eyes of the law, so long as you can provide proof of death. Some of my best scoops have been from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) files on famous immigrants who have passed away.

Finally, all 50 states have their own public records laws modeled on FOIA, with slightly different rules for each. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press publishes a state-by-state guide to these laws, and MuckRock offers a paid service for filing and managing records requests across jurisdictions.

Asking for your own file is a great, low-stakes exercise in keeping the government honest. Whether you have a clean record or an impressive rap sheet, you’ll get familiar with your rights on paper and the mechanisms for demanding those rights. And who knows what those investigative skills might come in handy for in the future?