Americas Directorate Foreign and Commonwealth Office King Charles Street London SW1A 2AH Website: https://www.gov.uk/fco Mr George Greenwood Email: [email protected] 23 October 2017 Dear Mr Greenwood FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 REQUEST REF: 0567/2017 Thank you for your email of 5 June stating you are happy to continue the following request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000, as suggested in our internal review. You asked: ‘Please provide all communications between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the British embassy in Washington concerning American immigration and border control policy regarding Muslims. Please reduce the scope of my request to the three weeks between 23th January and 12th February’. I am writing to confirm that we have now completed the search for the information which you requested. I can confirm that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does hold information relevant to your request. We have carefully considered if we can release this information and conducted the appropriate Public Interest Tests. We can release some of the information and this is attached as a digest of information to be released. However, we do not intend to release the other information relevant to your request as we judge it is exempt from release under the following exemptions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA): - section 27 (1) (a) (c) (d) (International relations) - section 35 (1) (a) (Formulation of government policy, etc.) - section 40 (2) and (3) (Personal information) 1 - Section 41 (1) (Information provided in confidence) Section 27 (1) (a) (c) and (d) International Relations Some of the information you have requested is being withheld under section 27 (1) (a) (c) and (d) of the FOIA. Section 27 (1) (a) (c) and (d) provides that information is exempt if its disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice the relations between the United Kingdom and any other state, the interests of the UK abroad, or the promotion or protection by the United Kingdom of its interests abroad. In applying section 27, we have had to balance the public interest in withholding the information against the public interest in disclosing it. Factors in favour of disclosure include the strong public interest in transparency and accountability. Disclosure would also increase public knowledge of relations with the United States. Factors against disclosure include the strong public interest in ensuring that the FCO is able to conduct the UK’s international relations effectively and protect UK interests abroad. The effective conduct of the UK’s international relations depends upon maintaining trust and confidence with other governments and international organisations. To do this there must be good working relationships with other governments and international organisations based on confidence and trust. This relationship of trust allows for the free and frank exchange of information on the understanding that it will be treated in confidence. If the UK does not maintain this trust and confidence, its ability to act as a significant player in the international arena, and protect and promote UK interests through international relations, will be hampered. Other governments and international organisations may be more reluctant to share information with the UK Government in future, and may be less likely to respect the confidentiality of information supplied by the UK Government to them, to the detriment of UK interests. For these reasons, we consider that the public interest in maintaining this exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing it. Section 35 (1) (a) (Formulation of government policy, etc.) Section 35 (1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act relates to the formulation or development of Government policy. This exemption requires the application of a public interest test. It is recognised that there is a public interest in the greater transparency in the decision making process to ensure accountability within public authorities. However, officials need to be able to conduct rigorous and candid risk assessments of their policies and programmes including considerations of the pros and cons without there being premature disclosure which might close off better options and inhibit the free and frank discussion of all policy options. It is our view that disclosure of information referring to the United States would mean that we would risk undermining future decision making and discussion on this subject in future. For these reasons we consider that the public interest in maintaining this exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure of the information. Section 40 (2) and (3) Personal Information 2 Some of the information you have requested is personal data relating to third parties, the disclosure of which would contravene one of the data protection principles. In such circumstances sections 40 (2) and (3) of the FOIA apply. In this case, our view is that disclosure would breach the first data protection principle. This states that personal data should be processed fairly and lawfully. It is the fairness aspect of this principle which, in our view, would be breached by disclosure. In such circumstances section 40 confers an absolute exemption on disclosure. There is, therefore, no public interest test to apply. Section 41 (1) (Information provided in confidence) Some of the information that you requested has been withheld under Section 41 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act – information provided in confidence. This allows for information to be exempt if it was obtained by the public authority from any other person and the disclosure of the information to the public (otherwise than under this Act) by the public authority holding it would constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that or any other person. Section 41 also confers an absolute exemption on disclosure, and therefore a public interest test is not required. Once an FOI request is answered, it is considered to be in the public domain. To promote transparency, we may now publish the response and any material released on gov.uk in the FOI releases section. All personal information in the letter will be removed before publishing. The copies of information being supplied to you continue to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder. Most documents supplied by the FCO will have been produced by government officials and will be protected by Crown Copyright. To re-use Crown Copyright documents please consult the Open Government Licence v3 on the National Archives website. Information you receive which is not subject to Crown Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. You must ensure that you gain their permission before reproducing any third party (non-Crown Copyright) information. I hope you are satisfied with this reply. However, if you wish to make a complaint or if you would like a review of our decision, please write to the FOI and DPA Team, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Room K4.04, King Charles Street, London, SW1A 2AH. E-mail: [email protected]. You have 40 working days to do so from the date of this letter. If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may then apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure proed by the FCO. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF. 3 Yours sincerely, US and Canada Department We keep and use information in line with the Data Protection Act 1998. We may release this personal information to other UK government departments and public authorities. 4 FOI 0576-17: DIGEST OF INFORMATION TO BE RELEASED TYPE CONTENT COMMENT 1 Email Report within FCO 10 February 2017 Subject: RE: “Sancuary Cities” Under Pressure: Converations with NYC and Philadelphia From: [REDACTED] Sent: 09 February 2017 18:10 To: [REDACTED] Cc: [REDACTED]; Antonia Romeo (Sensitive); [REDACTED] [REDACTED]; [REDACTED]; [REDACTED]; [REDACTED]; [REDACTED]; [REDACTED]; [REDACTED]; [REDACTED]; [REDACTED]; [REDACTED] Subject: "Sanctuary Cities" Under Pressure: Conversations with NYC and Philadelphia Immigration Offices OFFICIAL_SENSITIVE [REDACTED], Summary 1. NYC and Philadelphia immigration officials speak of their commitment to their “sanctuary city” status, and of deep unease in immigrant communities in the wake of Trump’s recent executive orders. Both cities are preparing for a legal fight against the president’s proposed efforts to cut their federal funding. Details 2. [REDACTED] Both cities are “sanctuary cities”, meaning they have in place policies that protect undocumented immigrants from deportation by limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Mayors Jim Kenney (D-Philadelphia) and Bill de Blasio (D-NYC) both vow to continue these policies, and have personally joined protests against the recent ban on immigration from seven majority Muslim countries. [REDACTED] Comment 1. [REDACTED] Best, [REDACTED] 2 Email Report within FCO 10 Febuary 2017 5 Subject: Decision Issued on Immigration Executive Order / Trump Reaction / Quick