Biden Administration Shields Identity of Jordanians in Foiled Quantico Attack
A ‘clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy’ and of ‘minimal public interest’
By Todd Bensman on June 26, 2024
The U.S. government is withholding the names of two illegal alien Jordanian nationals, one of whom illegally crossed the Southwest Border, who on May 3 tried to ram a box truck into the Quantico Marine Corps base, citing as grounds that their personal privacy outweighs “minimal” public interest in knowing who they are, according to a government letter responding to the Center for Immigration Studies' Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
The second illegally present Jordanian in the truck overstayed a student visa.
“I have determined that the privacy interest in the identities of individuals in the records you have requested clearly outweigh [sic] any minimal public interest in disclosure of that information,” wrote Maria E. Gonzalez, FOIA coordinator for Marine Corps Base Quantico, who reached the conclusion with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “Please note that any private interest you may have in that information does not factor into this determination.”
The Department of Defense released heavily redacted incident reports, which formed the basis for their arrests and criminal trespassing charges after the attack was foiled. Government officials considering the Center’s FOIA request would know that names are essential to easy identification of relevant public court files about those trespass cases.
https://cis.org/Bensman/Biden-Administration-Shields-Identity-Jordanians-Foiled-Quantico-Attack
