Cover Letter to Melody Braswell

U.S. Department of Justice
Executive Office for Immigration Review
Office of the General Counsel
5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 2600
Falls Church, Virginia 22041

January 29, 2021
MEMORANDUM TO:

Melody Braswell
Department Clearance Officer
Department of Justice

FROM:

Christina Baptista
Associate General Counsel
Executive Office for Immigration Review

SUBJECT:

Request for Approval of a New Collection for FOIAXpress/ FOIA
Public Access Link

Attached is the information collection request (ICR) for the FOIAXpress/ FOIA Public
Access Link (OMB#1125-XXX), as required for certification and submission to the Office of
Management and Budget. The purpose for providing the requested information is that it provides
the EOIR FOIA Program with a single, unified application for managing the entire lifecycle of
FOIA requests and appeals from the initial request submitted by a requestor to delivery of
documents. The Public Access Link (PAL) is a secure web portal that provides a platform for
the public to immediately file a FOIA request with EOIR. PAL is integrated directly with
FOIAXpress and offers a centralized location for receiving online FOIA requests, delivering
responsive records, communicating with requesters, collecting fees, and providing access to
released documents in a public reading room in accordance with agency proactive disclosure
guidelines. As such, please transmit to OMB upon receipt.
The following documents are contained in this ICR package:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

OMB forms 83-I Paperwork Reduction Act Submission;
Supporting Statement for Paperwork Reduction Act Submission with burden
statement;
Certification Statement;
Form used to collect the information;
Law or authority mandating the information collection;
60-day ICR notice that will be published in the Federal Register; and
30-day ICR notice that will be published in the Federal Register.

If you have any questions concerning this ICR, please contact Christina Baptista at
(703) 305-0992 or at [email protected]. Thank you very much for all of your
assistance.