Emergency Memo

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528

June 29, 2021
MEMORANDUM FOR:

Sharon Black
Acting Administrator
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Office of Management and Budget

THROUGH:

Eric Hysen
Chief Information Officer
Department of Homeland Security

FROM:

Michelle Brané
Executive Director
Family Reunification Task Force
Office of the Secretary
Department of Homeland Security

ERIC N
HYSEN

Digitally signed
by ERIC N HYSEN
Date: 2021.07.02
11:38:35 -04'00'

SUBJECT: Family Reunification Task Force Travel Questionnaire
This memorandum requests an emergency approval for the collection of information under the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Family
Reunification Task Force travel information to successfully reunify separated children with their
parents and legal guardians (families).
On February 2, 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order 14011 (E.O. 14011), Establishment of
Interagency Task Force on the Reunification of Families, in response to the prior Administration’s
use of immigration laws to intentionally separate children from their families, including through the
use of the Zero-Tolerance Policy. E.O. 14011 directs the Interagency Task Force on the
Reunification of Families (Task Force) to identify children who were separated and facilitate and
enable the reunification of the families. Additionally, E.O. 14011 directs the Task Force to provide
recommendations on providing additional services and support for the reunified families, including
behavioral health services with a focus on trauma-informed care. The Secretary of Homeland
Security is the chair of the Task Force and is joined by the Department of State, Department of
Health and Human Services, and the Department of Justice. In March 2021, the Task Force entered
into settlement negotiations with the plaintiffs in Ms. L v. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,

No. 3:18-cv-00428 (S.D. Cal). The need to return the separated parent and additional family
members is pursuant to a court order in Ms. L. On June 11, 2021, DHS received an initial court order
requiring return of certain class members to the United States. This order permitted the government
to begin reunifying families in the U.S. while settlement negotiation are ongoing.
The purpose of this new questionnaire is to achieve efficiencies to process these individuals for a
successful family reunification. To streamline the reunification travel coordination process, the Task
Force plans to collect certain details in advance of travel, information the Task Force needs to make
travel arrangements for the beneficiary and coordination with stakeholders. This proposed new data
collection will collect the necessary travel information in order to efficiently coordinate the travel of
the separated parent and family members for a successful family reunification.
The information to be collected would include: Name, Date of Birth, Gender, A#, Passport Number
and Expiration, Phone Number, Email address, Language(s) spoken, Representative/Attorney name
and contact information, Date of Embassy Appointment to obtain boarding foil, Identification of
Special Assistance Requests, Departure Airport, Final Airport, Traveling requested time frame, and
Names of others in the traveling party. The data will be stored in a spreadsheet on an accesscontrolled Microsoft Teams channel and maintained as long as required to satisfy the court
settlement requirements.
This information will be voluntarily requested via email to the designated person provided by the
beneficiary and returned via email in a password protected file. This process would in turn allow for
streamlined travel coordination with ICE to facilitate travel arrangements, as well as coordination for
the beneficiary from point of departure to point of arrival at the final destination in the United States.
This coordination includes DHS entities such as CBP, ICE, TSA, USCIS, and interagency such as
DOS, DOJ, and HHS. As settlement negotiations continue, the entity that receives the form to
facilitate the travel booking may change. The resulting travel information will be shared with the
traveler and anyone else they designate to receive this information. This could include coordinating
with parties the traveler identifies to ensure matching itineraries for those in the traveling party that
the USG is funding and/or those in the travelling party that the USG is not funding. (E.g., The USG
would provide the travel for the separated parent. A minor child who was not the separated child
may be traveling with the separated parent, but the USG will not provide his/her travel. Flights
would be required to be coordinated with the entity booking the minor child’s travel so the parent and
child are on the same flight.)
Because family reunification is currently ongoing, it is vital that DHS implement the information
collection as soon as possible in order to collect the necessary travel information for a smooth
coordination process for all families traveling to be reunified with their separated children. In
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) and the Office of Management and Budget’s
(OMB) implementing regulations at 5 C.F.R. § 1320.13: (1) this information is necessary to the
mission of the agency, (2) this information is necessary prior to the time periods established under
PRA, (3) public harm is reasonably likely to result if normal clearance procedures are followed, and
(4) an unanticipated event has occurred.
1. Information is Essential to the Mission of the Agency
Because of the establishment of E.O. 14011 signed by President Biden and the court order, DHS
requests emergency approval to create a new information collection to streamline travel arrangement

for the reunification of families. The Task Force agency members are involved in multiple active
litigation cases involving separated families. Most of the families are represented in the Ms. L. class
action lawsuit. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) represents the parents in this case. The
Task Force entered settlement negotiations in Ms. L. on March 11, 2021. On June 11, 2021, DHS
received an initial court order requiring return of certain class members to the United States. This
order permitted the government to begin reunifying families in the U.S. while settlement negotiation
are ongoing.
The Task Force is reunifying families in coordination with the ACLU , by accepting humanitarian
parole requests for settlement class members and their households. The individuals who may apply
for parole are the separated parents who were repatriated to their home country post separation and
their households. Those individuals are being offered an opportunity to request entry into the U.S. for
reunification and receipt of the services afforded by the settlement agreement. ACLU currently
identifies families in small tranches for reunification from the list of litigation class members and
provides them to the Task Force. The Task Force verifies that the ACLU provided names meet the
requirement of class membership. The attorneys representing the families are then permitted to
utilize the FRTF parole request process to request entry to the U.S. As the settlement negotiations
become more final, the ability to apply will be opened to additional individuals who may not be
represented by attorneys. Those individuals will be verified by the Task Force as being part of the
settlement class.
The U.S. Government (USG) has agreed in settlement to facilitate the return of the separated parent,
separated child, or subsequently born child whose parole request has been granted to the U.S. This
requires facilitating travel for the family from their home country to the U.S. As part of the parole
request process, the I-131 form (Application for Travel Document) submitted to U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS) by the applicant, has the family identify how they want to be
contacted. In coordination with the ACLU, the families who have been granted entry will be
requested to identify their travel plan requests for USG facilitation of travel. However, the use of the
I-131 will only work while the applicants are all represented by attorneys. As the individuals
permitted to apply begin to not be represented by attorneys involved in settlement negotiations, the I131 will prove to be confusing to use for this information. Rather, the straight forward questionnaire
will be easier for families.
2. Paperwork Reduction Act Timeframes
The Family Reunification Task Force is tasked with reuniting families that were separated under the
Zero-Tolerance Policy in an expedited manner to meet the needs of E.O. 14011 signed by President
Biden February 2, 2021 and the court order in coordination with ACLU. In order to meet the needs
of the E.O. and the court order signed on June 11, 2021, the travel information being requested in this
new information collection process is required. It would be impracticable to delay implementing this
information collection until after DHS has completed the PRA process.
3. Public Harm is Reasonably Likely to Result if Normal Clearance Procedures are Followed
Public harm is reasonably likely to result if this information is not collected. Failure to collect this
information would cause significant delays in reunifying families that were separated under the prior
Administration’s Zero-Tolerance Policy and as part of the court order granted on June 11, 2021.

4. An Unanticipated Event Has Occurred
President Biden signed E.O. 14011 on February 2, 2021 and placed the Secretary of Homeland
Security as the chair of the new Family Reunification Task Force with the purpose to identify and
implement comprehensive strategies that will bring families back together. DHS is requesting
emergency approval of this information to ensure the Task Force reunify families in an expedited and
safe manner to meet the E.O. and in coordination with the court order. Delay in the approval of these
information collections will delay the ability for the Task Force to streamline travel coordination of
the families to be reunited in an expedited manner and meet the requirements of the court order
granted on June 11, 2021.
4. Conclusion
This requests for an emergency approval for the collection of new information to successfully reunify
separated children with their families would allow the federal government to meet the E.O. and the
court order in Ms. L. Following the normal clearance procedures for OMB approval would delay the
Task Force’s ability to reunite these families in an expedited manner and meet the recently granted
court order.
As discussed, the Task Force certifies that this request meets the requirements of 5 C.F.R. §
1320.13(a) and it is vital that this new collection of information be implemented immediately
because: (1) this information is essential to the mission of the Agency, (2) this information is
necessary prior to the timeframes established under the PRA, (3) public harm will result if normal
clearance procedures are followed, and (4) unanticipated events have occurred.
Thank you for your consideration.
Upon approval and after implementation of the information collection process, DHS will address
public comments as necessary under the normal PRA approval process.
Please contact Family Reunification Task Force, Senior Advisor, Heather Santiago at 202-738-2411
with any additional questions or concerns.