Oversight group sues for communications between Harris, CBP as Congress gets stonewalled

A conservative watchdog filed suit this week against the Department of Homeland Security, seeking to compel the agency to provide any communications between the executive office of Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Customs and Border Protection regarding the southwest border and illegal immigration.

In September, the Oversight Project – a good-government group under the umbrella of the conservative Heritage Foundation – filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the communications. But the group deemed that DHS’ response failed to comply with federal law, and consequently they filed suit in federal court.

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The suit calls for DHS to be compelled to release its communications with Harris by Oct. 22.

"Here, we are seeking communications between CBP and Vice President Harris’ office. She was appointed ‘border czar’, and the administration wants to say it was to look at root causes of migration from the Northern Triangle -- You would assume, given the importance of that portfolio, and the fact that 10 million illegal aliens have entered the country under her watch, that there would be a lot of communications between CBP and her office."

Brosnan said the Oct. 22 timeframe aligns with public interest to understand a major party candidate’s record on a top issue in time for them to cast their ballot:

"We are seeking our rights through FOIA to get those records. And, since immigration is such an important issue in the election, the use and the importance of the salience of the documents would be greatly diminished in terms of educating the public if we were to get them after the election."

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That, he said, is the reason for the motion for preliminary injunction, which if approved, would force the government to accelerate document releases.

According to the filing, obtained by Fox News Digital, CBP acknowledged receipt of the FOIA request on Sept. 18 – citing an email correspondence between CBP and Brosnan’s colleague Mike Howell. 

CBP’s FOIA office later allegedly administratively closed the request without informing the plaintiffs, claiming there were "no documents sent" in the FOIA portal. 

The Oversight Project followed up with CBP demanding the request be reopened, and was informed by the agency their request was insufficient and lacked specifics on which particular CBP employees’ emails they were to sift through, as well as the email domains related to Harris’ executive office to be included in the search.

In the filing, Brosnan’s team pointed out "inconsistencies" between CBP’s response to the FOIA and a similarly-structured request from the House Oversight Committee.

In September, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., wrote to the acting head of CBP, Troy Miller, repeating a request for documents relating to Harris’ handling of the border crisis:

"It is important the committee and the American people understand Vice President Harris’ role as the border czar in the ongoing border crisis," Comer said in the letter obtained by Fox News Digital.

In an interview last week, Brosnan said the public must be aware of what Harris’ team was communicating with CBP in terms of border security if she was truly given a role to oversee such operations.

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He also cited what he called the media’s recent attempts to "rewrite" Harris’ record on the border as the reason the communications should come to light and paint the true picture – positive or negative.

"The public must be informed as to what her office was working on and communicating with CBP in real time during the height of the crisis."

Fox News Digital reached out to Comer’s and Harris’ offices for comment but did not receive a response by press time.

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report.