FOIA Improvements at the Department of Homeland Security

Apollo 11 Vintage GIF by US National Archives - Find & Share on GIPHY
From National Archives Identifier 649447

Later this month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will begin migrating to a new FOIA system and anticipates temporary delays in responding to requesters while launching the new system. According to the DHS FOIA website, the migration to a new system will be staggered across DHS processing centers in order to minimize disruptions. 

Requesters who have a Public Access Link (PAL) account for the DHS FOIA Public Access Portal  will need to create a new account after the migration to the new system. Documents in current PAL accounts will remain available until the move to the new system is complete. DHS suggests downloading content from current PAL accounts that may be needed later.

This FOIA system change will not affect requests sent to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or the U.S. Secret Service. More information about the change, including frequently asked questions, can be found at https://www.dhs.gov/change-underway-dhs-foia.