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.
That government’s “minimal public interest” claim stands at sharp odds with the fact that congressional lawmakers in both chambers have sent five different letters to the Department of Homeland Security demanding detailed information about the attack and both Jordanians, including but far beyond just their identities. The lawmakers typically argue that their requested information would assist them in their required government oversight duties and help inform their decisions to protect the American public from security threats.
The administration has ignored all of those letters, including from the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee; the House Judiciary Committee; Sen. Lindsey Graham; Sen. Ted Budd, signed by 12 other senators; and one spearheaded by Texas Rep. Chip Roy and 12 House lawmakers.
Beyond Congress’s obviously high interest in knowing more about the Jordanians and their thwarted Quantico attack, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin expressed his public interest in details of the attack in his own letter to DHS.
Sen. Graham’s letter noted a public interest common in these information requests: “This will allow us to make an informed decision about how to address the recurring threat posed to our national security by this kind of incident.”
Biden officials in every involved agency have parried not just those information requests but heavy media inquiries ever since the attack.
A strong enough public interest was discerned that reporters at a White House press conference asked Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about the Quantico base attack. She declined to answer.
A Google search shows that thousands of stories about the incident have been published and re-published.
The Biden administration’s lockstep, multi-agency refusal to discuss any aspect of this case, including the present dispositions of the two Jordanians or to rule out a terrorism motive, leaves the American public in the dark about what happened. The administration knows the presidential election may well hinge on voter anger about the historic mass migration crisis that Biden fomented and hopes interest in more information about the attack will fade before the November 5 presidential election.
The Center’s FOIA attorney, Colin Farnsworth, said he plans to appeal the government’s determination letter on the grounds that the government clearly failed to adequately consider the extensive public interest in the withheld records and that a strong prevailing public interest in this case will persist through to the election.