Thread by @HMAesq

*knock knock* hey @StephenM you listening? I'm the guy unsealing the #TantonPapers, the blueprint for the organizations that told you how to build your deportation machine.

I've been at this for over 4 years. Just wanted to share a little update!

Some quick background: John Tanton was the mastermind behind the largest and most effective anti-immigrant organizations in the US. Tied inextricably to the white nationalist movements, they've infiltrated deep into all levels of government and policy.

motherjones.com/politics/2021/…

After 4 years, thanks to @isabelaalhadeff I finally got to see the "gift agreement" Tanton struck with UM. And it likely doesn't reach the level of an enforceable contract. Nothing more than a string of receipts. But here's the kicker:

Tanton initially gave his papers without restriction. Then, once his racist views started becoming known, he asked to seal some for 10 years. Then for another 15 years, right after the @nytimes exposé in 2011. (Tanton then resigned from the FAIR board.)

nytimes.com/2011/04/17/us/…

Tanton let his cohorts KC McAlpin and Wayne Lutton have access to his entire archive after it had been donated and sealed. (They're vile racists in their own right.)

Then, he actually sent them to discuss the import of his papers on immigration policy with a UM library official.

Yet throughout this litigation, the University has been arguing that they didn't ask for the papers for any official purpose, and that disclosure wouldn't shed light on any official University purpose.
msnbc.com/american-voice…

Second: UM's asserted defenses are impossible to verify. If they say, for example, a letter John Tanton wrote in 2005 is exempt from FOIA, how am I supposed to verify it when I haven't seen the letter?

To shed some light on this, we filed a motion for a Vaughn index. This is a FOIA discovery tool that commands the public entity to create a log of each supposedly exempt document, identifying it, explaining what it is, and explaining why the exemption applies.

It's rare to get one.

On July 7, over strenuous objection, the Court ordered UM to prepare a Vaughn index in 28 days.

This is huge for us. While we still can't see the documents themselves, the Vaughn index will provide a clearer idea of what's in those papers.

I'm sure UM will try to fight us on this too, perhaps appealing this narrow issue, or give as little information as possible.

But like I said in 2017 when I filed this lawsuit: See you in court.