I noticed that our governor signed an executive order for more transparency in state government. On Jan. 23, I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request asking the following.
“Under the recently signed EO 3 for transparency in Delaware gov’t I am again requesting the following information, specifically:
1) The number of non-citizens currently in Delaware?
2) The number of non-citizens sent to Delaware by (the U.S. Department of Homeland Security) in the last 2 fiscal years?
3) The amount of money expensed by Delaware for the care of non-citizens last year?
4) The amount of money currently budgeted for the care of non-citizens?”
Please note, I submitted a FOIA request last year to Gov. John Carney asking these same questions, and on May 17, 2024, his office responded back with no information, citing executive privilege. I am not sure how the money spent and budgeted by the state is privileged, but that was the response. I was hoping for a more transparent and open response under Gov. Meyer.
I received the following answer Jan. 28:
“The Office of the Governor is not the custodian of the records you are requesting, and the Office of the Governor has no such records in its possession. Any potentially responsive records, if they exist, from the Carney Administration have been sent to the Delaware Public Archives (DPA) for preservation. The following webpage contains instructions concerning how to make a FOIA request to DPA: https://sos.delaware.gov/foia-requests/. To the extent you believe other State agencies may have potentially responsive records, please use the following link to submit a FOIA request: https://delaware.gov/foia/. The Office of the Governor considers your request closed.
Thank you,
Office of the Governor — FOIA Coordinator”
How can our new governor say he doesn’t know how many noncitizens are in the state? How can the governor say he doesn’t know how much money the state has spent? I guess transparency doesn’t apply to him!
Thomas Hoever
Magnolia
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
