The Justice Department has informed the People for the American Way (PFAW) that responding to the group’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for all records related to the decision to seal the records of immigrants detained in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks will cost nearly $400,000. The unusually large price tag appears to be the agency’s latest move in an ongoing struggle to withhold the information. PFAW, a leading civil rights organization, filed the FOIA request more than a year ago on Nov. 25, 2003. The Justice Department immediately denied the request on the grounds of privacy and then denied the organization’s appeal. PFAW, unsatisfied with the Justice Department’s claims, filed a lawsuit in August 2004 seeking the records. Then on Jan. 11, two days before the deadline for arguing why the lawsuit should be summarily denied, the Justice Department reported that it had changed its position and would search for the requested records. The organization was told that an initial canvass of U.S. Attorneys’ offices led to an estimated search time of 13,314 hours, which at $28 an hour, would make the total search fee approximately $373,000. Justice also cautioned that this was only an estimate and the final cost could be higher. The Justice Department requested that PFAW pay the estimate in advance and gave the organization until Feb. 10 to respond. Lawyers for the department have asked for a court hearing during the week of March 14. PFAW requested the information so it could produce a public report about the government’s efforts to use secrecy against hundreds of unidentified detainees who were arrested and held for months without criminal charges following the 9/11 attacks.