(2022-0592-F Segment 2) Operation Over the Rainbow

1 folders, approximately 11 pages

This collection consists of one record related to Operation Over the Rainbow. One email press compilation in which the successful conclusion of the operation was noted. Operation Over the Rainbow was a multi-agency investigation that brought together U.S. and Canadian federal officials and tribal law enforcement. It targeted a smuggling operation that spanned five continents and earned an estimated $170 million by smuggling as many as 150 Chinese nationals a month from Canada to New York through the St. Regis Mohawk Territory.

The materials in FOIA 2022-0592-F (Segment 2) are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related material. Operation Over the Rainbow was a multi-agency investigation that brought together U.S. and Canadian federal officials and tribal law enforcement. It targeted a smuggling operation that spanned five continents and earned an estimated $170 million by smuggling as many as 150 Chinese nationals a month from Canada to New York through the St. Regis Mohawk Territory. Smugglers sought to exploit the fact that the United States, Canada, New York State, Ontario, Quebec, and tribal governments all had some jurisdiction over the border territory they used. When federal officials began to work together with each other and tribal governments, including the St. Regis Mohawk police, the smuggling operation was shut down. Operation Over the Rainbow culminated in the arrest of 45 alien smugglers responsible for operating the largest, most-complex smuggling ring ever encountered on the U.S.-Canada border. https://www.justice.gov/archive/ag/speeches/2002/011702agpreparedremarks.htm. Material responsive to this request includes one email of news compilation mentioning a successful completion of the operation.

Electronic Records

Records that are responsive to this FOIA request were found in these collection areas—Clinton Presidential Records: ARMS Emails. The Automated Records Management System (ARMS) is a database that contains email records of the Executive Office of the President. This system maintained unclassified Presidential email. The ARMS database consisted of six sub-series of email records called "buckets." The buckets generally represented a specific White House office. The buckets were titled: NPR for National Performance Review, OPD for Office of Policy Development, POTUS for President of the United States, WHO for White House Office, CEA for Council of Economic Advisers, and Default for emails not associated with an office. The NSC bucket, emails to or from the National Security Council was created after the emails were transferred to the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration. ARMS email are arranged by topic, there-under by bucket, and there-under chronologically by creation date.

Collection is open to all researchers. Access to Clinton Presidential Records is governed by the Presidential Records Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. Chapter 22, as amended) and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552, as amended) and therefore records may be restricted in whole or in part in accordance with legal exemptions.

Official records of William Jefferson Clinton’s presidency are housed at the Clinton Presidential Library and administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) under the provisions of the Presidential Records Act (PRA).

Staff Archivist, 2022. Previously restricted materials are added as they are released.

The following is a list of documents and folders processed in response to FOIA 2022-0592-F (Segment 2):
Box 1
Clinton Presidential Records: ARMS Emails
Automated Records Management System [Email]
NSC [OA/ID 1200000]
[Operation Over the Rainbow]
[12/14/1998]