from the obviously-two-entirely-different-things dept
It’s no secret ICE officers are utilizing their telephones and their tech toys to do far more than they’ll brazenly admit to doing. Tech instruments that may be abused will be abused. And ICE has loads of these, together with an app that’s supposed for use for “verification” of migrant standing, however is simply facial recognition tied to no matter different data ICE has entry to.
The cameras come out and the harassment begins, as detailed here in this NPR report. Shortly after Portland, Maine resident Xenia Pantos stopped her automobile to look at some ICE exercise in her neighborhood, their partner, Carly Williams received a name from a blocked quantity. The caller recognized himself as calling from the Division of Homeland Safety.
Williams stated the caller requested if anybody else drives her car. When Williams talked about her partner generally did, the caller requested Williams if she knew her partner had stopped at an incident that morning.
“What he mainly stated was, ‘It’s best to let her know to not try this anymore as a result of people who find themselves doing that kind of factor are getting added to a home terrorist watch checklist,’” Williams recalled in an interview with NPR.
ICE continues to disclaim it targets anti-ICE protesters with its surveillance instruments. Based on the report, it has “repeatedly denied” utilizing its tools and databases to search out out extra about those that protest or observe its anti-migrant efforts.
Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., cited a well-circulated clip of an ICE agent in Portland, Maine, telling an individual videotaping that she can be added to a “good little database.”
“I can’t converse for that particular person,” stated Todd Lyons, who serves as performing director of ICE. “However I can guarantee you that there isn’t any database that’s monitoring United States residents.”
Lyons doubled down on his denials concerning the database’s existence throughout a Senate listening to Thursday. When requested if ICE is giving protester data to some other company, Lyons stated: “We don’t.”
That’s what Todd Lyons stated in February. And it’s undoubtedly not true. ICE has a database that’s undoubtedly able to “monitoring Americans,” as a result of it has entry to loads of regulation enforcement databases crammed with details about Americans. One must look no additional than the warmth it has drawn by asking native regulation enforcement to carry out searches of issues like Flock’s ALPR databases on its behalf.
And it’s undoubtedly not true as a result of the identical Todd Lyons stated as a lot in a written response [PDF] to congressional queries that has solely just lately been made public.
Lyons in February: “There isn’t a database that’s monitoring United States residents.”
Lyons in April: “Nicely… aside from this one.”
Your letter asks what particular private data DHS officers acquire. ICE collects data to determine the individual(s) with whom the officer or agent is participating. Throughout these interactions, quite a lot of knowledge could also be collected by ICE regulation enforcement officers to implement federal immigration and felony regulation. ICE collects important biographic and biometric data and situational particulars required to assist felony investigations, security, and immigration considerations.
If people who work together with ICE officers usually are not arrested or detained, any data collected throughout these encounters is maintained according to relevant regulation and DHS and ICE insurance policies and is handled as an official authorities report.
That sounds like a database is being created and maintained — one which offers solely with people who find themselves not targets of immigration enforcement effort. And most of these folks can be (1) US residents and (2) protesters and observers participating with ICE officers.
Additional down within the letter, Lyons presents up one other phrase that sounds like a denial, however actually isn’t:
DHS isn’t creating or sustaining a separate, standalone database for people encountered that haven’t been arrested or detained.
That might imply one thing if no data was collected on these folks. However Lyons has already acknowledged that officers acquire this data. If DHS isn’t “creating or sustaining a separate database,” that solely means precisely what that claims. Nevertheless, it doesn’t imply DHS isn’t gathering and storing details about folks ICE officers “encounter” who usually are not “arrested or detained.”
Even when all relevant legal guidelines and retention requirements are being adopted (and DHS has given us little purpose to imagine it follows legal guidelines and requirements), this data remains to be being collected, saved, and — as a result of it’s there — accessed by federal officers.
And even when we select to imagine Lyons’ dissembling, we’re nonetheless left with the truth that folks figuring out themselves as federal staff are calling up residents who’ve completed nothing greater than train their First Modification rights and threatening them with being added to authorities databases. So, even when Lyons ain’t mendacity, the individuals who labored for him (till he stepped down) aren’t doing what Lyons thinks they’re doing. They’re doing the opposite factor: gathering data on protesters and observers for the only real purpose of maintaining a tally of them, if not truly monitoring them all the way down to harass them.
Filed Beneath: free speech, ice, protests, surveillance, todd lyons
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