A report dubbed "American Dragnet: Data-Driven Deportation in the 21st Century" revealed that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has a "dragnet surveillance system" that enables it to access the information of millions of people in the US.

The Georgetown Law's Center for Privacy report found that ICE "operates as a domestic surveillance agency."

Conducted by researchers Nina Wang, Allison McDonald, Daniel Bateyko, and Emily Tucker, the two-year investigation said that since its founding in 2003, ICE has "not only been building its own capacity to use surveillance to carry out deportations, but has also played a key role in the federal government's larger push to amass as much information as possible about all of our lives."

ICE can access data of up to 3 out of 4 people 

The published report revealed that ICE can access data of up to three out of four people in the US through facial recognition data from motor vehicle departments and geolocation data by some private companies and police.

In 2019, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU) revealed that "Over 80 local law enforcement agencies, from over a dozen states, have agreed to share license plate location information with ICE. Emails show local police handing driver information over to ICE informally, violating local law and ICE policies."

The researchers reviewed 100,000 contracts signed by ICE between 2008-2021 and found that the agency spent $2.8 billion on new surveillance, data collection, and data-sharing initiatives.

Crossing legal and ethical lines

ICE began secretly using facial recognition technology in 2008 in order to access data from Rhode Island's motor vehicle department in search of people.

According to the report, the agency has "built its dragnet surveillance system by crossing legal and ethical lines, leveraging the trust that people place in state agencies and essential service providers, and exploiting the vulnerability of people who volunteer their information to reunite with their families."

The researchers highlighted that ICE can breach people's trust and secretly access the information of "undocumented" people applying for driver's licenses in 16 states and Washington D.C.

"When undocumented drivers apply for licenses, they place a significant amount of trust in the state that their information will not be used against them," the report explained, adding that ICE can "warrantlessly search through state driver records for the purpose of civil immigration enforcement."

Using minors to target unauthorized people

In addition, the researchers said that ICE used unaccompanied minors coming from Mexico to target family members that are not authorized to be in the US.

The report read that "Despite the incredible scope and evident civil rights implications of ICE's surveillance practices, the agency has managed to shroud those practices in near-total secrecy, evading enforcement of even the handful of laws and policies that could be invoked to impose limitations."

In response, an ICE spokesperson claimed that "Like other law enforcement agencies, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employs various forms of technology to investigate violations of the law, while appropriately respecting civil liberties and privacy interests."

"ICE focuses its civil immigration enforcement activities on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety, and border security," she added.

No congressional hearing to date

The report pointed out that the agency's expanding surveillance efforts remained secret, and have "regularly flown under Congress' radar."

The researchers underscored that "While a few political leaders have pressed ICE in oversight letters and used appropriations riders to end the most aggressive of ICE's actions, to date there has not been one full congressional hearing or Government Accountability Office report focused on ICE surveillance."