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Documents Show Gov Tracking Journalists and Lawyers at Border
From the Institute for Public Accuracy
The U.S. government is working with the Mexican government to target journalists, lawyers, and activists who were covering or supporting the migrant caravan at the border. See breaking story: “Source: Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Government Tracking Journalists and Immigration Advocates Through a Secret Database” from NBC San Diego, which includes the names, photos, dates of birth, countries of commencement and dispositions of 59 people, mostly U.S. citizens. The document labels the people as “organizer,” “instigator,” and “lawyer,” or “media.”
The list includes ten journalists, seven of whom are U.S. citizens, and three U.S. citizens on the list are identified as “Administrators of the Caravan Support Network Facebook Page.”
People on the list were subjected to secondary inspections at the border, and several were denied entry into Mexico. The whistleblower who leaked the documents said that Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) created dossiers on each person on the list that includes personal information.
The information was shared across CBP, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations and some agents from the San Diego sector of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
SUE UDRY, sue at rightsanddissent.org
CHIP GIBBONS, chip at rightsanddissent.org, @ rightsdissent
Udry is executive director of Defending Rights & Dissent, Gibbons is policy and legislative counsel for the group. Udry said today: “We’ve seen lawyers, activists, and journalists subject to unacceptable harassment and interrogation, with their electronic devices being searched or seized at the border for years. But this document provides clear evidence that the government is targeting people based on their First Amendment-protected activities. The U.S. border has become a Constitution-free zone, and CBP is an agency out of control. It’s time for Congress to step in to rein in the agency and reassert constitutional protections at the border.”
http://accuracy.org/release/breaking-documents-show-gov-tracking-journalists-and-lawyers-at-border/