The United States public has been treated to round after round of revelations disclosing that our actions — public and private, digital and physical, criminalized and legal — are tracked and surveilled in a bevy of ways. New realms of egregious privacy violations and excesses continue to be regularly broached by corporations and police. One of the most concerning contemporary cases is that of the…
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When most people think about immigration enforcement, they picture border crossings and airport checkpoints. But the new front line may be your social media feed. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has published a request for information for private-sector contractors to launch a round-the-clock social media monitoring program. The request states that private contractors will be paid to…
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Civil rights attorneys are suing the Trump administration to force the release of records detailing whether federal immigration agencies are using sophisticated Israeli spyware to track, monitor, and target immigrants and activists across the country. The lawsuit, filed on Oct. 30 in federal court by Just Futures Law and the Center for Constitutional Rights, demands that Immigration and…
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Money has always distorted U.S. politics, but the current Trump regime has entered new territory with an unabashed pay-to-play setup that’s stuffing the president’s political coffers while enriching him and his family. Donald Trump’s coldly transactional dealings have been on full display as he’s tapped billionaire allies and major corporations to shower his administration with donations to…
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A proposed change to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rule could impose “biological sex” DNA testing on millions of immigrants and Americans as part of the Department’s mass biometric surveillance program — which also includes retinal scans, voice capture, and more. In addition to the obvious human rights violations posed by the changes — which, among other things…
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On September 3, Illinois prison officials moved — by emergency rule — to replace most physical mail with scanned copies, though a key legislative panel has already pushed back. At the same time, New York is installing mail scanners in prisons, raising alarms about privacy and attorney-client privilege. Texas has already shifted to “digital mail,” where letters are scanned and delivered on tablets…
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