S.T.O.P. Report Details Local Police Deportation Data Partnerships with ICE

Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights group, released...

View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Report Details Local Police Deportation Data Partnerships With ICE (New York, NY 11/19/24) – Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights group, released Deportation Data Centers: How Fusion Centers Circumvent Sanctuary City Laws, a report detailing how Department Of Homeland Security-backed fusion centers drive deportation by enabling ICE to coopt local police data. Fusion centers’ sweeping, nationwide network combines state and regional data sharing centers to promote law enforcement collaboration, including ICE. Deportation Data Centers comes shortly after Donald Trump’s reelection brings renewed attention to the scale of American immigration enforcement. SEE: Report - Deportation Data Centers: How Fusion Centers Circumvent Sanctuary City Laws https://www.stopspying.org/deportation-data-centers Politico - Trump’s immigration crackdown is expected to start on Day 1 https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/18/immigration-100-days-trump-executive-action-00189286 “Fusion centers could easily expedite President-elect Trump’s plan to achieve record deportations,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Research Director Eleni Manis. “They’ve repeatedly helped ICE track down immigrants, including in cities and states that bar collusion and data-sharing for deportation purposes. Fusion centers also pose a clear threat to national security. Foreign powers’ persistently recruit American police officers. It’s outrageous, then, that fusion centers give thousands of officers systematic access to national security agencies’ databases. Cities and states need to cut ties with fusion centers now.” “You can’t be both a sanctuary city and a surveillance state,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “Many of the cities and counties that pledge to defend immigrant communities are actively sharing data with ICE that can be used to attack them. These centers have been national security bait-and-switch, abjectly failing at the original counter-terrorism mission, but succeeding at creating a potent threat to our undocumented neighbors. These surveillance boondoggles waste hundreds of millions each year, failing to deliver over and over again on their stated purpose.” Key Findings Include: DHS fusion centers spend over $400 million each year to expand federal, state, and local intelligence sharing, including ICE; Fusion centers enable ICE to coopt local police databases and surveillance tools (like facial recognition) that otherwise couldn’t be used for deportation purposes; Fusion center participants routinely give ICE sensitive data, violating state and local protections for undocumented immigrants; Local police officers use fusion centers to encourage ICE to target suspects when officers cannot find enough evidence to bring charges, effectively deporting their cold cases; Fusion centers’ opacity allows them to routinely violate state and local civil rights laws without consequence. S.T.O.P. is an advocate of the New York For All Act, which would prohibit New York’s state and local government agencies from colluding with ICE, disclosing data, and diverting resources to further federal immigration enforcement. In 2021, S.T.O.P. joined other prominent civil rights groups in filing a lawsuit on behalf of a group of California civil rights activists against Thomson Reuters, claiming the company’s CLEAR database collects millions of Californians’ utility records, criminal histories, credit reports, photographs, and other records and sells that data to ICE. SEE - New York State Senate - Bill S987 https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S987 New York Focus - Will Hochul Fight Trump’s Plan for ‘Mass Deportations’? https://nysfocus.com/2024/11/12/new-york-hochul-donald-trump-plan-deportations S.T.O.P. – Thomson Reuters CLEAR Lawsuit https://www.stopspying.org/clear The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color. --END-- Copyright © 2021 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.