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![handle is hein.brennan/scmdshm0001 and id is 1 raw text is:
BRENNAN
CENTER
CIRJUST E November 15,2019
Social Media Surveillance by Homeland Security Investigations:
A Threat to Immigrant Communities and Free Expression
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has become the subject of national ire over its role in the Trump
administration's harassment, intimidation, and deportation of immigrants and immigrant families. While most attention
has focused on ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), which is responsible for detention and
deportation, far less attention has been paid to the agency's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). HSI, primarily
known for investigating cross-border criminal activity, has quietly become the backbone of the White House's
immigration enforcement apparatus. Its operations increasingly focus on investigating civil immigration violations,
facilitating deportations carried out by ERO, and conducting surveillance of First Amendment-protected expression,
often using information pulled from social media - data that is frequently unreliable and difficult to interpret. Risks of
online surveillance include the chilling effect on speech, intrusions into privacy, and the likelihood of discrimination in
deployment and impact. And there is little proof that the use of such data by HSI -which will affect American citizens
and residents as well as immigrant populations -will keep the country safer.
1. HSI conducts overbroad, open-ended, and unaccountable social media surveillance. HSI's scope of
operations has expanded far beyond enforcing the laws under the agency's purview, including using social media to
target vocal critics of the administration and to collect information on First Amendment-protected activities.
* Tracking Anti-Trump Protests: In summer 2018, HSI used Facebook to monitor Anti-Trump protests in
New York City. Agents maintained and disseminated a , _,sh-et tracking the protests, the left-wing organizing
groups, their political goals, and the number of people who signed up on Facebook to attend the protests.
* Interrogating Lawyers, Journalists, and Advocates at the Border: Since 2018, lawyers, journalists, and
advocates have been investigated, harassed, detained, and deported in retaliation for their humanitarian and
documentary work at the U.S.-Mexico border. As part of an international, interagency operation involving ICE,
Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Mexican government,
HSI collected information and created d on American and foreign advocates, journalists, and lawyers, in
part based on their social media activity.
* Searching Electronic Devices: Within 100 miles of any U.S. border and during ICE's wide-ranging
investigations, HSI clair s the right to access the information on electronic devices (e.g., cell phones, laptops,
tablets, thumb drives) and in social media accounts wih t When HSI agents search the device of
someone trying to enter into the U.S., near the border, or otherwise encountered during ICE operations, they can
use hand-held tools to instantly unlock, decrypt, and download the full contents of the device, including il d
from the individual's Facebook and Twitter accounts. These searches inevitably pick up information about
American friends, family members, business associates, and online contacts. HSI uses the social media data
extracted from devices to map out social networks to fuel further investigations and intelligence operations.
2. HSI exploits social media information to target vulnerable populations and those speaking out against the
administration's immigration policies, often based on extremely thin evidence.
* Social Media Surveillance for Extreme Vetting: HSI has p]Ls to continwously monitor the moment-by-
moment social media activity of 10,000 foreign visitors flagged as high-risk, from the time of travelers' visa
applications throughout their time in the U.S. HSI personnel are expected to conduct this surveillance manually,
though the program originally aimed to use social media posts to algorithmically predict whether a traveler would
be a positively contributing member of society and make contributions to the national interest - criteria
drawn from the President's blatantly discriminatory first Vslff b i; , and likely to impact the same group of
people as the ban itself. This monitoring will impinge upon free speech; anyone wanting to come to the U.S. will
be reluctant to post on controversial topics, as will Americans communicating with them.
Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law
120 Broadway, Suite 1750 NewYork, NY 10271](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.brennan/scmdshm0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)