A previously unpublicized April 21 letter from acting ICE director Todd Lyons acknowledges ICE collects biographic and biometric information on people suspected of potential violations, including at protests, while denying it maintains a protesters database.
Lyons wrote, "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does not maintain any kind of database of U.S. citizens protesting ICE activities." He added, "If individuals who interact with ICE officers are not arrested or detained, any information collected during those encounters is maintained consistent with applicable law and DHS and ICE policies and is treated as an official government record."
The letter was sent in response to a February inquiry from Rep. Maxwell Frost and 11 other members of Congress asking what data the Department of Homeland Security collects on protesters, and the April 21 letter described the agency's collection practices.
Pediatric occupational therapist Xenia Pantos told reporters they stopped to observe masked federal agents in Portland and later learned an agent photographed another observer's license plate, and Pantos's spouse, Carly Williams, said a caller identifying themselves as from the Department of Homeland Security warned that "people who are doing that type of thing are getting added to a domestic terrorist watch list." DHS declined to comment on the couple's account.
JoAnna Suriani, a lawyer at the nonprofit Protect Democracy, said, "This letter is evidence of the fact that ICE is knowingly collecting and maintaining official government records on any protestor or lawful observer that its agents claim is potentially interfering with them or threatening agent safety." Suriani is representing Pantos, Williams and other observers in a federal lawsuit that alleges their First Amendment rights were violated.
A department spokesperson has repeatedly provided the statement: "There is NO database of 'domestic terrorists' run by DHS. We do of course monitor and investigate and refer all threats, assaults and obstruction of our officers to the appropriate law enforcement. Obstructing and assaulting law enforcement is a felony and a federal crime. Our law enforcement methods follow the U.S. constitution."
At a February congressional hearing, Lyons denied his agency was surveilling U.S. citizens. At a separate hearing last week, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said the department had used facial recognition technology on people gathered outside Delaney Hall and added, "I have zero tolerance. If you verbally assault our officers, you go after our vehicles, you assault our property, you assault one of our officers, we will find you, we will arrest you." Dozens of people have been arrested in connection with demonstrations at the facility, the letter said.
Observers in several states, including Minnesota and Tennessee, complained that agents photographed their faces and license plates and later determined their identities and where they lived, and the letter noted federal agents have access to surveillance tools including facial recognition and access to vehicle registration records using a license plate.
Several observers said their Global Entry status was revoked after interacting with federal immigration officials; the letter notes the Global Entry program is run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and allows expedited processing for pre-approved, low-risk travelers.
In January a DHS official sent a memo to some federal immigration agents temporarily assigned to Minneapolis instructing them to collect personal information about protesters and agitators, including license plates, identifications and images.
Scarlet Kim, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, said, "We know that very high level officials within DHS and Lyons himself have explicitly equated First Amendment-protected activities like video recording, gathering information about federal agents, and sharing that information publicly as essentially potential criminal acts that threaten officer safety." Kim is representing observers in Memphis and Minneapolis in federal lawsuits challenging agencies involved in immigration enforcement.