Members of Congress to Homeland Security: Why are you tracking journalists on Mexican border?

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, speaks to reporters outside the Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 14, 2019. Castro said earlier this week he will decide soon whether to challenge U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, in 2020. less U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, speaks to reporters outside the Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 14, 2019. Castro said earlier this week he will decide soon whether to challenge U.S. ... more Photo: Andrew Harnik, STF / Associated Press Photo: Andrew Harnik, STF / Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Members of Congress to Homeland Security: Why are you tracking journalists on Mexican border? 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Texas U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus want the Homeland Security Department to explain why it keeps a database for tracking journalists, lawyers and advocates related to a migrant caravan that traveled to the border with Mexico last year.

In a letter today to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, the members of Congress demanded details on the information the agency collected and under what authority the program - called Operation Secure Line - was initiated.

“The fact that DHS would track U.S. journalists, attorneys and volunteers attempting to do their jobs when they have committed no crime is deeply concerning,” the letter read.

The letter referred to a March 6 report by an NBC affiliate in San Diego, based on leaked documents, about “a secret database of targets.”

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NBC 7 said documents, obtained from an unnamed government source, listed people identified for screening at the border and that some of them had been temporarily detained. In some cases, alerts were placed on passports, preventing at least two photojournalists and a lawyer from crossing the border, the report said.

In response, a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said that caravans traveling through Mexico to the U.S. border present “increased and new challenges to an already complicated and dangerous mission … It is protocol following these incidents to collect evidence that might be needed for future legal actions and to determine if the event was orchestrated.”

Castro, who chairs the Hispanic Caucus, and Rep. Veronica Escobar, of El Paso, were the two Texans who signed the letter.

“Reports that journalists have been held for 13-plus hours for questioning, have been stopped or returned from traveling to do their work, and that lawyers have had sensitive legal documents reviewed by CBP officials is likewise troubling,” the letter read.

“It suggests that the government may be using its power at the border to suppress reporting on issues it would prefer to shield from the public eye.”