Surveillance More Americans see their electronic equipment seized by DHS at the border

Published 25 September 2013

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has released details of an investigation showing how U.S. law enforcement and other agencies exceed their powers in the name of homeland security. The ACLU points to the practice of the U.S. border agents searching and seizing the electronic devices of Americans at the border. Public data shows that more Americans are having their electronic devices searched.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has released details of an investigation showing how U.S. law enforcement and other agencies exceed their powers in the name of homeland security. The ACLU points to the practice of the U.S. border agents searching and seizing the electronic devices of Americans at the border. Public data shows that more Americans are having their electronic devices searched.

RT reports that David House, a member of the Bradley Manning Supporter Network, was detained by DHS agents at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport in November 2010. The case was similar that that involving David Miranda, the partner of Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian journalist who broke the story on NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Miranda’s case involved British authorities detaining Miranda for nine hours and confiscating his electronic devices.

Government agents at O’Hare interrogated House about his political activities. House was forced to surrender his laptop, camera, and USB device for seven weeks. The ACLU states that “Even after the government returned House’s physical devices, it continued to actively investigate copies of his files for nearly six more months.”

The ACLU filed a lawsuit claiming the government detained and seized House solely due to his association with the Bradley Manning Support Network, “violating both his First Amendment right to freedom of association and his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.” In response to a judge’s ruling in March 2012, the U.S. government agreed to a settlement in which it would destroy all the personal data it acquired from House’s electronic devices and also turn over documents related to its investigation of House.

RT notes that the ACLU revealed that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unit, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), now the second-largest law enforcement agency in the United States, labeled House as “lookout” in a government database called TECS, thereby notifying U.S. agents nationwide that House was wanted for questioning in connection with the Department of Justice’s investigation into Bradley Manning and Wikileaks.

The TECS database is linked to the Advance Passenger Information System which sent an automated notification that House would be traveling abroad and returning to Chicago on the 3 November 2010. HSI was then able to coordinate with agents at the airport to detain House upon his arrival. “House’s case provides a perfect example of how the government uses its border search authority to skirt the protections afforded by the Fourth Amendment,” says the ACLU. “The government enjoys wider latitude to search people and their belongings at the border than it possesses elsewhere, for the purpose of protecting our borders.”