The public Quizlet set contained information about alleged codes for specific facility entrances. 'Checkpoint doors code?' asked one card, with a specific four-digit combination listed in response.
Civil liberties experts warn the expanding use of those systems risks sweeping up citizens and noncitizens alike, often with little transparency or meaningful oversight. Over the past year, Homeland Security and other federal agencies have dramatically expanded their ability to collect, share and analyze people's personal data, thanks to a web of agreements with local, state, federal and international agencies, plus contracts with technology companies and data brokers.
Of the 15 officers who died in the line of duty while working for Enforcement and Removal Operations, the ICE branch charged with detaining unauthorized migrants within the interior of the US, all but two died of Covid. One deportation officer, Brian Beliso, died of a heart attack in 2020 during a foot chase. The other deportation officer to die of something other than Covid, Lorenzo Roberto Gomez, experienced heat stress during a training exercise in El Paso, Texas, leading to hospitalization.
Thao was detained so abruptly that the agents whisked him away in his underwear despite the frigid winter weather, sparking outrage from social media users who watched viral footage of the incident. Thao said the agents drove him to the middle of nowhere before making him exit the vehicle to take additional photos. Not long after, they discovered he was a U.S. citizen with no criminal record. He was returned after approximately an hour.