Emerald Tse
@ehtse.bsky.social
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researcher/advocate focusing on privacy issues
reposted by
Emerald Tse
Center on Privacy & Technology
12 days ago
Last week, SoCalâs Monterey Park passed the nationâs first voter-approved permanent citywide data center ban. Communities rejecting data centers, âalso targets of ICE raids, are drawing connections between the two,â writes
@ehtse.bsky.social
in a new op-ed for
@coloradoboulevard.bsky.social
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Data Centers Are Powering ICE: Communities Are Pushing Back
GUEST OPINION From Monterey Park to City of Industry, Montebello, El Monte, Covina, and more, data center protests have spread across the SGV. These communities, also targets of I
https://www.coloradoboulevard.net/data-centers-are-powering-ice-communities-are-pushing-back
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5 months ago
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Emerald Tse
Johana Bhuiyan
9 months ago
In 2021, a 25-year-old US citizen had their DNA collected by CBP at a Chicago airport according to new govt data. They were just one of about 2000 US citizens who had their DNA collected by border agents & shared with the FBI including some as young as 14.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
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US border patrol collected DNA from thousands of US citizens for years, data shows
CBP officers took DNA samples from about 2,000 citizens, some as young as 14 and many who never faced criminal charges, new analysis shows
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/23/us-border-patrol-dna-data?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
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Emerald Tse
WIRED
9 months ago
Newly released data shows Customs and Border Protection funneled the DNA of nearly 2,000 US citizensâsome as young as 14âinto an FBI crime database, raising alarms about oversight and legality.
www.wired.com/story/dhs-ha...
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DHS Has Been Collecting US Citizensâ DNA for Years
Newly released data shows Customs and Border Protection funneled the DNA of nearly 2,000 US citizensâsome as young as 14âinto an FBI crime database, raising alarms about oversight and legality.
https://www.wired.com/story/dhs-has-been-collecting-us-citizens-dna-for-years/
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Emerald Tse
Center on Privacy & Technology
9 months ago
When we published our 2024 report âRaiding the Genome,â we suspected that DHS agents might be taking DNA from US citizens. We can now confirm that those suspicions were correct.
www.raidingthegenome.org
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Emerald Tse
Center on Privacy & Technology
11 months ago
Thank you
@pressley.house.gov
for bringing attention to DHSâs abusive DNA collection program in Congress this week. The public deserves transparency about how federal immigration enforcement handles peopleâs sensitive genetic material.
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Rep. Pressley Slams DHS for Stealing Immigrantsâ DNA and Giving to FBI Databases
YouTube video by Rep. Ayanna Pressley
https://youtu.be/H71Sqb8peHo
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Emerald Tse
Just Futures Law
11 months ago
CBP is looking to expand cell phone hacking capabilities for seized phones at the border. The more CBP has access to our private data, the more they will continue to bypass due process and justify their unlawful deportations
www.wired.com/story/cbp-wa...
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CBP Wants New Tech to Search for Hidden Data on Seized Phones
Customs and Border Protection is asking companies to pitch tools for performing deep analysis on the contents of devices seized at the US border.
https://www.wired.com/story/cbp-wants-new-tech-to-search-for-hidden-data-on-seized-phones/
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Emerald Tse
Spencer Reynolds
11 months ago
Border Patrol is buying new tech... "advanced AI" to surveil dense residential areas? Automated surveillance towers? Tech to see through walls?? I talked to
@sambiddle.com
of
@theintercept.com
about serious risks amid the agency's increasingly aggressive behavior.
theintercept.com/2025/07/23/c...
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Border Patrol Wants Advanced AI to Spy on American Cities
A Customs and Border Protection âIndustry Dayâ deck also asks for drones, seismic sensors, and tech that can see through walls.
https://theintercept.com/2025/07/23/cbp-border-patrol-ai-surveillance/
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reposted by
Emerald Tse
Center on Privacy & Technology
11 months ago
This week,
@wyden.senate.gov
cited findings from our recent update to the âRaiding the Genomeâ report in an oversight letter to DHS and DOJ, raising important questions about the massive DNA collection program led by those agencies.
www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-r...
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Wyden Demands Answers on Shadowy, Mass Collection of DNA from Immigrants by DHS | U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon
The Official U.S. Senate website of Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon
https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-demands-answers-on-shadowy-mass-collection-of-dna-from-immigrants-by-dhs
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Emerald Tse
Andrew Couts
11 months ago
NEW:
@wyden.senate.gov
is pressing DHS and DOJ to answer questions about the collection of children's DNA, which is being added to a criminal database.
@dell.bsky.social
has the scoop:
www.wired.com/story/dhs-an...
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DHS Faces New Pressure Over DNA Taken From Immigrant Children
The US government has added the DNA of approximately 133,000 migrant children and teens to a criminal database, which critics say could mean police treat them like suspects âindefinitely.â
https://www.wired.com/story/dhs-and-doj-face-new-pressure-over-collecting-childrens-dna/
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reposted by
Emerald Tse
Center on Privacy & Technology
11 months ago
âItâs very clear that the current goal is to continue to grow digital surveillance and use it for whatever this current administration decides,â our Associate
@ehtse.bsky.social
told
@prismreports.org
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I was interviewed for this piece:
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11 months ago
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Emerald Tse
Joseph Cox
12 months ago
New from 404 Media: ICE is searching a massive insurance and medical bill database to find deportation targets, according to internal ICE material. The database is all encompassing, contains details on 1.8 billion insurance claims and 58 million medical bills
www.404media.co/ice-is-searc...
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ICE Is Searching a Massive Insurance and Medical Bill Database to Find Deportation Targets
The database, called ISO ClaimSearch, is nearly all encompassing and contains details on more than 1.8 billion insurance claims and 58 million medical bills.
https://www.404media.co/ice-is-searching-a-massive-insurance-and-medical-bill-database-to-find-deportation-targets/
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reposted by
Emerald Tse
Center on Privacy & Technology
12 months ago
Last year, we published âRaiding the Genome: How the United States Government Is Abusing Its Immigration Powers to Amass DNA for Future Policing.â Since then, weâve continued to research DHSâs DNA-collection program. Today, weâre sharing some updates.
raidingthegenome.org
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Emerald Tse
Alejandra Caraballo
12 months ago
Struggling with the work/they're building concentration camps balance.
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Had a great chat with
@mludwig.bsky.social
for this important piece
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about 1 year ago
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Emerald Tse
Jason Koebler
about 1 year ago
Gonna try to be nuanced here and speak broadly: There are several reasons to be skeptical of driverless cars, but the biggest one is the fact that they need to record everything in order to function. And then police see them as an extension of the surveillance state and act accordingly
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Waymo Pauses Service in Downtown LA Neighborhood Where They're Getting Lit on Fire
A company spokesperson said it is working with law enforcement to determine when it can move the cars that have been.
https://www.404media.co/waymo-pauses-service-in-downtown-la-neighborhood-where-theyre-getting-lit-on-fire/
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Emerald Tse
Jeff Yang
about 1 year ago
ICE arrested 36 Chinese & Taiwanese immigrants after raiding an LA nightclub. That's them, ziptied on the sidewalk. Yo Asiansâif you weren't already outraged and mobilizing on behalf of others, guess what? That "First they came for the..." poem has gotten up to us.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
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reposted by
Emerald Tse
Center on Privacy & Technology
about 1 year ago
As the Trump administration ramps up immigration enforcement in the nation's interior, itâs trying to issue a $25 million contract for DNA testing. "The mass collection of this data leaves it open for abuse," Associate
@ehtse.bsky.social
told
@bloomberg.com
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ICE Moves to DNA-Test Families Targeted for Deportation with New Contract
Advocates worry the tests will pave the way for the Trump administration to separate children from their caregivers.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-04/trump-administration-s-ice-wants-25-million-to-dna-test-immigrant-families
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Quoted in this!
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about 1 year ago
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Emerald Tse
Justin Hendrix
about 1 year ago
"The push has put a key Palantir product called Foundry into at least four federal agencies, including D.H.S. and the Health and Human Services Department. Widely adopting Foundry, which organizes and analyzes data, paves the way for Mr. Trump to easily merge information from different agencies..."
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Trump Taps Palantir to Compile Data on Americans
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/technology/trump-palantir-data-americans.html
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The privacy expert is
@sglabe.bsky.social
! She says: âThatâs not immigration enforcement. Thatâs genetic surveillance.â
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about 1 year ago
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Emerald Tse
WIRED
about 1 year ago
NEW: The US government has collected DNA samples from 133,000+ migrant children and teenagers and uploaded them into CODIS, a national criminal database originally built for convicted sex offenders and violent criminals, according to documents reviewed by WIRED.
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The US Is Storing Migrant Childrenâs DNA in a Criminal Database
Customs and Border Protection has swabbed the DNA of migrant children as young as 4, whose genetic data is uploaded to an FBI-run database that can track them if they commit crimes in the future.
https://www.wired.com/story/cbp-dna-migrant-children-fbi-codis/
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Emerald Tse
Jason Koebler
about 1 year ago
SCOOP: ICE, HSI, and DHS are getting side-door access to the nationwide system of Flock license plate cameras by asking local police to perform lookups for them, new public records show. ICE does *not* have a contract to use this surveillance tool itself.
www.404media.co/ice-taps-int...
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ICE Taps into Nationwide AI-Enabled Camera Network, Data Shows
Flock's automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras are in more than 5,000 communities around the U.S. Local police are doing lookups in the nationwide system for ICE.
https://www.404media.co/ice-taps-into-nationwide-ai-enabled-camera-network-data-shows/
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TX Gov. Abbott has been test running this for the past few years. To understand what this might look like nationwide, we need to look to âOperation Lone Star.â Sharing more below
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about 1 year ago
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reposted by
Emerald Tse
Center on Privacy & Technology
about 1 year ago
Three years ago, we released âAmerican Dragnet: Data-Driven Deportation in the 21st Century.â The report describes the surveillance apparatus that Trump is using to target immigrants, activists and anyone else who challenges his agenda. Weâre re-releasing it today with a new foreword.
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American Dragnet | Data-Driven Deportation in the 21st Century
One of two American adults is in a law enforcement face recognition database. An investigation.
https://americandragnet.org/
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Emerald Tse
dell cameron
about 1 year ago
SCOOP: CFBP just cancelled plans to implement new rules that would have tightened restrictions on what sensitive personal info data brokers are allowed to sell. The rule was proposed after data about US servicemembers was repeatedly exposed in which experts term a national security nightmare.
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CFBP Quietly Kills Rule to Shield Americans From Data Brokers
Russell Vought, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has canceled plans to more tightly regulate the sale of Americansâ sensitive personal data.
https://www.wired.com/story/cfbp-quietly-kills-rule-to-shield-americans-from-data-brokers/
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reposted by
Emerald Tse
Center on Privacy & Technology
about 1 year ago
ICYMI: NIH is building a national health database. "We know that health information is incredibly sensitive. When people go to their healthcare provider, they're giving up that information because they have to in order to receive a service." - Associate
@ehtse.bsky.social
, to
@nbcwashington.com
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NIH director proposes national health database, sparks privacy concerns
Privacy experts are sounding the alarm after the federal government announced a plan earlier this week to create a health database of the U.S. population. National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bh...
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/health/nih-director-proposes-national-health-database-sparks-privacy-concerns/3898271/
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Emerald Tse
The Lever
about 1 year ago
đšSCOOP: The aviation industry is now selling airline passengers' private info to Trump's immigration enforcers and the data is fed into a secretive government intelligence operation, according to documents reviewed by The Lever.
www.levernews.com/airlines-are...
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Airlines Are Collecting Your Data And Selling It To ICE
An aviation industry clearinghouse is collecting passenger information from billions of past and future flights and selling it to Trumpâs immigration enforcers.
https://www.levernews.com/airlines-are-collecting-your-data-and-selling-it-to-ice/
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Emerald Tse
Just Futures Law
about 1 year ago
Texas is building a surveillance apparatus. Many technology acquisitions have been made under Operation Lone Star, with a hefty price tag of $11 billion.
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Texasâ AI-powered surveillance arsenal has ballooned. Proposed laws provide few guardrails.
Operation Lone Star has turbocharged DPSâ surveillance capabilities. Lawmakers say they want to prevent Texas from becoming a police state but have filed only modest legislation to regulate use of AI.
https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/texas-ai-powered-surveillance-artificial-intelligence-guardrails-legislation-dps-operation-lone-star/
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Emerald Tse
Julia Angwin
about 1 year ago
Elon Musk may or may not fulfill his promise to step back from DOGE. But his legacy is already clear: He is assembling a sprawling domestic surveillance system â the likes of which we have never seen in the United States. My latest for NYT Opinion (gift link):
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/o...
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Opinion | Elon Muskâs Legacy: DOGEâs Construction of a Surveillance State (Gift Article)
DOGE is rapidly assembling a sprawling monitoring system, the foundation of many authoritarian regimes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/opinion/musk-doge-data-ai.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Dk8.vyAK.kc1VVGj9yyJp&smid=url-share
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Is there a better way to communicate the Overton window? Itâs a useful framework, but most folks dont know what it is. And even if you explain it theyâre gonna forget what itâs called.
about 1 year ago
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Emerald Tse
Tech Policy Press
about 1 year ago
Tech Policy Press fellow Dia Kayyali spoke to six experts to shed some light on what we do and donât know about how the Trump administration may be using AI for immigration enforcement, and how at-risk travelers, visa holders, and citizens can stay safer.
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Ask the Experts: AI Surveillance and US Immigration Enforcement | TechPolicy.Press
Tech Policy Press fellow Dia Kayyali spoke to experts about how the Trump administration may be using AI for immigration enforcement.
https://www.techpolicy.press/ask-the-experts-ai-surveillance-and-us-immigration-enforcement/
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Emerald Tse
Jake Snow
about 1 year ago
Folks this isn't complicated. AI regulations are sensibly a part of privacy law. Privacy gives people control over the use of information about them. When a computer deprives people of a job or a loan, that's a privacy harm.
www.kqed.org/news/1203751...
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Newsom Signals to California Privacy Watchdog That Heâs on Big Techâs Side on AI Regulation | KQED
In an unusual letter to the California Privacy Protection Agencyâs board, Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging the regulators to dial back proposed regulations on automated decision-making technology.
https://www.kqed.org/news/12037518/newsom-signals-to-california-privacy-watchdog-that-hes-on-big-techs-side-on-ai-regulation
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Emerald Tse
S.T.O.P.âSurveillance Technology Oversight Project
about 1 year ago
âIt is hypocrisy in the most rage-inducing form to offer lip service while handing over the names of your own residents to the Trump administration.â -
@foxcahn.bsky.social
Read more:
nysfocus.com/2025/04/23/t...
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The New York State Police Are Feeding ICE a Gang Database
For 20 years, the state police have been quietly building a database of suspected gang members â and they're feeding it to Donald Trump's administration.
https://nysfocus.com/2025/04/23/trump-ice-new-york-gang-database-deportation
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This week, the NIH announced plans to build a database pulling sensitive health records from federal and commercial sources. I spoke to
@nbcwashington.com
about the serious privacy concerns this raises.
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NIH director proposes national health database, sparks privacy concerns
Privacy experts are sounding the alarm after the federal government announced a plan earlier this week to create a health database of the U.S. population. National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bh...
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/health/nih-director-proposes-national-health-database-sparks-privacy-concerns/3898271/
about 1 year ago
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Emerald Tse
Olga Nesterova
about 1 year ago
Sen Van Hollen met with El Salvador's Vice President Félix Ulloa, who told him that the reason they are holding Kilmar Abrego Garcia at CECOT is because the Trump admin is paying them to do so. They also provided no evidence that Abrego Garcia is part of MS-13 or committed any crimes.
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Emerald Tse
Sam Biddle
about 1 year ago
USCIS just re-upped its subscription to LexisNexis for $3.4 millionâI've previously covered how ICE uses this sprawling database of personal data to locate immigrants in this country
theintercept.com/2021/04/02/i...
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Emerald Tse
The Markup
about 1 year ago
Over 300 agencies in 38 states have now signed up to participate in the program. We launched a tool to help you keep track who they are and whatâs their participation level:
themarkup.org/tools/2025/0...
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Hereâs Every Local Police Agency Enforcing for ICE â The Markup
Partnerships more than doubled during the first months of Trump's current term under a program known as 287(g)
https://themarkup.org/tools/2025/04/16/law-enforcement-ice-cooperation-tracker
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Emerald Tse
Sam Halpert
about 1 year ago
Even accepting the premise that AI produces useful writing (which no one should), using AI in education is like using a forklift at the gym. The weights do not actually need to be moved from place to place. That is not the work. The work is what happens within you.
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Emerald Tse
Francesca D'Annunzio
about 1 year ago
NEW: Under Operation Lone Star, Texas DPS has quietly built out an expansive surveillance apparatusâone thatâs increasingly powered by artificial intelligence. Proposed laws provide few guardrails.đ§” w/
@texasobserver.org
+
@pulitzercenter.bsky.social
www.texasobserver.org/texas-dps-su...
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Texasâ AI-Powered Surveillance Arsenal Has Ballooned. Proposed Laws Provide Few Guardrails.
Operation Lone Star has turbocharged DPSâ surveillance capabilities. Lawmakers say they want to prevent Texas from becoming a police state but have filed only modest legislation to regulate use of AI.
https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-dps-surveillance-arsenal-artificial-intelligence-lege/
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Emerald Tse
gaby :)
over 1 year ago
wrote about the common denominator in all the stories of CBP arresting, deporting, and in one case allegedly torturing legal immigrants at airports: mass surveillance
www.theverge.com/policy/63284...
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The airport panopticon is getting people deported and detained
One lawyer called it a âfeedback loopâ of surveillance.
https://www.theverge.com/policy/632843/cbp-phone-search-airport-arrest-mass-deportations
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Emerald Tse
ACRE Campaigns
over 1 year ago
Today, we released new research on the impact of Uberâs AI terminations on rideshare drivers & how drivers are fighting back. Futurism got the exclusive.
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Uber Drivers Say They're Getting Locked Out of the App and Trapped in a Kafkaesque Limbo When They Try to Dispute It
Drivers for rideshare giants like Uber say they're being suddenly deactivated on the apps, with no fair process to dispute the decision.
https://bit.ly/3FC1fmx
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Emerald Tse
The Guardian
over 1 year ago
Iâm the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped
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Iâm the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped
I was stuck in a freezing cell without explanation despite eventually having lawyers and media attention. Yet, compared with others, I was lucky
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/canadian-detained-us-immigration-jasmine-mooney?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=bsky_gu&utm_medium=&utm_source=Bluesky#Echobox=1742379149
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Emerald Tse
Center for Constitutional Rights
over 1 year ago
Must read: Mahmoud Khalil speaks out for the first time since his arrest by the Trump administration in an exclusive letter, dictated over the phone to his family, from ICE detention in Louisiana.
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Emerald Tse
Nicole Bedera
over 1 year ago
If there's one thing that domestic violence research has taught me, it's that abusers set up no-win scenarios. They punish you whether you cooperate with them or whether you push back. The only way out is to strengthen ties with people outside of the relationship who can create new, better options.
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Joseph Cox
over 1 year ago
New: we've obtained a leaked list of the more than 200 sites, services, apps an ICE surveillance contractor monitors. Bluesky, OnlyFans, many more. Used to track targets. Highly relevant with the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil by ICE. We've published the full list here:
www.404media.co/the-200-site...
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The 200+ Sites an ICE Surveillance Contractor is Monitoring
404 Media has obtained the list of sites and services that ICE contractor ShadowDragon pulls data from. ShadowDragon sources data from all over the web and lets government analysts easily search it an...
https://www.404media.co/the-200-sites-an-ice-surveillance-contractor-is-monitoring/
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Silky Shah
over 1 year ago
This is why we must fight for everyone. Whether theyâve been incarcerated or have had contact with the criminal legal system or are merely undocumented. When you accept that some people are deserving of detention and deportation the scope of who is eligible is always under threat of expanding.
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Josh Chafetz
over 1 year ago
With his permission, I'm sharing Dean Treanor's response to Ed Martin's letter:
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