Comments needed: Trump’s DHS is spying on immigrants

The comment to the Department of Homeland Security reads: “The Department of Homeland Security’s new rule on recording, and sharing the social media activities of all immigrants and anyone who interacts with them online with other federal agencies, is xenophobic and unacceptable. I strongly oppose this policy. The DHS and other federal agencies should not be singling out or surveilling any American simply because they were born in another country.”

Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is taking the federal government’s online surveillance of immigrants to new and dangerous levels. The DHS just introduced a rule that would expand the immigration records of visa holders, permanent residents and naturalized citizens to include their social media accounts, search results and online conversations.1 We cannot remain silent while an administration led by a bigot who thinks Nazis and white supremacists are “very fine people,” scapegoats, criminalizes and spies on immigrants. The DHS is accepting public comments on its new rule until Oct. 18. This is a timely opportunity for us to document the massive public opposition to Trump’s craven attempts to undermine the civil rights and civil liberties of immigrants. Help us flood the DHS with comments opposing this new anti-immigrant policy now. Reject Trump’s xenophobic profiling of immigrants. Click here to submit your comment. To be clear: The DHS has been monitoring the online activities of foreign nationals for years, but its new rule extends online surveillance records to include the social media activities of lawful permanent residents, naturalized citizens and anyone who interacts with them online. This is an unprecedented and dangerous new step. The DHS should not spy on Americans just because they were born in another country. Its new policy could prevent immigrants from exercising their right to free speech, voicing dissent and communicating with family members and other support systems online. There is no reason to suspect the millions of immigrants in the United States of criminal behavior, but that has not stopped Trump from data mining immigrants’ social media profiles in the name of public safety.2 After the election, Customs and Border Patrol quietly began asking foreign nationals for their social media handles at border crossings throughout the country.3 Then in February, Trump’s DHS unveiled a new visa survey that requires applicants to provide 15 years of detailed travel history, a complete work history and social media handles and email addresses going back five years.4 Trump's xenophobic administration is intentionally making an already extensive visa vetting process even more complicated to keep immigrants out of the country. With new administrative barriers, like Trump’s visa survey, and increased online surveillance, the DHS is positioned to jam up and reject more visa applicants because of minor mistakes on their forms and ungrounded assumptions about their potential threat to public safety based on their social media activity. Trump’s DHS is so committed to violating the civil rights and civil liberties of immigrants, and every person who interacts with them online that it is already planning to ignore the public comments on its rule-making. The public comment period for its new rule closes on the same day the rule goes into effect. CREDO will work with allies to challenge this anti-immigrant policy on every front once the DHS starts to enforce it, but we are also teaming up with our friends at Center for Media Justice, Demand Progress, Presente and United We Dream now to draw as much attention as possible to Trump’s deplorable actions and put our opposition into the public record. Reject Trump’s xenophobic profiling of immigrants. Click the link below to submit your comment: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/dhs_socialmedia?t=7&akid=25351%2E3130208%2EslMjzQ - Nicole Regalado CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: Joel Rose, “Federal Plan To Keep Files Of Immigrant Social Media Activity Causes Alarm,” NPR, Sept. 30, 2017. Lily Hay Newman, “Feds monitoring social media does more harm than good,” Wired, Sept. 28, 2017. Edward Helmore, “US government collecting social media information from foreign travelers,” The Guardian, Dec. 26, 2016. Drew Schwartz, “You Need Superhuman Memory to Fill Out Trump’s New Visa Survey,” Vice, June 1, 2017.

Parents of DACA recipients are not criminals. Tweet, email, and call your Senators today to demand a clean DREAM Act!

Abril wrote, 

I’m a student, an activist, and a DACA recipient.

I’ve been living in Arizona since my family fled violence in Mexico when I was 12 years old. My parents brought us to the States to keep us safe and to give my three brothers and I access to a good education.

Thousands of Dreamers like me are now in limbo because of Trump’s repeal of DACA, the program that has protected undocumented youth from deportation. And today is the last day for Dreamers to renew their status.

Dreamers urgently need legislation that allows us to continue to live and work and go to school in the country we call home. But we refuse to be bargaining chips for the criminalization of our parents.

My two younger brothers and I have DACA, but my parents and my older brother who aged out of the program are undocumented. What good would it be for me to have protection if it means tripling their risk of deportation and separating our family?

This is why it’s so important for Congress to pass a clean DREAM Act that protects immigrant youth, but doesn’t include any strings attached, like increased border militarization or more enforcement of Trump’s massive deportation machine.

Tweet, email, and call your Members of Congress today to demand a clean DREAM Act!

My Arizona Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake, along with Rep. Martha McSally, say they care about us and will protect us, but it’s time for them to follow up their words with actions. The same goes for all of Congress.

Dreamers decided to step out of the shadows in the fight for immigration reform, and in 2012, we won DACA. But because of the lack of Congressional leadership, it was a temporary solution, and has now been revoked by Trump.

It’s time for our communities to come together again – not only undocumented immigrants and Dreamers, but everyone who understands that separating families, deporting, and incarcerating people is not the answer to make this country a place where everyone can thrive.

For me, thriving means my dad driving our family to church without fear of getting pulled over and detained. It means my brother going to the doctor without worrying that something might happen on the way there. It means I can finish getting my Bachelor’s degree in Community Advocacy and help move policy that brings true equity and inclusion for communities of color.

Help my family and thousands of others like us continue to thrive in America. Contact your Members of Congress to pass a clean DREAM Act now!

In solidarity,

Abril Gallardo

Glendale, AZ

Member of LUCHA, CPD Action’s Arizona affiliate

You can also get number to call key senators here. 

Here is an example of how a conversation could start (or you can just wing it!):

Hello, I’m [Your Name], I would like to speak to you about DACA and the DREAM ACT.

1) Donald Trump’s decision to end DACA will put up to 800,000 immigrant youth at risk of deportation.

2) The Senate has the opportunity to turn Trump’s step backwards into a step forward for immigrant rights by supporting the DREAM Act.

3) Will you co-sponsor the DREAM Act to create bipartisan solutions to protect undocumented youth from deportation?

Thank you for your time.