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Yahoo
21 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Homeland Security stonewalling info on noncitizen DNA collection operation, lawsuit alleges
The Trump administration has been turning to DNA technology to help find and arrest immigrants, including children, but immigration advocates say it has been slow to spell out how it's using and overseeing the genetic information. Three groups sued the Department of Homeland Security on Monday after trying to get records about the data collection program since last summer, during the Biden administration. The plaintiffs are the Georgetown Law Center on Privacy & Technology, part of the Georgetown University Law School that focuses on privacy and surveillance law and policy; the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights and Americans for Immigrant Justice, both immigrant rights groups. The groups describe in their lawsuit their back-and-forth with DHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection since they originally requested information about their DNA collection from noncitizens on Aug. 1, 2024. Since 2020, DHS has expanded its DNA collection program and increased DNA contributions to the FBI's database, CODIS, by 5,000%, becoming the largest contributor, according to the Georgetown center. The DNA database of the FBI can be accessed by police across the country for criminal investigations, the plaintiff groups said in a statement. Stevie Glaberson, director of research and advocacy at the Georgetown center, said in a statement that DHS is expanding its database by "collecting DNA from people accused of no crime and while operating with none of the constraints that are supposed to be in place before the government compels someone to give over their most sensitive personal information." He said Americans deserve more visibility on the program and said DHS's lack of transparency is unacceptable. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Daniel Melo, senior staff attorney with Amica's Immigration Impact Lab, told NBC News that previous administrations have also collected DNA. A 2005 law mandated federal agencies collect DNA from people in custody, including noncitizens. Prior to 2020, the Justice Department had told DHS that its immigration enforcement and border agents did not have to routinely collect DNA from every noncitizen it detained, Melo said. The Biden administration adopted rules requiring full compliance with the 2005 law, but whistleblowers and a government watchdog complained compliance was uneven. The "Securing Our Borders" executive order signed by President Donald Trump requires the attorney general and the DHS to fulfill requirements on DNA collection from noncitizens mandated in the 2005 law. Privacy and civil rights groups have long had issues with the government's DNA collection program. Melo said the public should be concerned whether people are being advised of their rights and how the information is being collected and used. "This information could tentatively be used in all sorts of ways to map full communities, to basically build a more intricate web of surveillance around noncitizen communities," Melo said. He said if DHS can continue to collect the DNA of noncitizens, essentially "experimenting" on them, "then they are able to refine these technologies and deploy them in new and interesting and probably really dangerous and scary ways on the rest of us." Emily Tucker, the Georgetown center's executive director, said in a statement that "it is a mistake to think of DHS' DNA collection program as 'immigration enforcement.'" "Trump is using immigration powers to justify the activities of his militarized federal police force because there is so little institutional or judicial oversight or accountability for executive enforcement actions that invoke 'immigration authority," she said in a statement. "This program is one part of a massive surveillance dragnet that sweeps in information about everyone. They will use it for deportation, but they will also use it to intimidate, silence, and target anyone they perceive as the enemy.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
a day ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Homeland Security stonewalling info on non-citizen DNA collection operation, lawsuit alleges
The Trump administration has been turning to DNA technology to help find and arrest immigrants, including children, but immigration advocates say it has been slow to spell out how it's using and overseeing the genetic information. Three groups sued the Department of Homeland Security on Monday after trying to get records about the data collection program since last summer, during the Biden administration. The plaintiffs are the Georgetown Law Center on Privacy & Technology, part of the Georgetown University Law School that focuses on privacy and surveillance law and policy; the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights and Americans for Immigrant Justice, both immigrant rights groups. The groups describe in their lawsuit their back-and-forth with DHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection since they originally requested information about their DNA collection from noncitizens on Aug. 1, 2024. Since 2020, DHS has expanded its DNA collection program and increased DNA contributions to the FBI's database, CODIS, by 5,000%, becoming the largest contributor, according to the Georgetown center. The DNA database of the FBI can be accessed by police across the country for criminal investigations, the plaintiff groups said in a statement. Stevie Glaberson, director of research and advocacy at the Georgetown center, said in a statement that DHS is expanding its database by "collecting DNA from people accused of no crime and while operating with none of the constraints that are supposed to be in place before the government compels someone to give over their most sensitive personal information." He said Americans deserve more visibility on the program and said DHS's lack of transparency is unacceptable. NBC News has contacted DHS for comment. Daniel Melo, senior staff attorney with Amica's Immigration Impact Lab, told NBC News that previous administrations have also collected DNA. A 2005 law mandated federal agencies collect DNA from people in custody, including noncitizens. Prior to 2020, the Justice Department had told DHS that its immigration enforcement and border agents did not have to routinely collect DNA from every noncitizen it detained, Melo said. The Biden administration adopted rules requiring full compliance with the 2005 law, but whistleblowers and a government watchdog complained compliance was uneven. The "Securing Our Borders" executive order signed by President Donald Trump requires the attorney general and the DHS to fulfill requirements on DNA collection from noncitizens mandated in the 2005 law. 'Sweeps in information about everyone' Privacy and civil rights groups have long had issues with the government's DNA collection program. Melo said the public should be concerned whether people are being advised of their rights and how the information is being collected and used. "This information could tentatively be used in all sorts of ways to map full communities, to basically build a more intricate web of surveillance around noncitizen communities," Melo said. He said if DHS can continue to collect the DNA of noncitizens, essentially "experimenting" on them, "then they are able to refine these technologies and deploy them in new and interesting and probably really dangerous and scary ways on the rest of us." Emily Tucker, the Georgetown center's executive director, said in a statement that "it is a mistake to think of DHS' DNA collection program as 'immigration enforcement.'" "Trump is using immigration powers to justify the activities of his militarized federal police force because there is so little institutional or judicial oversight or accountability for executive enforcement actions that invoke 'immigration authority," she said in a statement. "This program is one part of a massive surveillance dragnet that sweeps in information about everyone. They will use it for deportation, but they will also use it to intimidate, silence, and target anyone they perceive as the enemy.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Homeland Security faces lawsuit over ‘massive surveillance dragnet' collecting immigrant DNA — including from children
Immigration authorities are collecting DNA from immigrants — including children — and feeding that information into a massive criminal database. Most of those immigrants are not accused of committing any crime, but federal law enforcement agencies can now access their detailed DNA profiles as part of a 'massive surveillance dragnet that sweeps in information about everyone,' according to a lawsuit demanding information from Donald Trump's administration. Monday's lawsuit from the Georgetown Law Center on Privacy & Technology calls on the Department of Homeland Security to answer how, exactly, the agency 'collects, stores and uses' those DNA samples. Georgetown Law and two other immigration groups filed a Freedom of Information Act request for information last year. Nine months later, without any response, the groups are now suing the agency for answers. DHS is 'quickly becoming the primary contributor of DNA profiles to the nation's criminal policing DNA database,' according to Stevie Glaberson, director of research and advocacy for Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy & Technology. The Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, is administered by the FBI. The network is used by local, state and federal enforcement agencies to match DNA from crime scenes to identify suspects. Last year, Georgetown's center discovered that border agents are collecting DNA from virtually anyone in their custody, no matter how long they have been detained. That information is fed into CODIS, where it lives indefinitely, 'simply because they were not born in the United States,' according to Daniel Melo, an attorney with Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, which joined Georgetown's lawsuit. Homeland Security has added more than 1.5 million DNA profiles to the database since 2020, marking a 5,000 percent increase in submissions between 2000 and 2024, the report found. That figure includes more than 133,000 children, according to data reviewed by Wired. Nearly 230 children are under the age of 13 and more than 30,000 were between 14 and 17 years old. 'The government's DNA collection program represents a massive expansion of genetic surveillance and an unjustified invasion of privacy,' report author and Center on Privacy & Technology Justice Fellow Emerald Tse said at the time. 'The program reinforces harmful narratives about immigrants and intensifies existing policing practices that target immigrant communities and communities of color, making us all less safe,' Tse added. 'Americans deserve visibility on the details of this program, and the department's lack of transparency is unacceptable,' Glaberson said Monday. The lawsuit joins a wave of litigation against Trump's expanding 'mass deportation operation,' which is deploying officers across all federal law enforcement agencies to ramp up arrests and rapidly remove people from the country. Emily Tucker, executive director at Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy & Technology, said it's a 'mistake' to consider DNA collection part of 'immigration enforcement.' The president is instead relying on broad immigration authorities to justify Trump's expansion of federal law enforcement, according to Tucker. 'This program is one part of a massive surveillance dragnet that sweeps in information about everyone,' Tucker added. 'They will use it for deportation, but they will also use it to intimidate, silence, and target anyone they perceive as the enemy.' Last week, reports emerged that the administration has deepened the federal government's ties to Palantir, a tech firm allegedly building wide-ranging data tools to collect and surveil information for millions of Americans. Palantir — co-founded by Silicon Valley investor, Republican donor, and JD Vance mentor Peter Thiel — is reportedly working inside Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, among other agencies. The administration has reportedly spent more than $113 million with Palantir through new and existing contracts, while the company is slated to begin work on a new $795 million deal with the Defense Department. The Independent has requested comment from Homeland Security.
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The Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Homeland Security faces lawsuit over ‘massive surveillance dragnet' collecting immigrant DNA — including from children
Immigration authorities are collecting DNA from immigrants — including children — and feeding that information into a massive criminal database. Most of those immigrants are not accused of committing any crime, but federal law enforcement agencies can now access their detailed DNA profiles as part of a 'massive surveillance dragnet that sweeps in information about everyone,' according to a lawsuit demanding information from Donald Trump 's administration. Monday's lawsuit from the Georgetown Law Center on Privacy & Technology calls on the Department of Homeland Security to answer how, exactly, the agency 'collects, stores and uses' those DNA samples. Georgetown Law and two other immigration groups filed a Freedom of Information Act request for information last year. Nine months later, without any response, the groups are now suing the agency for answers. DHS is 'quickly becoming the primary contributor of DNA profiles to the nation's criminal policing DNA database,' according to Stevie Glaberson, director of research and advocacy for Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy & Technology. The Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, is administered by the FBI. The network is used by local, state and federal enforcement agencies to match DNA from crime scenes to identify suspects. Last year, Georgetown's center discovered that border agents are collecting DNA from virtually anyone in their custody, no matter how long they have been detained. That information is fed into CODIS, where it lives indefinitely, 'simply because they were not born in the United States,' according to Daniel Melo, an attorney with Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, which joined Georgetown's lawsuit. Homeland Security has added more than 1.5 million DNA profiles to the database since 2020, marking a 5,000 percent increase in submissions between 2000 and 2024, the report found. That figure includes more than 133,000 children, according to data reviewed by Wired. Nearly 230 children are under the age of 13 and more than 30,000 were between 14 and 17 years old. 'The government's DNA collection program represents a massive expansion of genetic surveillance and an unjustified invasion of privacy,' report author and Center on Privacy & Technology Justice Fellow Emerald Tse said at the time. 'The program reinforces harmful narratives about immigrants and intensifies existing policing practices that target immigrant communities and communities of color, making us all less safe,' Tse added. 'Americans deserve visibility on the details of this program, and the department's lack of transparency is unacceptable,' Glaberson said Monday. The lawsuit joins a wave of litigation against Trump's expanding 'mass deportation operation,' which is deploying officers across all federal law enforcement agencies to ramp up arrests and rapidly remove people from the country. Emily Tucker, executive director at Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy & Technology, said it's a 'mistake' to consider DNA collection part of 'immigration enforcement.' The president is instead relying on broad immigration authorities to justify Trump's expansion of federal law enforcement, according to Tucker. 'This program is one part of a massive surveillance dragnet that sweeps in information about everyone,' Tucker added. 'They will use it for deportation, but they will also use it to intimidate, silence, and target anyone they perceive as the enemy.' Last week, reports emerged that the administration has deepened the federal government's ties to Palantir, a tech firm allegedly building wide-ranging data tools to collect and surveil information for millions of Americans. Palantir — co-founded by Silicon Valley investor, Republican donor, and JD Vance mentor Peter Thiel — is reportedly working inside Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, among other agencies. The administration has reportedly spent more than $113 million with Palantir through new and existing contracts, while the company is slated to begin work on a new $795 million deal with the Defense Department.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Steven Lawson trial: 4 takeaways from Day 2 of proceedings
Nearly 10 witnesses took the stand May 28 during the trial of Steven Lawson, the first of two trials to take place in connection with the disappearance of Crystal Rogers, the Bardstown mother who disappeared nearly a decade ago. Throughout the trial's second day, the prosecution, led by Special Prosecutor Shane Young, elicited testimony and evidence against Lawson, 54, who has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence. The defense, meanwhile, attempted to frame much of the recollections testified by people with interpersonal relationships with Lawson as unreliable because of the near decade that has passed since Rogers' disappearance around July 3, 2015 — in some case questioning witnesses about their history with substance abuse. Here are four takeaways from the second day of proceedings. The day started with former Nelson County Sheriff's Office Detective Jon Snow, who led the investigation from 2015-2019 before the FBI took over in 2020, returning to the stand after giving testimony May 27. The defense questioned Snow about the evidence recovered from Rogers' car when police found it abandoned on the side of Bluegrass Parkway in Bardstown in 2015 with her keys, phone and purse inside. He told Zach Buckler, a defense attorney for Lawson, that Rogers' personal belongings were the only physical evidence of interest recovered from the car, but that the circumstances surrounding the findings were "amiss.' Buckler went on to press Snow about a hairbrush that a private investigator who had been hired to assist a docu-series about the high-profile case found inside the car after it was released back to Rogers' family sometime after August 2015. The brush, Buckler argued, could have been used by a possible suspect. It, along with other hairs pulled from the vehicle, were never compared to samples from the FBI's CODIS database, which contains DNA samples for more than 23 million individuals. "That avenue was never explored," Buckler said. Young followed the defense's questioning by referencing two individuals who he said the commonwealth has suspected of somehow being linked to the case but have not been charged. Those individuals, Nick and Rosemary Houck, are relatives of Brooks Houck, who is charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence in the case. Nick Houck was a police officer with the Bardstown Police Department at the time of Rogers' disappearance and was fired after allegedly interfering in the investigation, according to court records. When asked by Young whether the possibility of there being additional suspects changes his views on Lawson's alleged involvement, he responded, 'Not in any way.' The daughters of two of Lawson's past wives took the stand after Snow. Lauren Hardin, daughter of Lawson's late ex-wife, Tammy Lawson, took the stand first. The prosecution's questioning centered on the purpose of a July 4, 2015 phone call Lawson made to Houck's phone just after midnight. Lawson originally told investigators he made the call to ask Houck about a rental property for Hardin, but his explanation has changed since he made that statement. At the conclusion of the proceedings on May 28, prosecutors played audio from grand jury testimony he gave on three different occasions in 2023. During his first appearance in May 2023, he told jurors the phone call was to tell him he had finished a job at a worksite. At his third appearance, he said the call was to inform Houck that the job of moving Rogers' car was done — a task he said he was enlisted to help with after Houck told him he "wanted his wife gone.' Hardin testified that she was not looking for a rental property at the time, adding that she had previously rented from Houck and could have contacted him herself. Still, she said, it would be plausible for Lawson to inquire about the topic on her behalf. Elizabeth Chesser, the daughter of Lawson's most recent wife and the mother of Joseph Lawson's child, followed Hardin on the stand. Joseph Lawson, Steven Lawson's son, is also charged in the case with conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with physical evidence. Chesser said Lawson and her mother got together in late 2017, just months after Tammy Lawson died. She said Lawson told her in September 2017 that he was at one point planning to leave Tammy because she knew he "committed murder.' "No evidence, no case,' she recalled Lawson telling her, which she said was a reference to the fact that investigators have never recovered Rogers' body. Chesser did not realize any possible connection between Lawson's comments and the Rogers case until she recognized his voice while watching a docu-series, 'The Disappearance of Crystal Rogers,' in 2018, but she did not speak to investigators about the case until the following year. Darren Wolff, a defense attorney for Lawson, was shocked by Chesser's inaction and cast skepticism on her story. He asked about her substance abuse during the time when the conversation with Lawson occurred, to which she said she had been sober for about two months before the alleged comments. Wolff also asked whether her consumption of a docu-series about the case may have influenced her memory. 'That's not something you forget,' Chesser said. Both Steven and Joseph Lawson formerly worked for Houck, who is a prominent real estate entrepreneur in Nelson County. Two witnesses called to the stand May 28 were former employees of Houck and testified about their interactions with Lawson around the time of Rogers' disappearance. Stacie Cranmer, who built decks and installed insulation for Houck, was the first of those two witnesses. She testified she saw Lawson and Houck riding around a neighborhood in a truck where a job site was located on one of the days leading up to Rogers' disappearance, which was unusual for him. When they finished driving around, Lawson was walking around the area where Cranmer was eating lunch. She asked him about why he was riding with Houck, to which he responded that Houck needed help to "take care of this girl,' Cranmer said. Her testimony was similar to a statement she gave to the Nelson County Sheriff's Office in October 2015, Wolff said, but differed in that Cranmer said at the time Lawson mentioned the girl in question was using drugs, which Rogers had never been documented doing. Charlie Girdley, another former employee for Houck, testified that he spent time with the Lawsons July 3 — the night Rogers was last seen on the Houck family farm. Girdley said he and Joseph Lawson paid a visit to Houck after they got off work. Girdley picked up a check, he said, and Houck gave Joseph Lawson a set of keys. Girdley said he was told Joseph Lawson was going to perform maintenance work on the car. Girdley also recalled a conversation he had with Steven Lawson. Lawson told Girdley that Houck came to him for help with getting rid of his "old lady,' but he told him that he was not the person for that request and pointed him to Girdley. Girdley said he laughed off the comment. The defense countered this testimony again by questioning Girdley about his struggles with substance abuse. Wolff also asked Girdley about why he did not mention those details until 2023 when he was arrested for unrelated reasons, despite being interviewed by investigators in 2015 and 2016. Girdley said he did not want to get in trouble for something he was not involved in. Following a series of witnesses who had known Lawson personally, two witnesses in law enforcement discussed cell phone records linked to Lawson. Tim O'Daniel, a detective with the Louisville Metro Police Digital Forensics Unit, said the Kentucky State Police approached him in 2022 to analyze information from Lawson's cell phone. His analysis found that on the night of July 3, Lawson's device traveled toward the area where Rogers' car was found before traveling back in the opposite direction. The analysis, however, cannot 'specifically pinpoint where a device is' — only the general area, O'Daniel said. Melissa Dover, a crime and intelligence analyst with the Elizabethtown Police Department, testified about a report she prepared about calls exchanged between Steven, Joseph and Tammy Lawson that night. Several calls were exchanged between the three phones, Dover said. Her report also found that a call between Houck and Lawson a few days later on July 9 was deleted, though precisely when is unclear. Contact reporter Killian Baarlaer at kbaarlaer@ or @bkillian72 on X. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Crystal Rogers murder case: Steven Lawson trial continues
