From Border Security to Big Brother: How Immigration Social Media Surveillance Also Monitors Americans

by Christina Maas | Reclaim The Net

Doctors take the Hippocratic Oath. Politicians, on the other hand, seem to operate under a different code—call it the “hypocritical oath.” Few stories capture that paradox quite like the Biden administration’s double-dealing on immigration and surveillance. Here’s a White House that promised to bring “humanity” to the immigration process, while reportedly expanding the very surveillance policies it once denounced. As this double act rolls out in the final days of the administration, it’s raising a question: was the entire immigration reform rhetoric just a prelude to broadening government spying?

Let’s take a closer look: immigration became a hot-button campaign issue, with plenty of talk about “welcoming” migrants, combined with a healthy dose of hand-wringing about border security. Now, however, critics are uncovering what looks like the real priority—an enhanced federal surveillance operation aimed at monitoring not just new arrivals, but American citizens too. In the name of keeping tabs on who’s coming and going, the administration sank more than $100 million into a social media surveillance system designed to keep an eye on everyone.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) first flirted with these powers under Trump’s presidency, when ICE officials began monitoring social media under the guise of protecting the homeland. The Biden-Harris administration, having previously expressed horror at Trump-era excesses, took a softer tack, but actually increased mass surveillance. They rebranded the initiative as the Visa Lifecycle Vetting Initiative (VLVI), a name that practically exudes bureaucratic charm while implying a methodical, visa-centric approach. But if it was just an immigration program, why was it scanning communications between Americans and their international friends, family, or business contacts?

According to a lawsuit from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the program evolved into something much larger than a mere visa vetting system. The scheme entailed broad surveillance of communications and social media activity, conveniently sidestepping pesky things like “probable cause” or the First Amendment… Read Full Article >