Customs and Border Protection employees used sensitive government databases to spy on their exes, and track their coworkers’ cellphones.
A trove of government records obtained by Wired has revealed the astonishing ways in which government employees abused surveillance systems to extract information over the past decade. In one instance, a CBP officer pulled contact information from trusted-traveler applications to ask women out. Another Department of Homeland Security officer used “ad-tech derived mobile location data.”
The data, obtained from 2009 to 2022, document nearly 300 instances in which information intended to aid law enforcement was used for the personal gain of individuals within the federal government. Of those hundreds of cases, just 138 were brought to management for review, according to the report.
More examples include a woman in 2022 obtaining her ex-husband’s schedule to harass him, an officer searching for information about his neighbors in 2017, and some employees doing something as grave as sharing law enforcement information with people suspected of criminal activity. In some cases, Border Patrol agents weaponized the surveillance systems to enable the very things they’re sworn to prevent: border crossings.
For example, one astonishing 2021 entry alleges that a Border Patrol agent used a database to advise smugglers on which routes to take.
“Customs and Border Protection has a long history of impunity and abuse of people’s civil and human rights,” an immigration and civil advocacy attorney, Laura Rivera, told Wired.
“As our society adopts more AI, data collection, and surveillance tools, each of us becomes increasingly vulnerable.”
A spokesperson for CBP did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
However, a spokesperson for CBP told Wired that it works to “uphold the rule of law and hold ourselves accountable.”
The spokesperson added that the agency has “thoroughly investigate(d) alleged or potential misconduct, on or off duty” and that “appropriate investigatory, corrective, and disciplinary action is taken.”
This is just the latest scandal rocking the Department of Homeland Security. Just this week, it was reported that an investigation into the roundup of American service members’ relatives by Donald Trump’s immigration agents has been launched by scores of lawmakers.
The probe comes after the Associated Press found that more than 50 spouses and parents of active-duty troops have been swept up in the president’s immigration crackdown. The Daily Beast previously reported on the detentions, which have led to at least six family members being deported.
Troops’ parents and spouses were shielded from removal for decades under presidents of both parties. The AP found those safeguards have been stripped away as part of Trump’s mass deportation drive. Some service members have had to postpone deployments to care for their children after a spouse was seized. The lawmakers also demanded to know why military recruiters continue to dangle immigration protections as a perk of signing up.
