Washington (October 16,
2020) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), along with Senators Bernie Sanders
(I-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Senator Jeff
Merkley (D-Ore.), today urged the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to
abandon plans to dramatically expand U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’
(USCIS) collection of information about individuals’ bodies, both non-citizens
and U.S. citizens alike. The Department’s proposal would allow DHS to collect
biometric information as it conducts removal proceedings, processes
family-based immigration applications, and vets immigrants seeking
naturalization.
In September, USCIS, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security,
issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would allow USCIS to dramatically
expand the populations subject to invasive biometric data collection and
increase the types of data that USCIS collects. The proposal would permit USCIS
to require U.S. citizens and children to submit to biometric data collection.
It would also allow the agency to create detailed biological profiles of
individuals involved in the immigration system by amassing data from facial
scans, voice prints, and even DNA testing. By DHS’ own estimates, the proposal
would lead to more than six million people sharing sensitive information about
their bodies.
“Compelling non-citizens navigating the U.S. immigration system to submit to
data collection involving highly sensitive and immutable information carries
serious privacy risks; subjecting U.S. citizens and children to this
surveillance would be unacceptable,” write the Senators in their
letter to Acting Secretary Chad Wolf.
“Expanding biometric-data collection
in this manner would chill legal immigration, be inconsistent with our privacy
values, and pose disproportionate risks to individuals of color. The scope,
sensitivity, and invasiveness of the proposed DHS biometric data collection
program would amount to an unacceptable escalation of government surveillance.”
A copy of the Senators’ letter can be found
HERE.
