
US Government Tracking Journalists and Immigration Advocates - vinnyglennon
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Source-Leaked-Documents-Show-the-US-Government-Tracking-Journalists-and-Advocates-Through-a-Secret-Database-506783231.html
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Areading314
Duplicate of
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19325302](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19325302)

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xrd
Lots of flagged comments here. :)

If I read the assertions of the article correctly, isn't the issue that the
border patrol is collecting information (i.e. acting as an intelligence
agency) as opposed to its fundamental mission of protecting the border (which
is strictly reactionary to breaking the laws).

Is the issue that border patrol is shifting into new territory as an agency?
Regardless of the obvious issues around any USA based agency collecting
information on its own citizens, is the biggest question just whether this is
legal for them under their charter?

Or, am I misreading the issue under argument here?

[edit "USA" to say "USA based agency"...]

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dahdum
Their response gave some light on the action, they say they didn't create the
list until after the violence broke out. Seems pretty logical that they would
attempt investigate who was there at the time. Not sure it's justified, but
logical.

"CBP told our colleagues at NBC News that the names in the database are all
people who were present during violence that broke out at the border in
November. The agency also said journalists are being tracked so that the
agency can learn more about what started that violence."

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TomMckenny
>Seems pretty logical

There will always be explanations for such lists. And they will always be
criminal activity or terrorism. That no such lists were made in the past is
always considered irrelevant. That identical circumstances elsewhere produce
no such lists is glossed over.

>Lots of flagged comments here...USA collecting information on its own
citizens is the biggest question

The biggest question is why so many people are perfectly happy with this along
side "press is the enemy of the people" and an arbitrary declaration of
emergency. Perhaps by questioning and studying why a population suddenly
accepts things they never would in the past, other counties will adjust.

And it's not really a question, it's really just observing another country
following the path of Hungary, Poland, Turkey, Venezuela, Philippines, Russia
and India all at various stages along the same trajectory.

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mlindner
If this was true, you wouldn't know about it.

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RankingMember
Oh, so sort of like how all that stuff Edward Snowden revealed wasn't true,
huh?

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creaghpatr
>For each person, the documents show their photo, often from their passport
but in some cases from their social media accounts, along with their personal
information. That information includes the person’s date of birth, their
“country of commencement,” and their alleged role tied to the migrant caravan.

Awfully inconvenient of NBC San Diego and/or the leakers not to release the
documents so we could see examples of "their alleged role tied to the migrant
caravan". Would probably be helpful context.

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cloudsinthesky
> not to release the documents

I'm quite certain the crime here would be releasing these documents and
doxxing innocent people who are doing their normal, okay, not-illegal jobs.

