From the travel blog, View from the Wing, Gary Leff raises chilling allegations about the consequences of ICE checking your citizenship.

The Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement is expanding use of identification and tracking – not just immigration targets but also on U.S. citizens who are documenting, protesting, and observing enforcement operations. And participating in these events is getting Global Entry yanked.

The government is using a smartphone app called “Mobile Fortify” that lets agents scan a face and even capture ‘contactless’ fingerprints and run them through biometric matching systems to return names and biographical data. Reportedly the agency has used Mobile Fortify over 100,000 times. They use BI2 Technologies for smartphone iris scanning against a large law enforcement iris database. The agency defends this all as “lawful.”

In addition, ICE uses license plate reader data, commercial phone location data, drones, and other tools to monitor protests by U.S. citizens.

There is one issue of privacy relating to ICE sweeping up face pics and fingerprints, which thereupon remain in a database just in case. But it goes a step farther, that citizens exercising their constitutional right to protest ICE and CBP misconduct are losing their paid-for Global Entry.

Global Entry is administered by the Department of Homeland Security, its data was used to train Mobile Fortify, and citizens in the program are subject to having the status revoked if they’re being investigated. DHS investigates people protesting DHS.

• Customs and Border Protection can deem you ineligible “at its sole discretion” if you present a potential risk for terrorism, criminality, or are otherwise no longer considered low risk. It bases risk determinations partly on demonstrated compliance.
• They can kick you out for arrests or being the subject of an investigation by any law enforcement agency, or suspect conduct that is ‘terrorism-related’.

There are, of course, sound reasons why a person would no longer be deemed a “trusted traveler” by DHS. The exercise of a constitutional right, however, is not one of them. That goes for the first and second amendments, for those wondering.

While there is an appeal process when Global Entry is denied, and potentially judicial review assuming anyone wants to foot the bill for litigation, there is also a chilling effect as people become aware of the fact that the government will impose punishment for protesting against ICE, as well as put you in a database just in case they need to know where you are at any minute or whose prints they found on the murder weapon.

In some ways, this is reminiscent of the “No Fly” list, where people were denied boarding because they share the same name as someone deemed a terrorist (or terrorist adjacent) or ended up on the list accidently or maliciously for pissing off a fed or cop. The burden was on the person denied boarding to do something about it. Of course, the law deems flying a privilege, like driving, as opposed to a right. But free speech and assembly is a right.

Is DHS punishing protesters for engaging in constitutionally protected activity, or are they merely checking identities using an app that has the unfortunate consequence of tainting Americans as untrustworthy travelers, perhaps even terrorists?

Mobile Fortify enables a relatively swift and painless means of determining the identity of a person, and whether they are citizens or not. Of course, accepting REAL ID as adequate proof of citizenship would be even easier. And just as a reminder, Americans are under no legal duty to carry proof of citizenship.

For those who are willing to have other people suffer some indignities in order to enable mass deportations, is this just the price that needs to be paid? Are you as willing to forfeit your constitutional rights as you are to forfeit others? Even so, is there any reason why other people should be willing to forfeit their right to free speech and assembly to facilitate your feelings about immigrants?

You might not consider losing Global Entry sufficiently harsh to care, but it is punishment nonetheless for the exercise of constitutional rights. Remember the other rights protected by the Constitution, is this really good with you?

*Tuesday Talk rules apply.