Thomas Hughes The US government has been secretly tracking journalists, as well as immigration advocates and lawyers, in an effort to learn more about their activities reporting on, and helping, migrants south of the US-Mexico border. The news was first reported by NBC’s San Diego affiliate KNSD. View the leaked documents here.
In a blatant attack on First Amendment protections, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has claimed it is seeking information from its targets on whether they assisted the so-called caravan of asylum seekers in their efforts to cross the border. CPB told NBC News that all those tracked were allegedly present when violence broke out last month at the San Ysidro border crossing into San Diego. Press freedom organizations, including Reporters Without Borders and The Committee to Protect Journalists, have condemned the domestic intelligence gathering operation, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) issued a statement noting that the US government has previously used the pretext of border security to justify illegal monitoring of human rights advocates and journalists.
In an era where the leader of the free world constantly refers to journalists as the “enemy of the people,” echoing words from history’s most brutal dictators, these actions by the government have proven that this is a dangerous time for journalists. Independent journalism dot net, as well as other smaller, freelance operations are particularly vulnerable, as larger news organizations have the financial and legal resources to better combat such attacks on their work. The effect can be chilling beyond the ten journalists on the list of about 60 targets in the secret database. Reporters, photojournalists, legal and other advocates have a legal right and expectation to privacy from such government intrusion and tracking, and those who would rather not go through such turmoil would easily be dissuaded from pursuing their work in the face of such aggression.
These tactics have proven that the US government under the Trump administration will mimic the intimidation techniques employed by some of the biggest violators of human rights and press freedom on the planet. Responsible US authorities, including Congress, must further investigate these actions and influence corrective action. Confidence in the US’s independent media is under attack from many directions.
Reporters Without Borders, known by its French acronym RSF, notes that in many countries it is not just attacks on journalists, rights, and institutions that are a problem. It is the culture of impunity in which those attacks take place. Where violations of press freedom occur, through violence or through government prevention and intimidation tactics, it is the confidence in the offender that they can get away with such violations that is an amplifying problem. Consequential action must be taken against such unconstitutional violations, and fast. Otherwise, the United States will continue its decline in the area most critical to democracy: the free exchange of information and ideas without The State’s intrusion.
