(FixThisNation.com) – The Department of Homeland Security has run a program for years gathering domestic intelligence. However, according to recently released internal documents a number of employees have expressed concern over the legality of these programs.
The domestic-intelligence program allows officials to interview anyone in the United States, including those in immigrant detention centers, local jails, and federal prisons. DHS intelligence professionals have revealed that in order to go through with the interview they have to inform people that their participation is completely voluntary. However, they are still allowed to directly address incarcerated people, without contacting their lawyers, which has led to a lot of questions about the civil liberties of these people.
The internal concerns raised regarding this program led to this particular element of it being put on pause last year. DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis has said that they use the program to gather information about potential threats faced by the U.S., including transnational drug trafficking and organized crime. However, the existence of this program gathering information domestically is virtually unknown.
The program, which is called the “Overt Human Intelligence Collection Program” and was previously unknown, has now had a range of its internal processes revealed through the release of the internal documents that POLITICO reviewed from the Office of Intelligence and Analysis. The documents along with the additional interviews could help raise further concerns about the legality of the program especially as the documents currently indicate that people felt that they might be punished if they did not answer the questions they were being asked.
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