Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with 'suspicious' travel patterns

"The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious, The Associated Press has found. The predictive intelligence program has resulted in people being stopped, searched and in some cases arrested. A network of cameras scans and records vehicle license plate information, and an algorithm flags vehicles deemed suspicious based on where they came from, where they were going and which route they took."

"Started about a decade ago to fight illegal border-related activities and the trafficking of both drugs and people, it has expanded over the past five years. The Border Patrol has recently grown even more powerful through collaborations with other agencies, drawing information from license plate readers nationwide run by the Drug Enforcement Administration, private companies and, increasingly, local law enforcement programs funded through federal grants. Texas law enforcement agencies have asked Border Patrol to use facial recognition to identify drivers, documents show."

The Border Patrol operates a predictive intelligence program that monitors millions of American drivers by scanning and recording license plates and analyzing travel patterns. An algorithm flags vehicles deemed suspicious based on origin, destination and route, and federal agents may notify local law enforcement. Drivers have been stopped for minor traffic infractions and then aggressively questioned, searched or arrested without awareness of surveillance triggers. The program began about a decade ago to combat illegal border-related activity and trafficking and has expanded in the past five years. The Border Patrol now draws data from DEA and private license-plate readers, federal grants to local programs, and has been asked to use facial recognition.

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