The Department of Homeland Security has been operating a nearly unknown domestic intelligence gathering program for years and employees are concerned that it could be illegal, according to reporting from Politico. As revealed in a trove of documents obtained by the outlet, the Overt Human Intelligence Collection Program is run by the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis, and gathers intelligence on transnational drug trafficking and organized crime, drawn from American sources. The program's employees reportedly fear retaliation if they speak out about what they say are potentially illegal tactics and political pressures.
Among its other elements, OHICP allows officials to interview nearly anyone in the U.S., including those held in detention centers and Customs and Border Patrol facilities, local jails and federal prisons, while bypassing interviewees' lawyers. According to the program's documentation, interviewers must explicitly state that they work for DHS, participation is voluntary and an interviewee may end the interview at any time. But the document doesn't prohibit interviews with people who are awaiting trial, and a law enforcement officer must reportedly be present when these interviews take place. Critically, there's nothing in the program's rules that would to stop such an officer from sharing whatever they overhear, whether with their superiors and colleagues, prosecutors or others.
