Face Scans at the Border… of Minneapolis
📰 THE STORY: Federal agents in Minneapolis are deploying facial recognition on individuals, including US citizens, as part of an escalated immigration crackdown. The AP describes 'masked agents' forcing stops and scanning faces, raising alarms about civil liberties and increased digital surveillance under the guise of targeting 'serious offenders.' 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical
Context: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its predecessors have a long history of domestic surveillance and intelligence-gathering, notoriously expanding post-9/11 with legislation like the PATRIOT Act (2001), which dramatically increased government powers to monitor citizens without warrants. This isn't just about immigration; it's a creeping expansion of the surveillance state.
Moreover, facial recognition has been tested and deployed by government agencies since the 1990s, with systems like the FBI's 'Next Generation Identification' program (launched 2014) holding millions of biometric records. Double Standard: Western media often decries 'facial recognition' and 'state surveillance' as hallmarks of authoritarian regimes in places like China when discussing its use
against Uyghur populations. Yet, when these exact technologies are deployed by US federal agents against its own populace, the concern, while present, is often framed as an 'administration policy' issue rather than a systemic threat to democratic values, or simply the natural evolution of 'law enforcement' tools. The underlying infrastructure and intent are rarely compared. Follow the Money: The