ICE Says It Doesn't Track Down Undocumented Immigrants Using 'Stingray' Devices

[Admin 174]

Acting head of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan told Sen. Ron Wyden the agency does not use cell-site simulators—a type of surveillance gear often referred to as a “Stingray” that can track down a specific mobile device by emulating cell phone towers—to locate undocumented immigrants.

Per Ars Technica, the August 16th letter states ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations “does not use cell-site simulators for the purpose of civil immigration law enforcement.” But he added that ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division, which targets national security threats and organized crime, uses the devices, though only after receiving a warrant.

ICE Says It Doesn't Track Down Undocumented Immigrants Using 'Stingray' Devices

Acting head of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan told Sen. Ron Wyden the agency does not use cell-site simulators—a type of surveillance gear often referred to as a “Stingray” that can track down a specific mobile device by emulating cell phone towers—to locate undocumented immigrants.

Per Ars Technica, the August 16th letter states ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations “does not use cell-site simulators for the purpose of civil immigration law enforcement.” But he added that ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division, which targets national security threats and organized crime, uses the devices, though only after receiving a warrant.

Homan also noted that ICE agents sometimes work in joint task forces with other “federal, state and local law enforcement partners, in furtherance of our shared public safety mission”—and that in those cases, Stingrays may sometimes be used.

That caveat is important: In March, ICE used a Stingray variant known as a Hailstorm to locate 20-year-old El Salvadorean man Rudy Carcamo-Carranza, who had entered the US illegally twice and was wanted in connection to alleged drunk driving and hit-and-run incidents. The ICE officer involved in the investigation, Jeremy McCullough, was a member of the ERO department but was also assigned to the FBI’s Violent Gang Task Force. So for ICE agents to use a cell-site simulator to track people suspected of immigration law violations, they just need to be assigned to such a unit.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/ice-says-it-doesnt-track-down-undocumented-immigrants-u-1798136133