“It starts to smack of dictatorship or the persecution of actors and press during the Red Scare,” a senior ICE official not involved in the matter told BuzzFeed News.
US immigration officials compiled a secret database containing information on dozens of reporters, attorneys, and activists to stop for questioning at the southern border and, in some cases, deny entry to Mexico.
The list, obtained by San Diego’s NBC affiliate, appears to have been made in connection to a caravan of immigrants that traveled from Central America to the US–Mexico border at the end of 2018, drawing reporters from across the US to cover the events and attorneys representing the people in the caravan.
The database, which included 10 journalists, at least one US attorney, and 47 others who were listed as “organizers” or “instigators” contained passport pictures and notes on whether each individual had been arrested or interviewed.
View the complete March 7 article by Salvador Hernandez on the BuzzFeed website here.