DHS Agents Reportedly Threatened Legal Observers With 'Domestic Terrorist' Database While Using Purportedly AI-Enabled Surveillance During ICE Operations

A lawsuit filed by two women from Maine alleges that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is using artificial intelligence to identify bystanders who are recording federal immigration enforcement operations and then adding those people to a secret database. The plaintiffs claim that federal agents threatened to add them to a database of domestic terrorists because they were legally recording the agents. In one incident captured on video, a federal immigration agent told a woman recording the encounter 'we have a nice little database. And now you're considered a domestic terrorist, so have fun with that.' In another incident, a plaintiff was told 'if you keep coming to things like this, you are going to be on a domestic terrorist watch list. Then we're going to come to your house later tonight.' The lawsuit alleges that federal agents retaliated against the plaintiffs for exercising their First Amendment right to observe and protest federal immigration operations. While DHS has denied that any such database exists, the lawsuit comes as DHS is rapidly expanding its use of AI-powered surveillance tools, including technology that lets agents scan faces, license plates and social media posts in real time. The technology originally meant for tracking non-citizens is now allegedly being used to monitor U.S. citizens, including protesters and bystanders, without a warrant.