Pastor put on watchlist after work with migrants at border sues US government
BY JOHN BOWDEN - 07/10/19 10:32 AM EDT
A pastor with a Manhattan branch of the United Church of Christ sued the Trump administration after she was placed on a secret watch list of journalists and immigrant rights activists.
The Rev. Kaji Douša told Religion News Service on Tuesday that she has filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and two of its sub-agencies: Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Douša alleged that she was put on a secret watch list of more than 50 people who have reported on or otherwise worked on the migrant crisis currently developing at the U.S.-Mexico border, a process which she says led to an unlawful revoking of her Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection pass that allows for faster border crossings for eligible individuals.
“They interrogated her about her motives. They interrogated her about her associations. They revealed to Pastor Douša that they had collected detailed information about her and her pastoral work. And they revoked the access she had previously been granted to expedited border crossing," reads the lawsuit, according to RNS.
Douša told RNS in an interview that the surveillance makes her work aiding migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. harder, work she argues is her right as it involves her faith.
“It’s very, very difficult for people to be able to have a conversation where they unburden their conscience and seek the path to redemption when they’re worried about whether or not there’s a microphone in the confessional,” Douša said. “I don’t know the extent of the government surveillance. I don’t want to make anybody more vulnerable.”
Her lawsuit came after the existence of the Trump administration's secret database of journalists, activists and social media influencers was revealed by a San Diego NBC News affiliate in March, which at the time an anonymous DHS official said was "an abuse of the Border Search Authority.”
more:
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/452385-pastor-put-on-watchlist-after-work-with-migrants-at-border-sues-us
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