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SPIES
IN THE ’HOOD
BY
ARNOLDO GARCIA The Bush administration has launched a program to recruit millions of U.S. citizens to report “suspicious and potentially terrorist-related activity” to the Dept. of Justice. Operation TIPS, the Terrorism Information and Prevention System, has lit a firestorm, with opponents denouncing it as unconstitutional vigilantism. Grassroots groups across the country are mobilizing against it and House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Tex.) and Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) are leading a congressional effort to ban it. The TIPS program plans to recruit 11 million truck drivers, utility workers, letter carriers, telephone repair and other workers who routinely have accessto homes and businesses. Their task would be to report any “sign of terrorism”—such as “suspicious people” in the neighborhood or “suspicious literature” inside someone’s house—directly to a Dept. of Justice hotline. The DOJ is also reorganizing local Neighborhood Watch programs to be part of its citizen-spy network. The American Civil Liberties Union says that TIPS will unleash citizen-spies to illegally search homes and offices without warrants, a violation of the Fourth Amendment. Riva Enteen of the National Lawyers Guild says the consequences of a TIP can be enormous: “To report someone for terrorist activity means potential deportation or incarceration without access to an attorney.” The Boston Globe denounced TIPS as a “vile idea” in its July 17 editorial, “Ashcroft vs. Americans.” Business Week Online journalist Jane Black questions: “Will the TIPS program create FBI files on thousands, even millions, of unsuspecting Americans? The next time you’re passed over for a job or a loan, will you wonder if it’s because the cable guy filed a tip about your collection of Middle East travel books?” Rep. Armey, chairman of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, in his markup of the legislation, scrapped the citizen-spy program. Armey’s bill also rejected the administration’s proposals for a national ID card. Instead, the bill calls for a “privacy officer” who would “ensure technology, research and new regulations from the department respect the civil liberties our citizens enjoy.” Sen. Leahy is making the same recommendations to the Senate saying, “We could be vigilant, but we don’t want to be vigilantes.” In response, the Bush administration has scaled back TIPS to recruit only workers who operate on highways, public transportation and ports of entry. But Laura Murphy of the ACLU counters, “it is still an effort to enlist the private sector as government sanctioned peeping Toms.” Taking Privatization Too Far? In a bizarre development, David Lindorff of the on-line magazine Salon.com revealed that the Department of Justice was forwarding incoming TIPS calls to the “America’s Most Wanted” television series. Lindorff signed up for TIPS and the DOJ gave him a number to call. A representative for “America’s Most Wanted” answered the phone and informed him that, “We’ve been asked to take the FBI’s TIPS calls for them.” The DOJ has since re-routed TIPS calls to the National White Collar Crime Center. TIPS is not dead yet. The Senate will vote on its version of the Homeland Security Department, including TIPS, in September. ____________ |
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