ICE Is Using Data Broker Tools to ‘Identify Unaccompanied Minors’ and ‘Fraud’
ICE Is Using Data Broker Tools to ‘Identify Unaccompanied Minors’ and ‘Fraud’
美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）正利用数据经纪商工具“识别无人陪伴未成年人”及“欺诈行为”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intends to renew its contract with a subsidiary of data broker giant Thomson Reuters at a rate of up to $25 million per year for up to five years in order to accommodate an urgent, “multiplied” demand for data that can identify “unaccompanied minors” as well as anyone involved with “any type of fraud of government funds,” according to a document published in a federal contract register on Tuesday.
根据周二发布在联邦合同登记处的一份文件显示，美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）计划与数据经纪巨头汤森路透（Thomson Reuters）的一家子公司续签合同。该合同每年金额最高可达2500万美元，为期最长五年，旨在满足其对数据“成倍增长”的迫切需求，以便识别“无人陪伴未成年人”以及任何涉及“各类政府资金欺诈”的人员。
“Due to ICE’s re-prioritized mission,” the document reads, “there is a need for the data to be readily accessible to support the presidential mandate of the identification of Voters fraud, Immigration Fraud, and National Security.”
文件中写道：“由于ICE重新调整了任务优先级，我们需要随时获取这些数据，以支持总统关于识别选民欺诈、移民欺诈及维护国家安全的指令。”
The document does not explain why ICE would need to identify unaccompanied minors, which is typically the remit of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), or how Thomson Reuters’ data would be used to combat voter fraud or immigration fraud. When reached for comment, Thomson Reuters spokesperson Kat Hanley tells WIRED that its identification work for ICE may include “vetting the sponsors of children entering the country” to ensure the children’s “welfare and safety.”
该文件并未解释为何ICE需要识别无人陪伴未成年人（这通常属于美国卫生与公众服务部（HHS）的职责范围），也未说明汤森路透的数据将如何用于打击选民欺诈或移民欺诈。在接受《连线》（WIRED）杂志采访时，汤森路透发言人凯特·汉利（Kat Hanley）表示，其为ICE提供的识别工作可能包括“审查入境儿童的担保人”，以确保这些儿童的“福利与安全”。
The annual payment of $25 million marks a dramatic increase in the value of Thomson Reuters’ work with ICE. The previous equivalent contract was worth $24 million total over a five-year period.
每年2500万美元的支付额标志着汤森路透与ICE合作的合同价值大幅提升。此前同类合同的总价值为五年2400万美元。
Though ICE has been buying data from Thomson Reuters since 2008, the contract justification indicates that the Trump administration hopes to expand the scope of how Thomson Reuters data is used by federal immigration officials. It is yet another indicator of the ever-expanding reach of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
尽管ICE自2008年以来一直从汤森路透购买数据，但合同说明显示，特朗普政府希望扩大联邦移民官员使用汤森路透数据的方式。这是唐纳德·特朗普总统打击移民政策影响范围不断扩大的又一迹象。
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims in the document that Thomson Reuters Special Services (TRSS) is “the only contractor” that can provide “continuous monitoring of up to one million individuals and entities” with “event-driven monitoring,” “real-time alerts,” and “model-based risk scoring.” The document did not provide examples of said events or risks.
美国国土安全部（DHS）在文件中声称，汤森路透特殊服务部（TRSS）是“唯一一家”能够提供“多达一百万个人和实体的持续监控”的承包商，并具备“事件驱动监控”、“实时警报”和“基于模型的风险评分”功能。该文件并未提供上述事件或风险的具体示例。
The contract would maintain ICE’s access to several proprietary Thomson Reuters databases, the document says. One of these databases is the Consolidated Lead Evaluation and Reporting (CLEAR), which provides access to public records and “license plate reader data,” which is sourced from on-road surveillance cameras. Since 2017, Thomson Reuters has sourced this data from Vigilant Solutions, an automated license-plate-reader company that is now owned by Motorola.
文件称，该合同将维持ICE对汤森路透多个专有数据库的访问权限。其中之一是“综合线索评估与报告”（CLEAR）数据库，它提供对公共记录和“车牌识别数据”的访问，这些数据来源于道路监控摄像头。自2017年以来，汤森路透一直从Vigilant Solutions获取这些数据，这是一家现已被摩托罗拉收购的自动车牌识别公司。
Another Thomson Reuters database named in the document is the Continuous Alerting Batch Solution (CABS), which ICE says pulls records about individuals who were recently incarcerated or came into contact with law enforcement, including “real-time alerting on last known location data.”
文件中提到的另一个汤森路透数据库是“持续警报批处理解决方案”（CABS）。ICE称，该系统会提取近期被监禁或与执法部门有过接触的人员记录，包括“关于最后已知位置数据的实时警报”。
The contract would also maintain ICE’s access to Westlaw, Thomson Reuters’ court records database. ICE will also have access to Real Time Incarceration and Arrest Records (RTIA and Thomson Reuters Special Services Entity Authority (TEA), which feeds into a “risk intelligence” platform called RAPID, according to Thomson Reuters’ website.
该合同还将维持ICE对汤森路透法院记录数据库Westlaw的访问权限。根据汤森路透网站显示，ICE还将能够访问“实时监禁与逮捕记录”（RTIA）以及“汤森路透特殊服务实体授权”（TEA），这些数据会汇入一个名为RAPID的“风险情报”平台。
The software bundle that Thomson Reuters sells to ICE, the document claims, enables the agency to conduct “continuous monitoring,” “court document retrieval,” “risk assessments,” and “academic risk flagging.” The document does not explain what constitutes an academic risk.
文件声称，汤森路透向ICE出售的软件套件使该机构能够进行“持续监控”、“法院文件检索”、“风险评估”和“学术风险标记”。文件并未解释什么是“学术风险”。
Representatives for ICE, DHS, and HHS did not respond to requests for comment. A White House spokesperson referred WIRED to DHS and ICE.
ICE、国土安全部和卫生与公众服务部的代表均未回应置评请求。白宫发言人将《连线》的询问转交给了国土安全部和ICE。
Unaccompanied minors, children who arrive in the US alone, are not the purview of ICE. Care for these children is overseen by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which is under the umbrella of HHS and operates independently from immigration enforcement. However, in February last year, ICE agents were granted further access to the database that ORR uses to track unaccompanied minors.
无人陪伴未成年人（即独自抵达美国的儿童）不属于ICE的管辖范围。这些儿童的照管工作由难民安置办公室（ORR）负责，该办公室隶属于卫生与公众服务部，独立于移民执法部门运作。然而，去年2月，ICE特工获得了更多访问权限，可以查看ORR用于追踪无人陪伴未成年人的数据库。
A government employee with knowledge of immigration processes says that the Thomson Reuters proprietary databases will now be used by DHS agents, including ICE, to background-check potential sponsors for unaccompanied minors. They spoke to WIRED on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
一位了解移民流程的政府雇员表示，汤森路透的专有数据库现在将被包括ICE在内的国土安全部特工用于对无人陪伴未成年人的潜在担保人进行背景调查。由于未获授权向媒体发言，该雇员要求匿名接受《连线》采访。
A sponsor is generally a parent or other adult family member who is responsible for providing food, shelter, and medical care for the minor as they await immigration proceedings. The sponsor must also agree to make sure the child attends all necessary immigration appointments and court proceedings. But this level of DHS involvement is a departure from how the process has historically worked.
担保人通常是父母或其他成年家庭成员，负责在未成年人等待移民程序期间为其提供食物、住所和医疗护理。担保人还必须同意确保儿童参加所有必要的移民预约和法庭程序。但国土安全部如此深度的介入，与该流程的历史运作方式背道而驰。
“With every passing day, it becomes more difficult to discern where ORR ends and ICE begins,” says Jason Boyd, vice president of federal policy at Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), a legal services organization that works with unaccompanied minors.
“每一天，我们都越来越难以分辨ORR的职责在哪里结束，而ICE的职责又从哪里开始，”为无人陪伴未成年人提供法律服务的组织“儿童需要保护”（KIND）的联邦政策副总裁杰森·博伊德（Jason Boyd）说道。
Historically, ORR staff would conduct background checks on sponsors, with a specific eye toward indicators that could put a child in jeopardy, such as whether a sponsor appears on registered sex offender lists, had a history of child abuse and neglect, or appeared in state criminal databases. Members of DHS were not involved in this process. But last year, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), which oversees ORR, released new guidance requiring that all sponsors and other adult members of their households be fingerprinted and stipulating that only “unexpired and legible photocopies of identification documents” would be accepted. All sponsors and “alternate caregivers” are also now required to have a Social Security number or individual tax identification number, a challenge for “mixed-status” families where some members may be undocumented but others are not.
从历史上看，ORR工作人员会对担保人进行背景调查，重点关注可能使儿童处于危险之中的指标，例如担保人是否出现在注册性犯罪者名单上、是否有虐待和忽视儿童的历史，或是否出现在州犯罪数据库中。国土安全部成员此前并未参与此过程。但去年，监管ORR的儿童与家庭管理局（ACF）发布了新指南，要求所有担保人及其家庭中的其他成年成员必须采集指纹，并规定仅接受“未过期且清晰的身份证件复印件”。现在，所有担保人和“替代照管人”还必须拥有社会安全号码或个人纳税人识别号，这对“混合身份”家庭（即家庭中部分成员无证件，而其他成员有证件）构成了挑战。
Boyd says these increased requirements and the risk for scrutiny from DHS have narrowed the pool of potential sponsors for unaccompanied children, drastically increasing the…
博伊德表示，这些增加的要求以及来自国土安全部的审查风险，缩小了无人陪伴儿童潜在担保人的范围，极大地增加了……