Good:
Montana Democratic Senator Jon Tester wants immigration officials to tell Congress when they eavesdrop on cell phone conversations. His proposal is part of the Department of Homeland Security’s 2018 budget, which is still under consideration in Congress.
From the mountains of Afghanistan to the deserts of Iraq, the federal government has been listening in on foreign cell phone conversations for years. But in 2016, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, were caught eavesdropping on calls here in the U.S. They were trying to root out an undocumented immigrant in Detroit.
While they did it with a search warrant approved by a judge, Tester says that is a slippery slope.
“We need to be very careful not to allow for government overreach because I think it can happen very, very quickly.”
So Tester has written up a provision requiring the Department of Homeland Security report when they use devices, called IMSI catchers, to listen in on cell phone conversations.
These IMSI catchers are about the size of a toaster: “and they send out a signal that mimics the signal of a real cell tower.”
Click here to contact Tester’s office for more information.
Senator Tester has always been a leading champion on defending civil liberties and the GOP would love to take him down. Especially Steve Bannon and his chosen candidate, Montana State Auditor Matt Rosendale (R. MT), who is loved by Breitbart. Let’s not let Bannon win this seat. Click here to donate and get involved with Tester’s re-election campaign.