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In the last four years, two federal agencies in charge of protecting US borders have generated billions of dollars in revenue through the extensive seizure of assets including human remains, bombs, airplanes, yachts and cryptocurrencies.
Since 2014, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have seized $ 4,159,696,970 of property that would have been used in crimes, according to documents obtained by Splinter. (Those linked here have been slightly altered for readability, but researchers or journalists interested in getting raw files can send emails to the authors.) The records include every seizure that has been placed in the huge DHS asset asset database. , the asset seized and the system case tracking, or SEACATS, from 2014 until the beginning of 2018.
In an operation in 2016, DHS seized a helicopter worth $ 5,800,000 and a single jet worth $ 2,500,000. In 2018, another jet taken was valued at $ 5,000,000, and a "dinghy / raft" at $ 500,000.
But perhaps one of the most surprising elements in the SEACATS database is the seizure of human remains. In 2016 and 2017, the seizure of numerous human remains was valued at $ 0. But in 2018, a single "human remains" seized was valued at $ 3,500, and another in 2015 at $ 10,000.
In September 2015, Kentucky resident Gerardo Serrano took some photos while waiting in his pickup truck to cross the Mexican border. Objective of taking pictures, two agents of the CBP stopped, held him back and ordered him to unlock his cell phone. After refusing, the agents of the CBP began to search on his truck.
"We took it," reported a CBP agent while he was conducting the research. The agent had found five low-caliber bullets in the center console, which Serrano had said he had forgotten that they were there as well. The CBP seized his truck through the confiscation of assets, claiming that it had been used to transport "war ammunition" and Serrano spent the next two years of his life fighting to recover his truck.
The confiscation of assets allows the forces of the order to seize and then sell assets that are believed to have been used in a crime. While criminal confiscation can only take place after the owner of the property has been convicted of a crime, this is not the case for civil confiscation. Anya Bidwell, a lawyer from the justice establishment that represented Serrano in his fight for his truck, confirmed that his client had not received any charges in connection with this case.
"This is exactly the problem with civil confiscation." There is no need for accusations, let alone a criminal conviction, "he said.
The ACLU has defined civil confiscation "equivalent to the control for profit", stating that the forces of the order can use it as a tool to strengthen the budgets of the departments under the pretext of fighting crime.
On the contrary, criminal confiscation can only take place after the owner of the property has been convicted of a crime. The SEACATS database includes both seizures of civil and criminal assets, but the breakdown is not clear.
"The process begins when an executive action involves a shutdown, or when ownership is seized by CBP or ICE and includes supporting information, such as: violation, ownership description, amount and violation", reads an evaluation of the transaction. SEACATS privacy impact since 2017. "Once a case of arrest or seizure has been initiated, the official officer must present the SEACATS incident report to his supervisor within 24 hours of the arrest".
Last October, The Intercept published extracts from the 2010 ICE Internal Security Investigation Handbook, which provides suggestions to agents on how to use various laws to justify ownership. The manual reads: "As a general rule, if the total liabilities and costs incurred to take possession of a property or a business exceed the value of the property, the property should not be seized".
Describes how immigration agents can maximize profits through strategic seizures that are profitable, rather than wasting time and resources on assets of lesser value, which defines liabilities.
The Serrano pickup was valued at just under $ 40,000 at the time it was seized in 2015, a drop in bucket for agencies' budgets like CBP and ICE. But it was only one of over 1,000 trucks that ICE and CBP seized only in 2015, along with ambulances, buses, tank trucks and vans.
According to a CBP spokesperson, import specialists, who are trained to assess the value of items, provide an approximate value for the internal value of the seized properties.
The property is transferred to the Treasury Department, which can facilitate the sale of certain assets. For example, bombs are delivered to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for disposal, according to the CBP.
"In general, the determination of whether the seized property is destroyed, donated or sold at auction is determined by the type of property we are talking about," wrote the CBP spokesperson. "For example, counterfeit products are generally destroyed, primarily because of potential harmful / unknown substances used in their production (eg lead paint), but also because of trademark infringement. Parts may be sold at auction.Every illegal item, such as illegal drugs and certain weapons, is destroyed by the appropriate agency (for example, ATF). "
Some assets, such as real estate, are sold at auction by the Treasury Department. When asked what happens to the cryptocurrencies seized as Bitcoin, the CBP spokesman said: "Virtual currency is not" cashed ", but is held until it is waived, then sold at auction."
It is unclear how agencies have access to cryptocurrency portfolios, and an ICE spokesperson refused to comment on criminal investigation tactics. But other federal agencies have sold cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to the auction.
The US Marshals service had organized six Bitcoin auctions at the start of this year. Participation in auctions required a deposit of $ 200,000, which would be returned to non-winning bidders. The confiscated currency was sold in blocks, like 500 and 100 Bitcoins.
Of the thousands and thousands of seizures of ICE and CBP, it is not clear how many people are able to recover their property. Doing this can require lengthy and often expensive legal battles. In the end, Serrano recovered his truck seized by the immigration authorities, but he also filed a collective lawsuit on behalf of other US citizens who had seized their vehicles from the CBP.
"The government retains ownership, and the second is a cause, the government returns this article and continues with business as usual," said Serrano's lawyer Bidwell. Serrano and Bidwell have aimed with their cause to require the CBP to provide a timely hearing when the agency seizes the vehicles.
Although a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in Serrano at the end of September, the Institute for Justice is appealing to the decision.
Bidwell emphasized the importance of continuing to fight confiscation abuses for as long as they exist. "No one should lose his property without being convicted, not to say accused of a crime," he said.
Camille Fassett is a journalist at the Freedom of the Press Foundation and a researcher at Lucy Parsons Labs. Freddy Martinez is a technologist who researches the government using public documents. Previously he was a member of the Mozilla / Ford Open web hosted at the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
