By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Lawmakers question legality of Border Patrol license plate reader program
preview.jpg
Alek Schott photographs a Flock Safety license plate reader in his neighborhood, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in Houston. - photo by AP Photo/David Goldman
WASHINGTON (AP) — A number of Democratic lawmakers are questioning the legality of a U.S. Border Patrol predictive intelligence program that singles out and detains drivers for suspicious travel inside the country. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts sent a letter Monday to Border Patrol’s parent agency calling the license plate reader program an “invasive surveillance network” that “poses a serious threat to individuals’ privacy and civil liberties” and raised the possibility that the program may run afoul of the U.S. Constitution. “Such pervasive surveillance — similar to surveillance conducted by authoritarian regimes such as China — not only chills lawful expression and assembly but also raises serious constitutional concerns.