Congress Uses Cargo Theft to Justify More ICE Surveillance
A bill now in Congress, written ostensibly to address large-scale cargo theft, contains a provision granting ICE broad exemptions to collect federally protected commercial data. The loophole would expand ICE’s already vast surveillance apparatus.
Around .005% of freight moving around the United States each year is documented as stolen. To combat this theft, Congress wants to make ICE’s already enormous surveillance apparatus even bigger. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)
Last year, lobbyists and trade groups began sounding the alarm about a sweeping new crime epidemic: cargo theft.
“In the shadows of our nation’s supply chains, a dangerous and escalating threat looms,” warned the American Trucking Associations in a memo about the “explosive” rise of the crime. The industry was “under siege,” reported FreightWaves, a trucking analytics group.
Railroad heists and highway robberies — the headlines conjured up lurid images of crime and intrigue. In a Washington Post op-ed, an industry executive told the story of a bandit making off with $15 million in electronics from a Nevada warehouse lot in the dark of night. Lobbyists also warned of economic destruction: One particularly alarmist industry estimate recently put the losses from cargo theft at $60 billion annually.
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.