In the aftermath of 9/11, the George W. Bush administration launched a global “war on terror,” using public fear and calls for retaliation to justify military intervention and Islamophobic violence around the world. This war demonized and targeted Muslims both abroad and in the United States. In 2002, the administration created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and forcefully reorganized federal immigration services, emergency response, and data analysis under the mission of “securing the homeland.” This reorganization codified the false link between immigration and terrorism. Instead of keeping people safe, DHS and its corporate partners used “war on terror” to expand policing and surveillance in neighborhoods across the country, targeting immigrant and Muslim communities and intensifying the war on terror on our own soil.
Since its inception, DHS has relied on “emergency” conditions to carry out its work. Twenty years later, this “emergency” has not ended. Immigration enforcement, “national security,” and surveillance have become big business.
Our report examines how Department of Homeland Security funds and corporations are driving the demand for “homeland security” and expanding militarized policing in communities.Through our investigation, we found that the Department of Homeland Security, with the help of corporate partners, is spending millions of dollars on surveillance and policing cities in the name of emergency response and counterterrorism. Microsoft, LexisNexis, ShotSpotter, Palantir, Motorola Solutions.
Specifically, the report presents data on how the Department of Homeland Security has provided billions of dollars in grant funding to cities through programs such as: Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI)We found that the Department of Homeland Security and local law enforcement agencies are using this “counterterrorism” grant program to expand surveillance, increase police militarization, and funnel money to the companies that claim to support it. We focused on four cities: Los Angeles, Boston, New York, and Chicago. UASI subsidies will be strengthened Local police and charitable organizations. We will be highlighting our Data Fusion Center, which will enable interagency information sharing and It is heavily funded by UASI.This is one example of how industry and government work together to create a system that criminalizes Muslim, Black, Brown, Indigenous and immigrant communities in our neighborhoods.
