Congress passed a bill on April 19, 2024, that renews a key surveillance program. This law, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, known as RISAA (HR.7888), extends Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for two years. While it makes some changes, many consider them minor. More concerning are new sections that broaden the government’s surveillance powers without needing warrants. The law not only reauthorized the act; it also vastly expanded the surveillance law enforcement can conduct. These could significantly impact immigrants and travelers applying for visas or visiting the U.S.
Under the new RISAA provisions, Congress has granted intelligence agencies the power to monitor noncitizens entering the United States as “immigrant traveling.” In contrast to the stringent guidelines imposed on the FBI’s utilization of queried data, this provision only mandates that queries be employed” for “vetting” purposes. Furthermore, unlike the Court’s emphasis on utilizing this data for counterterrorism efforts, this provision lacks any such restriction. The American Civil Liberties Union has protested the new law, stating that the law has morphed into a domestic surveillance tool:
“Despite what some members would like the public to believe, Section 702 has been abused under presidents from both political parties and it has been used to unlawfully surveil the communications of Americans across the political spectrum,” said Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union. “By expanding the government’s surveillance powers without adding a warrant requirement that would protect Americans, the House has voted to allow the intelligence agencies to violate the civil rights and liberties of Americans for years to come. The Senate must add a warrant requirement and rein in this out-of-control government spying.”
Immigrant Travel Vetting
According to Immigrant Impact,
This means that the information of an unknown number of visitors, specialty occupation workers, religious workers, refugees, and diplomats will be entered into the government’s databases and intimate conversations between them, and their family members and employers, could be exposed without an understanding of what the government is looking for. Because the provision is written broadly to include anyone “processed for travel,” noncitizens already in the United States with DACA, TPS, H-1B visas, and others with temporary or provisional statuses, could be ensnared when they leave the country temporarily and try to reenter.
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Immigration Attorney Mario Godoy has years of experience guiding clients with immigration issues through the immigration process along with guiding clients through the criminal case. Godoy focuses on family-based immigration law, business immigration law, removal defense, and criminal defense representation of immigrants. A criminal charge or conviction can be devastating to your immigration case. With over a decade of immigration law experience and memories of family members who were deported due to bad legal advice, Godoy is committed to helping other immigrant families receive the legal justice they deserve. As a legal entrepreneur who practices immigration law, criminal law, estate and probate law, and running two successful law firms, Mario Godoy understands the importance of keeping families together and making a home and future in America.
