The United States border, for noncitizens, has a unique quality to it. Each time a noncitizen crosses that border, they are no longer private individuals. They can no longer choose to give up their information–instead, there is a forced exchange: data for entry. Who they are, what they are, and everything that connects them to the world is given up in exchange for a new life in a new land. Once the border is crossed, noncitizens no longer have the privacy that they may have known before. This Note first builds on scholarship theorizing that noncitizens do have a right to privacy. Whenever anyone is forced to give up information about themselves, their privacy is violated, and noncitizens are no exception to this rule. Unfortunately, this right is often disrupted by one of three powerful branches of the United States government: the Executive Branch. The Executive Branch has statutory and constitutional immigration authority, as well as Executive Departments that influence immigration policy daily–all of which comprise what this Note calls “powers.” While previous scholarship has focused on the President’s immigration authority, this Note proposes that the Executive Branch uses its “powers” to not only impact immigration policy but also the individual privacy of noncitizens. As technology continues to advance, the Executive Branch increasingly wields its “powers,” in conjunction with different technological systems and databases, in ways that threaten the privacy of every noncitizen who dares to cross the border.

Continue Reading Superpowers With Villainous Objectives: How the Executive Branch’s Immigration Enforcement “Powers” Utilize Technology to Violate Noncitizens’ Privacy