NSA wipes its records of phone calls, texts collected by telecom companies

The National Security Agency (NSA) said Friday in a statement that it had begun purging hundreds of millions of call detail records (CDRs) the agency had acquired since 2015.

In the press release, the NSA stated that it began the process of deleting the files, which record details of phone calls but not the content itself, in May after it discovered it had acquired some data for which it did not have proper authorization to obtain.

"NSA is deleting the CDRs because several months ago NSA analysts noted technical irregularities in some data received from telecommunications service providers. These irregularities also resulted in the production to NSA of some CDRs that NSA was not authorized to receive," the statement reads.

"Because it was infeasible to identify and isolate properly produced data, NSA concluded that it should not use any of the CDRs."

The agency acquires hundreds of millions of CDRs every year under the Freedom Act, a surveillance law passed in 2015 upon the expiration of the controversial Patriot Act, which established the NSA phone surveillance of American citizens.

David Kris, a member of the Justice Department during the Obama administration, called Friday's announcement a "failure" of the Obama administration to properly implement the Freedom Act in a statement to The New York Times.

“The fact that they need to purge all of the data they received pursuant to queries over the last three years is evidence of that failure,” Kris said.

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, laid blame for the issue on instead telecom companies who provided the data to the NSA in an interview with the Times.

“Telecom companies hold vast amounts of private data on Americans,” Wyden said. “This incident shows these companies acted with unacceptable carelessness, and failed to comply with the law when they shared customers’ sensitive data with the government

http://thehill.com/policy/technology/394939-nsa-wipes-its-records-of-phone-calls-texts-collected-by-telecom-companies

Anons, do you think we should let the protesters know?

ICE chief to protesters: We're not the ones separating families

Thomas Homan, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), addressed critics on Friday attacking his agency over migrant family separations.

"They need to educate themselves," the ICE chief told Fox News. "I mean, this protest yesterday, to protest about family separations on the border – ICE doesn't separate families on the border. That's the Border Patrol. We're a different agency."

"So they need to get their facts straight and inform themselves what's actually happening," he continued.

Homan added, "I'm not throwing Border Patrol under the bus. I think they're doing what they need to do."

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/394937-ice-chief-to-protesters-were-not-the-ones-separating-families

Another disincentive to illegal immigration - no more catch and release.

Trump admin likely to detain migrant families for months during immigration proceedings

The Washington Post reported Friday that Trump administration lawyers wrote in a legal notice to a judge in California that the federal government would hold migrant families at detention facilities for "the pendency of immigration proceedings when they are apprehended at or between ports of entry."

While the filing does not specify the length of expected detention for migrant families – and whether the administration plans to hold them past a 20-day limit – the Post noted that immigration proceedings are known to last for months.

Immigration judges have faced an overwhelming caseload under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy mandating the prosecution of all migrants suspected of illegally crossing the border.

The administration attorneys argued Friday that a previous order from a judge to reunite migrant children with their parents “without unnecessary delay” is invalid after President Trump signed an executive order ending family separations. The new policy, “which requires that the minor be kept with the parent, makes delay necessary in these circumstances.”

http://thehill.com/latino/394938-trump-admin-likely-to-detain-migrant-families-for-months-during-immigration

>>1965573 Fox News Playing In Airport Terminals (CNN BTFO)

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for your consideration

Vancouver restaurant manager fired, refused to serve Trump backer

The manager of a popular Vancouver, B.C., restaurant has been fired for refusing service to a supporter of President Trump.

The customer arrived at the Teahouse in Stanley Park wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat, and was asked by manager Darin Hodge to remove the hat.

Soon after that, the manager, on the job for 18 months, was let go by the Sequoia Co. which manages the restaurant, for violating its "philosophy of tolerance."

"Sequoia does not support intolerance of any kind, and it is because of these principles that we cannot discriminate against someone based on their support for the current administration in the United States, or any other bonified political party," Sequoia said in a statement.

https://www.seattlepi.com/local/politics/article/Connelly-Vancouver-restaurant-manager-fired-13038690.php

"sensitive locations"

Father of three takes sanctuary at Seattle church to avoid deportation

Jose Robles was supposed to be on a plane back to Michoacan, Mexico, at 6 a.m. Thursday, but he packed his bags and went to Gethsemane Lutheran Church in downtown Seattle instead.

He said he felt fear and anxiety driving to the church for sanctuary to avoid deportation.

Churches are considered “sensitive locations” by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which means they are generally not allowed to conduct enforcement operations there.

Robles has lived in the U.S. for 18 years and lived in Lakewood for the past decade. He owns a painting company, but can no longer work while he’s in sanctuary.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/father-of-three-takes-sanctuary-at-seattle-church/