Kat Lonsdorf

Their message was not subtle, right?

They were, in effect, saying, we see you, we can get to you whenever we want to.

And it did scare me.

Emily says she didn't know how they pulled up her information so quickly.

So you can hear there they tell her that they have a, quote, nice little database and that they are considering her a domestic terrorist.

I will say that DHS has denied having a database like this several times since that video went pretty viral.

Outgoing Secretary Kristi Noem denied it in front of Congress just last week.

Todd Lyons, who's the acting director for ICE, has also denied it in front of Congress.

DHS also denied it to us in a statement that that we got from them.

You know, we did ask DHS why agents are taking pictures of protesters faces or license plates, and they did not respond to that question when we asked them.

So, you know, we don't know if there is a database like this, despite them denying it.

You know, it could be that, you know, these are semantics.

Maybe a contractor has a database.

Maybe it's not technically a database.

These are still things that we don't know.

I mean, I will say, you know, surveillance under DHS is not a new thing, right?

That is a big part of what the Department of Homeland Security does.

But, you know, especially under this administration, especially in Trump's second administration, ICE's budget has ballooned.

You know, part of the one big, beautiful bill act that was passed by Congress last year.

gave ICE something like an $80 billion budget.