by Xochitl T. Canela
At a press briefing titled “No Place Left to Hide,” organized by American Community Media, researchers and technology experts warned that the rapid expansion of surveillance technologies is transforming immigration enforcement in the United States and raising new concerns about privacy and civil liberties.
The briefing brought together policy analysts, legal experts and journalists to discuss how government agencies increasingly rely on large data systems, artificial intelligence and private contractors to monitor individuals. The panel included: Ariel G. Ruíz Soto, senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute; Jacob Snow, technology and civil liberties attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California; journalist and author Jacob Ward; and storyteller and AI professional Juan Sebastián Pinto.
Ruíz Soto explained that immigration enforcement has entered a new era driven by large-scale data integration. Government agencies now have the ability to combine information from numerous public and private databases.
“The scale of data sharing and integration across government systems has expanded dramatically in recent years,” Ruíz Soto said. “Immigration enforcement agencies can now access a wide range of records—from administrative databases to commercially available data—to identify individuals.”
According to Ruíz Soto, the expansion of these digital systems allows authorities to track patterns, analyze personal data and identify individuals more efficiently than in the past.
Civil liberties advocates say this growing technological infrastructure also creates serious risks. Snow warned that surveillance tools originally developed for immigration enforcement can easily expand into broader monitoring of the public.
“When governments build large surveillance systems, those tools rarely remain limited to their original purpose,” Snow said. “Without strong safeguards and oversight, they can gradually expand and affect the privacy rights of millions of people.”
Snow pointed to technologies such as facial recognition, automated license plate readers and social media monitoring as examples of tools that can create widespread digital surveillance.
Ward emphasized that technological systems increasingly influence everyday life in ways most people do not fully understand.
“Technology increasingly shapes our decisions and behaviors in ways that are often invisible,” Ward said. “Understanding how these systems operate is essential if we want to maintain democratic accountability.”
Meanwhile, Pinto highlighted the importance of storytelling and public engagement when discussing emerging technologies.
“Stories help people understand how technology affects their daily lives,” Pinto said. “If communities are not included in these conversations, decisions about surveillance and artificial intelligence will be made without them.”
Participants concluded that greater transparency, stronger legal protections and broader public debate are essential as surveillance technologies continue to expand.
