The Washington Post reports that the US Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) is working with immigration officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to help “find, detained and deported fraudulents.”
The White House said it had started using the postal service as its DHS arm.
Here’s how local postman gets involved: One is to report suspicious behavior or what appears to be illegal in your neighborhood. Second, DHS will partner with the Postal Inspection Services program to look up “mail covers” that take photos of the outside of envelopes and other packages.
DHS also requires data from your online postal service account and packages and email tracking information. This includes financial information, IP addresses and credit cards. Access to the surveillance system of inspection services provides all this.
The Trump administration has said that all this is necessary when it comes to immigration investigations.
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Some libertarians and Democrats will oppose the partnership, but the involvement of the US Postal Inspection Service, which enforces federal law, is not new.
USPIS has more than 200 federal laws related to US mail, postal systems, or crimes that affect or misuse postal employees. They can investigate crimes related to mail fraud, identity theft, mail theft and illegal mailing of dangerous substances.
They can arrest people committing such felonies, and they provide warrants and subpoenas under US authority.
Postal inspectors are permitted to carry firearms as part of their law enforcement obligations.
Along with other agencies, such as local law enforcement, DHS says postal employees under the program will be trained on what to look for when arresting illegal immigrants in the United States.
