Members of the House Judiciary Committee are fast-tracking legislation this week that risks expanding secretive immigration enforcement practices and increasing the government’s reliance on unreliable databases. The Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act (H.R.

Today, OTG joined a broad coalition of government accountability, civil liberties and civil rights groups, expressing concern over the Trump Administration’s removal of restrictions and transparency requirements for federal programs that flood cities with military weapons.

In August, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and six Republican co-sponsors introduced the Building America’s Trust Act (S.1757), an immigration enforcement and border security bill with a $15 billion price tag that covers a vast array of immigration and national security-related issues – and that would be implemented effectively in secret.

A new report from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) reveals that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is increasingly concealing information that was previously released to the public in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The report describes efforts by ICE to block access to information on immigration enforcement cooperation between federal and non-federal law enforcement agencies, exposing possible violations of the agency’s FOIA obligations.

Today, a broad coalition of over 70 public interest organizations sent a letter to the Attorney General expressing concern over the Justice Department’s demand for information associated with a protest-organizing website.

So far, the Trump Administration has shown a willingness to accelerate the use of military force overseas, while continuing and sometimes expanding on the excessive secrecy of its predecessors.  As the number of civilian casualties from U.S. strikes grows at a shocking pace, government transparency and Congressional oversight may be the surest way to advance accountability in U.S. use of military force.

In the latest threat to individuals’ right to privacy, the FBI will no longer be required to inform you if your photographs, fingerprints, iris scans, and other records are being stored in the government’s largest existing biometrics database – the FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) system. Last year, OpenTheGovernment and our partners submitted comments to the Department of Justice

Today, a coalition of organizations committed to government openness and accountability, civil liberties, human rights, and civil rights, is calling on Congress to support legislation demanding greater transparency from private prisons that contract with the federal government.

A federal program that provides state and local police departments with military-grade surveillance equipment and tactical weapons lacks proper oversight and accountability mechanisms, according to Members of the House Armed Services Committee.