DETROIT -- The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Michigan are suing the FBI and Department of Justice, claiming they won't release information on why they are collecting race and ethnicity data.
The ACLU states, “according to an FBI operations guide, FBI agents have the authority to collect information about, and create maps of, so-called racial and ethnic behaviors, lifestyle characteristics and cultural traditions and ‘ethnic-oriented businesses in communities with concentrated ethnic populations.”“Through this lawsuit we hope to get records that will tell us exactly what federal law enforcement officials are doing and whether Americans are protected,” said Mark P. Fancher, ACLU of Michigan Racial Justice Project staff attorney in a written release. “Law enforcement profiling based on race and ethnicity has the potential to erode community trust while doing nothing to solve or deter crime. It’s important that Michigan residents know what federal law enforcement officials are doing so that as a community we can hold them accountable for any abuses of power.”
According to the ACLU, the FBI has been collecting racial and ethnic data since 2008 as part of the Domestic Intelligence and Operations Guide (DIOG).
“While the collection of some racial and ethnic data about communities might assist in addressing discrimination, the FBI's claimed authority to target and map certain racial and ethnic communities for increased scrutiny and investigation invites unconstitutional racial profiling,” said Nusrat Choudhury, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project in a written release. "In America, we don’t target neighborhoods for law enforcement purposes based on the ethnic makeup of the people who live there or the types of businesses they run."
You can read the full ACLU complaint, and the full FOIA request by clicking the links.
In the meantime, we want to know if it bothers you that the FBI is collecting racial and ethnic data. Leave us your comments below.
