Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus & Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairs Call for Privacy Reforms Before Wednesday’s FISA Vote
Washington, D.C. — On Tuesday, more than 30 leading civil society groups endorsed a letter from the chairs of three congressional caucuses calling for privacy reforms as part of any reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The chairs—Rep. Adriano Espaillat of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Grace Meng of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and Rep. Greg Casar of the Congressional Progressive Caucus—specifically call for closing the data broker loophole, ending the Section 702 Backdoor Search Loophole and repealing the Section 702 “visa vetting” provision. The House is expected to vote on FISA on Wednesday.
More than 30 civil society organizations have endorsed the letter, including Demand Progress, ACLU, Indivisible, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Color of Change, The Brennan Center for Justice and Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC.
“Gaps in the law allow the government to bypass the courts and hoover up sensitive information on Americans. With this data, they can turbocharge AI surveillance systems and create detailed profiles that threaten our privacy and safety. This is why it’s so meaningful that three of the most important congressional caucuses representing so many different communities are calling for needed privacy reforms. We urge all members of Congress to follow the lead of the CHC, CAPAC and CPC by voting to close privacy loopholes and protect our communities from invasive surveillance,”
– Hajar Hammado, Senior Policy Advisor, Demand Progress
“No one should have to choose between their privacy and their security. Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC strongly supports reforms to Section 702 that strengthen Fourth Amendment protections, including closing the data broker loophole and requiring the government to obtain a warrant before accessing Americans’ sensitive personal information, to prevent harmful surveillance practices and their disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities. Advancing Justice – AAJC is grateful for the leadership of CAPAC, CHC, and CPC in calling for meaningful statutory safeguards under Section 702 that protect privacy and civil rights while ensuring the government has the tools to protect our national security.”
– Joanna Derman, Director of Anti-Racial Profiling, Civil Rights, and National Security at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC
“Unconstitutional mass warrantless search and seizure is not for the benefit of the people of the United States in any way, shape, or form. Easily obtainable public data makes clear that virtually none of us want it. If our government would take a short break from protecting us from imaginary dangers, it might find the time to protect us from itself.”
– David Swanson, Campaign Coordinator, RootsAction
“Protecting our national security must never come at the expense of the Constitution. As Congress considers reauthorization of Section 702 of FISA, it is imperative that we uphold the Fourth Amendment rights of all people by ensuring strong safeguards against warrantless surveillance. This is a critical step toward restoring balance—defending both our safety and the fundamental freedoms that define our democracy.”
– Mary Guierrez, Director and Organizer, Earth Ethics, Inc.
“For years now, corporations and the government have collected, categorized and tracked increasing amounts of highly sensitive data on everyone in the United States – to a degree that would shock most people. Emerging AI tools are only lowering the barriers to mass data collection, analysis and targeted surveillance. These practices are dangerous under any administration. Under the Trump administration, they pose an existential threat to our civil rights and liberties. As Congress once again stares down a deadline for reauthorizing FISA Section 702, all members must join the CHC, CAPAC, CPC and others who are prepared to do the necessary work of passing much-needed, bipartisan privacy reforms with overwhelming public support.”
– Jenna Ruddock, Advocacy Director, Free Press Action
“Nonprofit staff are often navigating the web in service of critical services, necessary programs, and vulnerable clients and service recipients, creating vulnerable data trails that multiply the risks for both the individuals they are working to support, themselves, or even their colleagues. Closing the data broker loophole and backdoor loophole create critical protections not just for consumers but all those working to support communities.”
– Amy Sample Ward, CEO, NTEN
“Year after year, the intelligence agencies have sold the American people a story, telling them that actually protecting the privacy of their communications as the Constitution requires would put America at risk. This is, and always has been, a lie, even if too many politicians of both parties have claimed that it’s true. The truth is that Americans are not safer with the Trump administration looking over their shoulder, every time they send a text or email, or make a call, or go anywhere online. In a free country, before the government has the right to search or seize your communications, they need a reason. In America, we call this “probable cause.” That’s what the Constitution requires, and that’s what Congress should now require.
And just for clarity, “probable cause” is not “this American communicated with somebody abroad who has foreign intelligence information, or with anybody wanting to come to the US for any reason;” before you lose your privacy, the government should have to show to a court that they have actual evidence you’re involved in an actual crime.”
– Alex Marthews, National Chair, Restore The Fourth
“People Power United believes freedom over fascism means rejecting warrantless government surveillance of our communities, progress over fear means protecting both civil liberties and real public safety, and power to the people means the Constitution must still apply in the digital age. As Congress considers reauthorizing Section 702 of FISA, lawmakers must close the data broker loophole, end backdoor searches, and require a warrant before the government accesses Americans’ sensitive personal information. No one should have to surrender privacy, dignity, and Fourth Amendment protections in the name of security. Our communities deserve laws that keep people safe without opening the door to mass surveillance, AI-powered profiling, racial targeting, or unchecked government abuse. Congress must reform Section 702 now and put our rights, freedoms, and democracy first.”
– Laurie Woodward Garcia, Leader, People Power United
“As the Trump administration’s Department of Defense is reportedly trying to require American artificial intelligence companies to enable domestic surveillance through massive data collection, concerns about Americans’ right to privacy is at an all time high” said Debra Perlin, Vice President of Policy for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). “With Congress set to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) it is past time for warrantless spying on Americans to end. CREW strongly urges Congress to include much needed reforms to FISA to prohibit backdoor searches by federal agencies without a warrant or court oversight.”
– Debra Perlin, Vice President for Policy, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
“The Japanese American community knows firsthand where unchecked government surveillance can lead. Before, during, and after the Second World War, the federal government subjected our community to warrantless surveillance, even as our families were forcibly imprisoned behind barbed wire across the United States. Suspicion was built around everyday life. Speaking Japanese, subscribing to Japanese language newspapers, participating in cultural or religious organizations, community leadership, and maintaining ties with family abroad were all treated as indicators of foreign influence and disloyalty. These assumptions were used to justify mass arrests without due process and the casting of an entire community as a “fifth column.”FISA was created to rein in unchecked executive authority, but Section 702 proved to be a betrayal of that promise. Under a clean extension of Section 702, the federal government will continue to collect massive amounts of data on foreign nationals and Americans alike, using that data to surveil us all in the name of national security. The Japanese American community learned the devastating consequences of government surveillance, and marginalized communities and activists across America are living those consequences today. Congress must not reauthorize Section 702 without the critical reforms needed to bring real scrutiny to what has become a surveillance free-for-all. We will not accept a clean extension. The JACL thanks CAPAC, CHC, and CPC for their leadership in calling for these critical reforms, and we call on the rest of Congress to follow.”
– Saki Mori, Interim Executive Director, Japanese American Citizens League
“Protecting our privacy and constitutional rights matters more than ever. No one should ever have to live with the assumption that their texts, searches, and movements are being swept up, stored, and sorted without a warrant. Section 702 has gone far beyond its original intent, and Congress now faces a simple choice: let Stephen Miller deploy AI to supercharge warrantless mass surveillance, or actually stand up for the constitution and put real privacy reforms into FISA. The Fourth Amendment has to mean something in practice, not just in theory. It’s on Congress to protect our privacy,”
– Andrew O’Neill, Indivisible, National Advocacy Director
“The tides have turned: in the age of AI, you cannot successfully argue that all this surveillance is what’s keeping everyday people safe in the US. In fact, it’s putting us all in danger. New, insidious, and invisible threats that can only exist if they are fed a constant stream of our personal data are coming from every direction. The general public has never been more aware of or more outraged by the panopticon breathing over our shoulders our daily lives. From ICE leveraging facial recognition AI to threaten legal observers at their home addresses to everybody’s location data from their apps being sold to anyone who will pay, people are over it. In this sentiment, lawmakers have a mandate to finally deal with the raining fire hydrant that is saturating authoritarian actors and worse with their constituents’ intimate personal data. It’s time to cut off the irresponsible and dangerous data broker loophole for good and institute reforms to FISA that shield us all.”
– Lia Holland (they/she), Campaigns and Communications Director, Fight for the Future
“Time and time again, our government has justified spying on racial justice activists by crying national security. Our elected leaders in Congress must reform Section 702 of FISA with meaningful privacy protections so it no longer allows the CIA, FBI, and NSA to surveil our communities, especially given how AI tools supercharge racial profiling and state surveillance. These loopholes are too easily abused by administrations that put their political agendas ahead of the people they’re meant to serve, violating our civil rights without consequence.”
– Alejandra Montoya-Boyer, Vice President, The Leadership Conference’s Center for Civil Rights and Technology
“Congress is not a helpless bystander as technology dramatically increases the power of warrantless mass surveillance. Congress must act now to close the data broker loophole and reform FISA Section 702, and we commend the leadership of the CHC, CAPAC, and CPC in seeking real guardrails and accountability that protect our constitutional rights.”
– Donald Bell, Policy Counsel, The Constitution Project, Project On Government Oversight
“We find ourselves once again at the precipice of a Section 702 reauthorization, meaning that women and allies are once again holding our breath wondering if Congress will take the necessary, overdue steps to reform this dangerous law and protect our privacy—including our health privacy. It’s impossible to overstate how significantly the risks of Section 702 have increased since the last reauthorization in April 2024, particularly for people with marginalized gender identities; from the AI boom, to reproductive health rollbacks, to blurring lines between tech companies and the federal government, to mass attacks to on gender-affirming care, women and gender-expansive people are under increased threat every day, exacerbated by Section 702. Congress has the power to reduce that threat, and we expect them to do so.”
– Jenna Sherman, Campaign Director, UltraViolet
“As our democracy faces historic threats, Congress should not give spy agencies a blank check to surveil the public. Section 702 surveillance is simply too powerful to be trusted by the FBI or any other government agency, but lawmakers continue to believe the lie that it can be contained. Federal agencies have proven time and time again that they are incapable of following even the most minor limitations on these surveillance powers. We’ve been through this before, and it’s outrageous that Congress is even considering reauthorizing such sweeping lawlessness.”
– Corinne Worthington, Advocacy & Community Engagement Manager, Surveillance Technology Oversight Project
Here is the full list of civil society groups endorsing the letter:
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Demand Progress
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Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC
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Advocacy for Principled Action in Government
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The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
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Due Process Institute
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Free Press Action
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Project On Government Oversight
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The Brennan Center for Justice
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Make the Road States
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Muslims for Just Futures
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Snake River Alliance
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RootsAction
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Defending Rights & Dissent
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Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
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Color Of Change
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Common Cause
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Access Now
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Earth Ethics, Inc.
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Center for Democracy & Technology
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NTEN
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Restore The Fourth
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Southern Christian Leadership Conference – SCLC
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People Power United
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ACLU
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Oakland Privacy
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Indivisible
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Amnesty International USA
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Courage California
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Japanese American Citizens League
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Fight for the Future
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Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
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Lucy Parsons Labs
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The Leadership Conference’s Center for Civil Rights and Technology
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UltraViolet Action
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Black Voters Matter Fund
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WA People’s Privacy
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Surveillance Technology Oversight Project
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Reporters Without Borders (RSF)