Civil Rights Groups Express Concerns About DHS’s AI Use

In a letter addressed to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, over 140 organizations, encompassing immigrant and civil rights groups, have expressed concerns about the Department of Homeland Security’s use of artificial intelligence. 

They argue that the agency is breaching federal regulations regarding the technology. The letter demands that DHS and its divisions, including Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, suspend several AI applications. 

“DHS’s use of AI appears to violate federal policies governing the responsible use of AI, particularly when it comes to AI used to make life-impacting decisions on immigration enforcement and adjudications,” the letter reads.

The letter highlighted that the public has received minimal information about AI tools used by DHS, including their training data and civil rights impacts. 

Moreover, it also pointed out that the USCIS employs AI like the “Predicted to Naturalize” tool for citizenship decisions and the “Asylum Text Analytics” tool for screening applications.