U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unwittingly published the names and other personally identifiable information of 6,252 immigrants seeking asylum in the United States on its website on Monday.
“Though unintentional, this release of information is a breach of policy and the agency is investigating the incident and taking all corrective actions necessary,” the agency added. “ICE is notifying noncitizens impacted by the disclosure.”
The data, which was posted to a webpage that typically publishes detention statistics, included the names, cases status, and detention locations of immigrants who claimed to be seeking asylum from persecution in their home countries.
Heidi Altman, director of policy at the National Immigrant Justice Center, noted that the data breach could put the lives of the identified individuals at risk.
“The U.S. government has a crucial obligation to hold asylum seekers’ names and information in confidence so they don’t face retaliation or further harm by the governments or individuals whose persecution they fled,” Altman told the Los Angeles Times. “ICE’s publication of confidential data is illegal and ethically unconscionable, a mistake that must never be repeated.”
ICE was first alerted of the error by Human Rights First, an immigrant advocacy group.
Anwen Hughes, a lawyer for the group, told the Los Angeles Times that she often has nightmares about such accidents and hoped that the mistake would act as a reminder to the government to safeguard such information.
“Refugees’ willingness to trust the U.S. government with their information depends on reliable competence as well as a general intention to honor the law,” she said.
The investigation will include identifying the IP addresses of those that accessed the file while it was available, and sending them a letter asking them to destroy the document.
