Federal agents are using a secret cell phone tracking device designed for counter-terrorism to catch undocumented immigrants as part of President Trump's crackdown, The Detroit News has learned. "The cell-site simulator device, known as a Hailstorm or Stingray, tricks nearby phones into providing location data and can interrupt cellular service of all devices within the targeted location," the paper writes. "Federal investigators are required to obtain a judge's approval to use the device."
FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents used the device in March, for example, to catch 23-year-old Salvadoran restaurant worker Rudy Carcamo-Carranza near Detroit. Carcamo-Carranza had been twice deported and faces drunken driving allegations and a hit-and-run crash. The federal agents were apparently able to use the device with a federal search warrant affidavit.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Aston Martin Vantage Roadster: 'a rare treat indeed'The Week Recommends The Roadster version of Aston Martin's new Vantage coupé makes even 'the most mundane journey feel special'
-
Bad Friend: Tiffany Watt Smith explores why women abandon friendshipsThe Week Recommends A 'deeply researched' account of female friendship through history
-
Brazil's reborn dolls crazeUnder The Radar The 'hyper-realistic' babies soaring in popularity in South American nation have spawned controversy
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside homespeed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confessionspeed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulderspeed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC paradespeed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
-
2 Israel Embassy staff shot dead at DC Jewish museumspeed read The suspected gunman chanted 'free, free Palestine'
-
Bombing of fertility clinic blamed on 'antinatalist'speed read A car bombing injured four people and damaged a fertility clinic and nearby buildings in Palm Springs, California
-
Suspect charged after 11 die in Vancouver car attackSpeed Read Kai-Ji Adam Lo drove an SUV into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Day festival
-
Kenya arrests alleged ant smugglersspeed read Two young Belgians have been charged for attempting to smuggle ants out of the country to exotic pet buyers
