New York, March 14 (RHC)-- In the U.S., a new report finds the investigative arm of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency -- ICE -- maintained a secret list of New York City activist groups that protested Trump administration policies. 

A four-page document obtained by The Nation magazine titled “Anti-Trump Protest Spreadsheet” shows Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) kept tabs on a series of protests held in New York over a 17-day period last summer targeting white supremacy, deportations and the National Rifle Association. 

None of the demonstrations appear to be linked to HSI’s mandate to investigate “cross-border criminal activity.”  One of the protests surveilled by HSI was a rally organized by Congressmember Adriano Espaillat responding to a neo-Nazi group’s display of a racist banner.  He told The Nation: “I would like to find out why our event was on that list, and whether it was surveilled or infiltrated, and why the racist, anti-Semitic group was not on the list.”

Meanwhile, in San Diego, California, newly revealed documents show the U.S. government created a secret database of activists and journalists who were documenting the Trump administration’s efforts to thwart a caravan of migrants hoping to win asylum in the U.S. last year at the San Ysidro port of entry between Tijuana and San Diego. 

An investigation from San Diego’s NBC 7 revealed the list was shared among Homeland Security Investigations, ICE, Customs and Border Protection and the FBI.  It included the names of 10 journalists -- seven of whom were U.S. citizens -- along with nearly four dozen others listed as “organizers” or “instigators.” 

Some of the journalists and at least one immigration lawyer had alerts placed on their passports that prevented them from entering Mexico.  Others on the list reported they were stopped by Mexican police or were subjected to lengthy interviews and searches when re-entering the United States.