Power Grab/Point the law at critics
Border Patrol runs units that turn financial-data analysis into local police traffic stops
— Border Patrol runs secret units turning financial-data leads into traffic stops.
404 Media reported on September 8, 2026 that Predictive Intelligence Targeting Teams in the Spokane and Laredo sectors pass leads to local police; CBP would not say whether other sectors have them.
What happened
U.S. Border Patrol operates units called Predictive Intelligence Targeting Teams that analyze Americans’ financial activity and other data and pass leads to local police, who stop drivers not suspected of a specific crime. 404 Media reported it on September 8, 2026. It identified teams in the Spokane and Laredo sectors.
CBP would not say whether other teams exist among its 20 sectors, and it declined to name data sources or say whether a warrant was obtained. The agency said its analysis is lawful. The teams identified so far are in the Spokane and Laredo sectors, which leaves 18 sectors unaccounted for in the record.
A DHS document produced in discovery showed a Spokane agent found “financial activity patterns commonly associated with illicit narcotics activity” for Montana driver Kyle Olson and passed it to a Montana Highway Patrol sergeant. The sergeant stopped Olson for an obstructed plate.
Who benefited
Border Patrol gets police stops of drivers it has flagged from financial data, without having to show suspicion of a specific crime. The leads go to local police, who make the stop on another ground, an obstructed plate in the one case documented. CBP says its analysis is lawful.
Who wanted something
Border Patrol’s Spokane and Laredo sectors wanted a way to turn financial activity patterns into stops by local police. The discovery document shows a Spokane agent passing a finding of “financial activity patterns commonly associated with illicit narcotics activity” to a Montana Highway Patrol sergeant.
Who lost out
Drivers like Kyle Olson, flagged from financial data and stopped over an obstructed plate, are not suspected of a specific crime. CBP declined to name its data sources or say whether it obtained a warrant. Americans cannot tell whether their own transactions are in the analysis.
Why it matters
Border Patrol is analyzing Americans’ financial activity and passing the results to local police for traffic stops. It runs in at least 2 of 20 sectors, and CBP would not say whether others exist. The Olson stop, described in a DHS document produced in discovery, is the documented example.
Sources 404 MediaGizmodoThe New RepublicAssociated Press
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