A Minneapolis man says he and his wife both lost their Global Entry privileges because he had been following and recording immigration agents during the Trump administration's deportation campaign.
Michael Khalili, 47, filed a declaration in federal court detailing a series of run-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol between January and March of this year. On several occasions, agents took photos of Khalili and his car when he was acting as an observer, he said.
On March 18, Khalili received an email from U.S. Customs and Border Protection saying his Global Entry status had changed. When he logged into his account, there was a letter saying his privileges had been revoked.
The letter stated: "We regret to inform you that your membership in Global Entry has been revoked for the following reason(s): Your Global Entry has been revoked." His wife received the same notification the same day, even though she had never joined Khalili in his observation work, he said.
In an interview, Khalili described the revocations as "ridiculous."
"There is nothing that I've done that is wrong or illegal," he said. "This is not how the system is supposed to work. It's such an abuse of the system by the people in power."
Global Entry is a federal program that allows for expedited arrival to the U.S., provided travelers can pass a background test and demonstrate they are "low risk." Khalili is one of four ICE observers HuffPost has interviewed who say they lost their Global Entry after encounters with federal agents in recent months.
In each case, agents accused observers of "impeding" their work or trespassing, and took photographs or video of them and their vehicles. None of the observers were arrested or charged with a crime.
Like the others, Khalili said he and his wife had no recent arrests or customs violations that would otherwise explain the loss of Global Entry, and their notices provided no reason for the revocations. He suspects his wife's was revoked because both their names appear on the car registration.
"If you're going to be petty, you're going to be petty," he said.
The Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, Border Patrol and CBP, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
DHS has not said how many people have lost their Global Entry following brushes with federal officers during the president's immigration crackdown. An agency spokesperson previously told HuffPost that Global Entry membership is "not revoked because someone exercises their First Amendment rights."
In March, HuffPost reported that CBP was reviewing recommendations to revoke people's Global Entry based on recent encounters with its officers. Many of the agency's officers have been diverted from their normal duties at ports of entry to assist ICE in immigration operations. Civil rights advocates, including the ACLU, have raised concerns that the Trump administration could be retaliating against people for lawfully observing agents in action.
Anti-ICE activists have come to view watching and recording agents' activities as an important tool in protecting immigrants and protesters from abuses and swaying public opinion on the president's crackdown. Videos of agents ripping people out of cars and shooting U.S. citizens in the street helped force the administration to move away from aggressive street sweeps in Minnesota.
Khalili said in his court declaration that he got involved in ICE watching in January after agents pepper-sprayed students at Minneapolis' Roosevelt High School, leading to a district-wide cancellation of classes. He said he's been recording agents because he believes such documentation "can really make a difference" and in some cases even reunite detainees with their families.
He described an incident on Jan. 29 in which he and another observer were following agents in their cars and were forced to stop in the road. Agents in tactical gear got out and took photos of Khalili's face and license plate, and one screamed a "first and final warning" that he needed to stop "impeding," he recounted.
He said agents took his photograph on at least two other occasions, including on March 17, when they led him to a parking lot at the city hall of Shakopee, a Minneapolis suburb. An agent near Khalili's window was "screaming" at him to stop following them. "That guy was ticked. Visibly pretty angry," Khalili said. "So that one was likely the trigger."
The next day, he and his wife received their revocation notices. Because he'd received TSA PreCheck with Global Entry, he also lost his membership in the program that lets people speed through airport security.
Khalili said he immediately filed a challenge to the revocation. A program ombudsman considers such appeals, but it typically takes months for a case to be reviewed. One ICE watcher HuffPost interviewed eventually had her Global Entry reinstated without explanation. Another had hers reinstated a day after HuffPost inquired about the basis for her revocation.
Although ICE activity appears to have decreased in Minnesota, Khalili said he continues to go out into his community to watch agents because he "refuse[s] to be intimidated." He also said he's taking the Global Entry revocation in stride.
"Alex Pretti was shot on the street," he said, referring to the ICU nurse killed by agents in Minneapolis. "I've seen cars with their windows smashed and people taken from them. Me having to take my laptop out of my bag [at the airport] is a very, very small price compared to what other people have suffered."
