1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

As your constituent, I am writing to urge you to oppose the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (CORCA) in any form it takes—including any effort to attach it to the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) rather than debate it on its own merits. CORCA is being sold as a simple response to retail theft. What it actually does is create a new Organized Retail Crime Coordination Center inside DHS, run through Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)—a division of ICE. This is not a minor enforcement tweak; it creates a massive new domestic surveillance pipeline. Key Structural Flaws in the Bill: - Profiling Without Due Process: The center builds federal data profiles on ordinary shoppers based on unproven store accusations—no conviction, no charge, no trial required. - Unilateral Power to Disseminate Private Data: The bill gives an ICE-appointed director broad, unchecked discretion to share confidential consumer data whenever they personally deem it "operationally necessary." It creates a law enforcement blank check with no built-in oversight, no statutory retention limits, and no clear way for people to find out if their data was shared or to challenge it. - Turns Local Commerce into a Warrantless Dragnet: Grocery stores, pharmacies, and shopping malls will effectively function as federal surveillance outposts. CORCA constructs a direct, unregulated corporate-to-federal pipeline that funnels private consumer records and shopping habits straight to federal intelligence databases without a warrant or probable cause. - Bypassing Public Debate: Rather than facing a clean up-or-down vote on its own merits, CORCA is being pushed through as a rider on must-pass defense legislation, denying the public and Congress an honest vote on the substance. - Overwhelming Public Opposition: A May 2026 Vera Action/YouGov poll found that 70 percent of voters—including 62 percent of independents and 57 percent of Republicans—prefer strengthening local law enforcement over expanding DHS's role in retail theft. Only 17 percent wanted to expand ICE's role. - Weaponizes an Agency That Is Already Out of Control: DHS and ICE have drawn sustained criticism from courts and watchdogs for operating with minimal transparency. CORCA hands that same agency a massive new domestic intelligence tool to spy on everyday citizens without judicial restraint. This bill has drawn concern across the political spectrum because it is not a partisan litmus test—it is a privacy test. More than 130 organizations, including the Vera Institute of Justice, the ACLU, the NAACP, and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, have formally urged Congress to reject it. Specific Actions I Urge You to Take: 1. Vote NO on CORCA whenever it comes before you—as standalone legislation, as an NDAA amendment, or in a conference report. 2. Publicly oppose bundling CORCA with must-pass defense legislation, and demand it be debated and voted on separately on its own merits. 3. Commit to opposing its inclusion in any final NDAA or spending text if you previously supported standalone versions. 4. Support strict oversight amendments requiring data minimization, statutory retention limits, and independent judicial oversight if CORCA advances despite opposition. Please defend constituent privacy, protect against federal overreach, and reject CORCA.