Vote No on CORCA — Don't Hand DHS and ICE Our Personal Data
Vote no on the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act. CORCA is being sold as a retail theft bill, but it would make DHS the "nerve center" for a centralized surveillance system that routes shoppers' personal data directly to DHS and ICE — agencies that have already shown they cannot be trusted with expanded authority.
More than 120 criminal justice, immigration, and civil rights organizations, led by the Vera Institute of Justice, are calling this a Trojan horse. Rep. Summer Lee put it plainly: everyday people's data would be "out in the open," handed over to federal agencies without consent. The Senate just rejected a $70 billion funding expansion for DHS and ICE. Supporting CORCA now would contradict that stand entirely.
Retail theft is a real problem, but it can be addressed through better store staffing and local crisis response — not by building a federal surveillance apparatus. Reject CORCA.