If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The Trump administration is considering a dramatic expansion of data collection on foreign tourists, including a proposal that would allow authorities to collect DNA from people entering the country under the Visa Waiver Program, even when those travelers come from allied nations with long-standing visa-free agreements. The proposal appears in a new Department of Homeland Security notice seeking public comment on revisions to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, and the I-94 arrival and departure record. We obtained a copy of that document for you here. The document outlines a broad set of new “high value data elements” that US Customs and Border Protection wants to collect from travelers “when feasible.” Among those elements is DNA, listed alongside facial images, fingerprints, and iris scans. If implemented, the change would represent the most extreme biometric data collection regime applied to short-term travelers anywhere in the world. More: The Constitutional Fight Over New Jersey’s Baby DNA Stockpile It would also mark a sharp escalation from existing US practices, which have historically focused on fingerprints and photographs collected at ports of entry. The United States has collected fingerprints from most foreign visitors for years, a practice that expanded significantly after the September 11 terror attacks. Fingerprints, while intrusive, are generally used for identity verification and law enforcement matching. DNA, by contrast, contains vastly more information, including genetic relationships, health predispositions, and biological traits that extend far beyond identity confirmation. The proposal is particularly notable because it would apply even to ESTA applicants, who come from countries that have signed reciprocal travel agreements with the United States under the Visa Waiver Program. Those agreements are based on mutual trust and streamlined travel, allowing citizens of participating countries to visit the US for short stays without applying for a visa. In addition to DNA, as we already reported, CBP proposes to make social media disclosure mandatory for ESTA applicants, requiring them to provide accounts used over the last five years. The agency also wants to collect extensive family information, including names, dates and places of birth, contact details, and residences for parents, spouses, siblings, and children. Together, the changes would create a detailed personal and social map of millions of travelers each year. According to CBP’s own estimates, nearly 14.5 million people submit ESTA applications annually. The document links the expanded data collection to a January 2025 executive order on national security and terrorism, as well as an April 2025 directive instructing agencies to update forms to collect “baseline biographic data.” It does not, however, explain how DNA collection would be operationalized, stored, shared, or protected from misuse. Unlike fingerprints, DNA can be used to infer familial connections, meaning the data of one traveler could effectively place their relatives under indirect genetic surveillance, even if those relatives never travel to the United States. The proposal also raises international implications. Many Visa Waiver Program countries have strong data protection laws, including restrictions on genetic data collection. CBP is currently seeking public comment on the proposal as part of the Paperwork Reduction Act process. The agency describes the changes as part of an effort to enhance security, reduce fraud, and modernize traveler vetting. If adopted, however, the DNA provision would place the United States far beyond existing global norms for border screening, transforming short-term travel into one of the most invasive data collection exercises any democratic government has ever imposed on visitors. Public comments on the proposal are open for 60 days. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post US Proposes Collecting DNA From Foreign Tourists appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Obama's White House Counsel Involved in Lawsuit to Stop Ballroom Construction

Time magazine named its 2025 “person of the year” — but it wasn’t just one person.Instead, the magazine celebrated the “Architects of AI” as its person of the year. This includes tech leaders like Jensen Huang, Mark Zuckerberg, Lisa Su, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Demis Hassabis, Dario Amodei, and Fei-Fei Li.“This is one of those things that I think they try to be different to get people interested in it. And I’m not all that interested in the Time person of the year or anything really that Time does these days. But I will say, this one’s been interesting to watch through the prediction market lens because, you know, the favorite going into this announcement was AI,” BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere says on “Stu Does America.”However, while “interesting,” the claims the Time article made were more than a little dystopian in nature.“The drumbeat of warning that advanced AI could kill us all has mostly quieted; the ‘doomers’ have been marginalized, now used by AI’s ruling class as a punch line. ... But the risk-averse are no longer in the driver’s seat,” the article reads.“Thanks to [Nvidia CEO Jensen] Huang, [SoftBank’s Masayoshi] Son, [Sam] Altman, and other AI titans, humanity is now flying down the highway, all gas no brakes, toward a highly automated and highly uncertain future,” it adds.“That sounds like a bad idea to me,” Stu comments. “Especially after living through the cellphone all gas, no brakes approach. We’re like, ‘Yeah, let’s just do it.’ 13 hours a day? How much time do you need to spend staring at your phone? That shouldn’t affect humanity in any way.”The article goes on: “For decades, humankind steeled itself for the rise of thinking machines. As we marveled at their ability to beat chess champions and predict protein structures, we also recoiled from their inherent uncanniness, not to mention the threats to our sense of humanity.”“Leaders striving to develop the technology, including Sam Altman and Elon Musk, warned that the pursuit of its powers could create unforeseen catastrophe. This year, the debate about how to wield AI responsibly gave way to a sprint to deploy it as fast as possible,” it continues.“Isn’t that, like, the intro to every tech horror film ever made?” Stu asks. “That is like, ‘Hey, you know, we decided not to think about what would happen. I’m just going to go for it.’ It’s like we’re in Jurassic Park.”Want more from Stu?To enjoy more of Stu's lethal wit, wisdom, and mockery, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security is continuing to roll back Temporary Protected Status, which was widely granted to numerous countries under the previous administration’s leadership.On Friday morning, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a press release announcing that the DHS will terminate TPS for Ethiopia.'Conditions in Ethiopia no longer pose a serious threat to the personal safety of returning Ethiopian nationals.'The current TPS designation was set to expire on Friday. Ethiopian nationals without another lawful basis to remain in the U.S. have 60 days to leave the country.Those individuals are encouraged to use the Customs and Border Protection’s CBP Home mobile app to report their departure. They will receive a plane ticket and a $1,000 exit bonus. The DHS may begin making arrests and deportations after February 13 for those who fail to leave voluntarily. They will not be eligible to return to the U.S. “Temporary Protected Status designations are time-limited and were never meant to be a ticket to permanent residency,” a USCIS spokesperson stated. “Conditions in Ethiopia no longer pose a serious threat to the personal safety of returning Ethiopian nationals. Since the situation no longer meets the statutory requirements for a TPS designation, [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem is terminating this designation to restore integrity in our immigration system.” RELATED: Trump DHS makes 'temporary' finally mean temporary again, revoking Biden's free pass for 4,000 foreign nationals Kristi Noem, Donald Trump. Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty ImagesTPS was first extended to Ethiopia in December 2022 under former President Joe Biden, whose administration claimed the designation was necessary due to “ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions.”“Ethiopia faces armed conflict in multiple regions of the country resulting in large-scale displacement. In addition, Ethiopia has been experiencing severe climatic shocks exacerbating humanitarian concerns over access to food, water, and health care,” Biden’s DHS stated.RELATED: 25 years after a Central American hurricane, Noem's DHS to end associated immigration Temporary Protected Status Joe Biden, Alejandro Mayorkas. Photographer: Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesFormer DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas extended the TPS designation in April 2024. “While some residual challenges in regions affected by the conflicts remain, there are signs of improvements in the country,” Trump’s DHS wrote in a Federal Register notice that will be published next week. “The Secretary has determined that, while some sporadic and episodic violence occurs in Ethiopia, the situation no longer meets the criteria for an ongoing armed conflict that poses a serious threat to the personal safety of returning Ethiopian nationals,” the DHS continued.Trump's DHS previously terminated TPS for Burma, Haiti, South Sudan, Syria, and Venezuela. Countries that continue to hold TPS designations into 2026 include El Salvador, Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan, Ukraine, and Yemen.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

President Donald Trump's Department of Transportation announced new action against another Democratic-led state that it claims has been illegally issuing non-domiciled commercial driver's licenses.On Friday morning, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy revealed that an audit from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found that over half of New York state's non-domiciled CDLs were issued illegally. The audit sampled 200 records and discovered that 107, or 53%, were issued in violation of federal law.'What we uncovered in New York is not an administrative oversight.'There are reportedly 32,000 active non-domiciled CDLs that were issued by New York.According to the DOT, the New York Department of Motor Vehicles defaulted to issuing eight-year licenses to foreign drivers who applied for non-REAL ID licenses, regardless of when their legal status expired. "This systemic failure allows the state to blindly grant long-term commercial driving privileges to foreigners that expire long after the expiration of their lawful presence in the country," the DOT stated.Additionally, the department claimed that New York failed to provide any evidence that it had verified the lawful presence of foreign individuals before issuing them commercial driver's licenses. In some instances, New York allegedly relied on expired lawful presence documents to issue licenses. RELATED: Trump DOT threatens to pull millions from Tim Walz's state, boots 3,000 shady CDL trainers to clean up trucker licensing mess Sean Duffy. Photo by Eric Lee/Getty ImagesAs a result of the concerning findings, the DOT has demanded that New York immediately pause the issuance of new or renewed non-domiciled CDLs and commercial learner's permits. The state has also been asked to conduct an internal audit to identify licenses that were issued in violation of federal regulations. The DOT warned that the state risks losing $73 million in federal highway funding if it fails to revoke all illegally issued licenses held by foreign drivers immediately. "When more than half of the licenses reviewed were issued illegally, it isn't just a mistake — it is a dereliction of duty by state leadership. Gov. [Kathy] Hochul must immediately revoke these illegally issued licenses. If they refuse to follow the law, we will withhold federal highway funding," Duffy stated. "This administration will never stop fighting to keep you and your family safe on our roads." RELATED: Trump DOT hammers Gov. Shapiro, threatens to pull millions after state hands CDL to 'suspected terrorist' illegal alien trucker Photo by GEORGE FREY/AFP via Getty ImagesDuring a Friday morning press conference announcing the findings, Duffy explained that states that illegally issue CDLs endanger American drivers nationwide, since the licenses allow interstate operations. Duffy described New York as the worst offender for issuing licenses in violation of federal law. The DOT has given New York 30 days to come into compliance. California and New York account for half of the non-domiciled CDLs issued in the nation, Duffy stated."What we uncovered in New York is not an administrative oversight," FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs stated during the press conference. "It's a systematically, grossly unacceptable deviation from a federal safety regulation that has been on the books for a long period of time." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

'No One Likes a Snowflake': Katie Miller BODIES Dan Goldman for Crying Over 'Rachel' Levine's Deadnaming

Sen. Schmitt Drops Blistering Clapback to Reporter's Question About Tanker and Drug Boats

Trump 'Symbolically' Pardons Tina Peters As CO Elected Officials Lose Their Stuff. Wonder Why?

Thanks to a new report detailing upcoming new features, the iOS 26.4 beta is getting several big improvements to some of the iPhone's most popular apps.

iPadOS 26.2 is now available for all supported iPad models, bringing back a useful multitasking feature that users have been clamoring for.