Podcasts Government Federal Drive with Tom Temin A look into DHS asset forfeiture procedures

A look into DHS asset forfeiture procedures

Published: Sept. 3, 2020, 2:16 p.m.

Under federal civil forfeiture laws, law enforcement agencies are allowed to seize money and property they come across in the course of their investigations \u2013 even if they never file criminal charges. It turns out forfeiture is a fairly big business for the Homeland Security Department. Records the Institute for Justice obtained as part of a lawsuit show DHS agencies seized more than $2 billion in currency at American airports between 2000 and 2016. And in the overwhelming number of cases, the owners of that cash were never even accused of committing a crime. Jennifer McDonald is a senior research associate at the institute. She talked with Federal News Network\u2019s Jared Serbu about the findings.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices