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The pushback

As seen from the air, the U.S.-Mexico border fence (U.S.-L) stretches through the Sonoran Desert on December 9, 2010 in the Tohono O’odham Reservation, Arizona.
As seen from the air, the U.S.-Mexico border fence (U.S.-L) stretches through the Sonoran Desert on December 9, 2010 in the Tohono O’odham Reservation, Arizona. Photo: John Moore (Getty Images)

Arizona’s state attorneys general has so far defended its practices and claimed money transfer customers should expect less privacy protections than others.

“Courts have held that customers using money transmitter businesses do not have the same expectation of privacy as traditional banking customers,” an Arizona attorney general spokesperson told The Journal.

Meanwhile, in a statement sent to the Journal, TRAC’s director Rich Lebel, tried to downplay claims this surveillance network was operating in secrecy.

“It’s a law-enforcement investigative tool,” Lebel told the Journal. “We don’t broadcast it to the world, but we don’t run from or hide from it either.” Lebel went on to say use of the TRAC database has increased in recent years due to law enforcement efforts to address the growing opioid crisis.

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