FEDS Seized Over $2 BILLION at U.S. Airports from 2000-2016

Law enforcement agencies routinely seize currency from travelers at airports nationwide using civil forfeiture—a legal process that allows agencies to take and keep property without ever charging owners with a crime, let alone securing a conviction. This study is the first to examine airport currency seizures by Department of Homeland Security agencies. It is also the first to use data from the Treasury Department’s forfeiture database, the Seized Assets and Case Tracking System or SEACATS.

Read the report: https://ij.org/report/jetway-robbery/

Covering 2000 through 2016, the study quantifies just how often DHS agencies have seized currency at airports—and just how much currency has flowed into the federal government’s coffers as a result. It finds DHS airport currency seizures put innocent people’s property at risk without appearing to advance serious crime-fighting objectives. Indeed, in most DHS airport currency seizure cases, a person’s only “crime” is failure to file required paperwork. To ensure another innocent American never loses property unjustly, Congress must reform civil forfeiture.

Read the report: https://ij.org/report/jetway-robbery/
Donate to IJ: https://ij.org/support/give-now/