Steve Neavling

The FBI has no idea how many Americans it spies on.

Time reports that the FBI keeps very few records on domestic surveillance, a discovery that incensed Sen. Rob Wyden, D-Ore.

Wyden requested information on the number of American citizens who are subject to FBI surveillance and ended up with more questions than answers.

“The FBI does not track how many queries it conducts using U.S. person identifiers,” the letter says. “the FBI does not distinguish between U.S. and non-U.S. persons for purposes of querying Section 702 collection.”

Wyden was not happy about what he called a “huge gap in oversight.”

“When the FBI says it conducts a substantial number of searches and it has no idea of what the number is, it shows how flawed this system is and the consequences of inadequate oversight,” Wyden said in a statement.

Steve Neavling

The FBI plans to interview a 12-year-old boy who went missing before turning up in the basement of his home in a strange case that has gotten international attention, the Free Press reports.

The forensic interview of Charlie Bothuell is scheduled for today.

“Based on the outcome of this interview, the Detroit Police Department may be submitting a package to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office as early as Wednesday afternoon,” according to a statement from Detroit police. “For the time being, Charlie is currently staying with relatives in an undisclosed location.”

After Bothuell was found in the basement of his home Wednesday, suspicions fell on the father and stepmother, who allegedly told the boy to hide in the basement and “not to come out, no matter what he hears.”

The son also told authorities that his father tried to drive a PVC pipe into his chest.

Steve Neavling

In a decision that could have widespread consequences for federal law enforcement, an appeals court ruled Monday that a Border Patrol agent can be sued for fatally shooting a 15-year-old Mexican boy across the border, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The three-judge panel in New Orleans said the 2010 shooting of Sergio Adrian Hernandez Guereca contain allegations that, if true, would amount to “an official abuse of power so arbitrary as to shock the conscience.”

It’s rare for a court to extend constitutional protections to non-citizens.

“It’s a huge human rights victory,” said attorney Robert Hilliard, who represents the boy’s family. “It gives you a voice inside a U.S. courtroom. They have to focus on, ‘Did the border agent do something wrong?'”

The lawyer for the accused agent said the case may go before the full appeals court.

“Classifying it as a leap is an understatement,” said attorney Randolph J. Ortega. “They have extended the protections of the U.S. courts into foreign countries where the U.S. does not have any jurisdiction.”

Steve Neavling

About 150 Border Patrol agents are being sent to South Texas to help out authorities who are overwhelmed by a spike in illegal immigration from Central America, the Statesman reports.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson made the announcement on his third trip to the Border Patrol’s McAllen station in southernmost Texas in the last month and a half.

The station has been inundated by tens of thousands of unaccompanied children who have been arrested since October.

What remains unclear is whether the new agents are temporary or permanent.

Johnson said again that he children won’t be invited to stay in the U.S., saying “journey is not safe.”

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