More than 6,000 Immigrants were affected by ICE Data Leakage for 5 Hours

• Inadvertently, ICE leaked personal information of more than 6,000 immigrants who applied to protections.
• According to LA Times reports, many of these immigrants were from Iran, Russia and China fleeing persecution.
• According to the agency, the leak, which they claimed was accidental, was left up for five hours.

More than 6,000 migrants, including many who fled persecution in order to reach the US, had their personal information accidentally leaked to Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier in this week.

Human rights organization Human Rights First reported the massive leak to the agency on Monday. the Los Angeles Times reported. The public listing of 6,252 immigrants with their case statuses and names was posted on the website for five hour. according to ICE.

During an update to the website of the immigration agency, the Excel sheet that contained sensitive information about migrants seeking protection in America was incorrectly published. According to the LA Times, the list included people from Iran and Russia who applied for protection from persecution and torture.

“Upon notification, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement immediately rectified the error,” an ICE spokesperson stated in a statement to Insider. “Though it was unintentional, this information release is a violation of policy. The agency is investigating the incident to determine the cause and will take all necessary corrective actions. ICE will notify noncitizens who were affected by the disclosure.

The agency claimed that the spreadsheet was uploaded incorrectly at 9:45 a.m. ET. Human Rights First had notified ICE of the leak by 1:53 p.m. ICE stated in a statement that the list had been removed 10 minutes later.

Advocates for immigration claimed that the leak presented grave security risks to migrants, even if it was deleted. 

“ICE cannot be trusted with people’s data,” Oliver Merino, a coordinator for the Immigrant Legal Resource Insider was told by the Center. “Here’s another example ICE’s total disregard for people’s safety and well-being.”

He said that the consequences of this so-called “mistake” could have a devastating impact on people’s lives, and that they should not be deported from a country where they might face violence.

ICE stated that it is monitoring the internet to see if any data is reposted and asking people who downloaded the content to delete it. The agency said it was opening an internal investigation to determine if the leak could affect their protection claim.