Feds Begin Political Vetting for American Citizens

Hasan Piker interrogated at border as Trump's war on free speech intensifies

Hasan Piker

Hasan Piker, an American citizen, was singled out and interrogated on Sunday at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Piker, who is of Turkish background, was returning to the U.S. after a trip to Paris. For two hours, Customs and Border Protection detained him and asked whether he supported Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to Hasan’s account.

His story, first reported by

User Mag

, has circulated widely; but it caught my attention because I once worked with Hasan. He is a well-known Twitch streamer and political commentator, outspoken about the Gaza war and Israel’s conduct.

The most disturbing part of the Hasan Piker episode, I learned in the course of my reporting, is that what the border agents did was completely legal.

Homeland Security issued a statement confirming the incident and emphasizing how "routine" it was.

"Upon entering the country, this individual was referred for further inspection — a routine, lawful process that occurs daily, and can apply to any traveler," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said on X.

As outrageous as it sounds, federal authorities have broad power to question and search U.S. citizens at the border without a warrant, probable cause, or even reasonable suspicion. Though the Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable search and seizure, the Supreme Court has recognized a so-called border search exception.

This authority applies to anyone located within 100 miles of a land border or coastline — the "border zone" — which incidentally covers over two-thirds of the U.S. population.

CBP has frequently used these powers since 9/11 to target Muslims, but up until Trump, they rarely targeted American citizens so overtly for voicing their opinions. As Hasan told me, he had never been targeted before.

How was Hasan selected, and why? That part remains a secret. Which federal agency or intelligence service flagged him is unknown.

But how they targeted him is known, and it’s a capability ripe for abuse.

Homeland Security operates a system called TECS (not an acronym), which supplements border screening based on input from immigration, law enforcement, and counterterrorism agencies. Any of these agencies (FBI, ICE, CBP) can enter an alert, known as a "lookout," designating a traveler as a person of interest in an ongoing investigation.

These lookouts can require anything from enhanced screening to full seizure and copying of a traveler’s electronics — including contacts and data.

Many TECS lookouts are tied to international flights. Turkey, for example, has been a frequent trigger for enhanced scrutiny, both because it’s majority-Muslim and a known route for foreign fighters heading to Syria. TECS designations are individualized: someone known to travel to a country like Turkey can be flagged in advance.

Piker’s travel history alone could have triggered a TECS alert. (He told me he hadn’t traveled to Turkey in nearly a decade, but that CBP had asked him if he’d traveled to other parts of the region.) Upon return, travelers are matched against terrorist watchlists, the no-fly list, and TECS.

High-profile targets like filmmaker Laura Poitras and others linked to Edward Snowden or WikiLeaks have also been subject to TECS-based detentions.

TECS can also be used for "target exploitation"—a euphemism for extracting passwords and contact networks through device searches to create link analysis, feeding intelligence databases.

(Piker told me CBP did not search his electronics and that he would not have allowed it, calling it a "red line” for him. However, refusal could have led to detention or denial of entry.)

In a video recounting his experience, Piker says CBP agents asked:

"Have you ever been in contact with Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Houthis? Have you ever provided financial or logistical support to them?"

This line of questioning suggests an effort to gather potential evidence of material support for terrorism, a serious federal crime. The Trump administration has made clear it intends to pursue such cases aggressively.

White House counterterrorism director Sebastian Gorka has even suggested that those who oppose Trump’s deportation policies could be considered to be "aiding and abetting terrorists."

Piker also said CBP asked, "Have you ever interviewed a member of Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Houthis?"

In January 2024, Hasan interviewed a Yemeni TikTok influencer, Rashid al-Haddad, who calls himself the "Pirate King." The internet dubbed him "Tim Houthi Chalamet," a play on actor Timothée Chalamet.

The interview quickly went viral, but not everyone was amused. While Voice of America noted al-Haddad wasn’t a member of the Houthis — a U.S.-designated terror organization — it cautioned that he promoted a controversial cause. The Anti-Defamation League claimed al-Haddad’s connections were "unclear" and accused him of spreading Hamas propaganda.

There is, of course, nothing illegal about interviewing a member of a terrorist group. Journalists do it all the time.

What makes TECS concerning is the secretive nature of the designations. It only takes one agency — based on internal criteria — to flag someone.

As I previously reported, Sebastian Gorka is spearheading a new national counterterrorism strategy that includes redefining actions by American citizens as support for terrorism.

During a recent congressional hearing, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard stated that the intelligence community has identified foreign funding of pro-Palestinian protests in the U.S.

This effort to link Americans to foreign terror groups is aided by aggressive information-sharing between the federal government and the private sector — including Twitch, where Hasan is most active.

A 2024 GAO report found that the FBI and DHS are already sharing domestic extremism threat intelligence with social media and gaming platforms. An update in early 2025 confirmed these mechanisms are in active use and have been further developed.

Twitch’s 2024 transparency report revealed its second-highest enforcement volume ever for "terrorist propaganda" in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

Twitch forbids displaying terrorist or extremist content even for the purpose of denouncing it. In 2023, Twitch joined the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism.

A Twitch employee told me the platform has increased its "external engagement" — code for threat-sharing with the government.

Did Twitch flag Hasan’s interview, triggering the TECS alert? There’s no way to know; and it could’ve been any number of other social platforms Piker resides on. (Twitch did not immediately respond to my request for comment.) Regardless, this kind of harassment is insane and extends Trump’s border crackdown to U.S. citizens.

"I think it was just a threat," Hasan told me.

Let it be a warning.

— Edited by William M. Arkin