Really? That might explain my detainment and secondary when crossing back into the US with a rental car last month.
Follow the money. We buy license plate readers. The procurement practices of the government are a goldmine of info about what this country can and does to people, including our own ciizens at the border.
There are foreign intelligence agencies that have teams of people that do nothing but figure out what the USG is buying. Some of these people know way more about the capabilities of the USG than even some of the most highly-regarded career politicians and bureaucrats in the US. There is a saying in certain circles: "if you want to know what the US is doing, find out in China".