Domestic surveillance fears loom over Congress debate to renew spying power

Lawmakers’ concerns about immigration enforcement and Fourth Amendment compliance are weighing on the reauthorization fight for Section 702 of FISA, even as the FBI privately warns against letting the foreign spying law lapse.

Growing concerns about Trump-era domestic surveillance practices are weighing on Capitol Hill’s debate over the reauthorization of a powerful foreign spying law on track to lapse this spring.

At issue is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which lets spy agencies collect communications of non-U.S. persons located abroad without a warrant. While the authority is legally limited to foreign intelligence, it can sweep in Americans’ texts, emails and phone calls when they communicate with overseas targets.

Those incidental collections — which have sometimes been followed by unauthorized searches of Americans’ communications — have been extensively documented by government oversight bodies in recent years. The findings fueled reforms adopted when Congress last renewed the authority in ...