ICE Today

ICE Today

You're Considered a Domestic Terrorist

An investigation into ICE surveillance gone awry

Given the unprecedented millions of Biden illegal aliens who are invading our country, it is only common sense that when I'm re-elected, we will begin, and we have no choice, the largest deportation operation in American history.

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Times News

Reno, Nevada - December 18, 2023

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Nathan Bernard

Portland, Maine - 1/23/2026

Class Action Complaint

Hilton v. Noem et al.

Open Full Text

Defendants Are Gathering Information About Individuals Engaged in Protected Activity, Often Harnessing New Surveillance Tools and Technologies.

  1. Consistent with Plaintiffs’ experiences, it has been widely reported that DHS agents are routinely photographing, filming, recording, or otherwise capturing information about observers at immigration enforcement operations. These encounters have been reported not just in Maine, but also in other cities, such as Minneapolis and Chicago.
  2. Agents have used both smartphones and professional-grade photo equipment to capture photographs of observers. On January 24, 2026, it was reported that ICE agents were using sophisticated equipment to scan the faces of the crowd that gathered in Minneapolis in response to Alex Pretti’s shooting.
  3. According to a February 10, 2026 report in Reuters, two ICE officials confirmed that “ICE has been tracking the names of protesters in an internal database for several months.” The government database reportedly “contains names, photos, actions that provoked suspicion, locations and license plates.”
  4. Other government officials have confirmed that Defendants are systematically collecting and maintaining information about observers.
  5. According to recent reporting by freelance journalist Ken Klippenstein, DHS has ordered agents to gather identifying information about any person filming them and to “send that information to Intel who will do a ‘work-up’ on them.” The “work-up” would include “trying to identify them via social media, running their license plates if available, and running a criminal history check.”
  6. In January 2026, a DHS official sent a memorandum to HSI agents assigned to Minnesota asking them to “capture all images, license plates, identifications, and general information on hotels [sic], agitators, protestors, etc., so we can capture it all in one consolidated form.” The form is titled “intel collection non-arrests,” indicating that it is used to record information about individuals who are not arrested for criminal activity.

Class Action Complaint

Hilton v. Noem et al.

Open Full Text

Defendants Have Logged the First Amendment Activities of Observers into Databases and Watchlists that They Maintain or Access.

  1. Also pursuant to the challenged policy and practice, Defendants have maintained the personal identifying information they collect in official government databases or watchlists, in response to observers exercising their protected First Amendment rights.
  2. As noted, two ICE officials have confirmed to Reuters that ICE has an “internal database” tracking the names of protestors, along with “photos, actions that provoked suspicion, locations and license plates.”
  3. On January 28, 2026, Ken Klippenstein reported that two senior national security officials confirmed the existence of more than a dozen “watchlists” that Defendant DHS is using to track protestors and/or so-called “domestic terrorists” (the same label affixed to Plaintiffs by Defendants). According to the report, the lists and applications are “new domestic-related watchlists—a set of databases and applications—[that] exist inside and outside the FBI and are used by agencies like ICE and the Border Patrol,” and are referred to by code names like “Bluekey, Grapevine, Hummingbird, Reaper, Sandcastle, Sienna, Slipstream, and Sparta.” These lists and applications are “interlocking,” and some are reportedly “used to link people on the streets together, including collecting on friends and families who have nothing to do with any purported lawbreaking.”
  4. According to the same report, a DHS lawyer said about the collection and maintenance practice, “We over collect and everyone agrees we should create this or that list or application to wrestle the information to submission lest we miss something important.... So the data people do their thing and pretty soon you actually have Big Brother.”

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Opening clip: Trump Has Long Campaigned on Expanding Immigration Enforcement

Trump's Second Term Has Been Marked by Immigration Operations Across the Country...

Los Angeles: ICE Abuses in Los Angeles Set Stage for Other Cities

Operation Midway Blitz: Chicago Under Siege: How Operation Midway Blitz Changed Our City

Operation Metro Surge: The Minneapolis Siege Is Even Worse Than the Videos Show

Operation Charlotte's Web: More than 250 have been arrested in federal immigration crackdown across North Carolina

Operation Catch of the Day: 'We're being terrorized.' What Mainers are seeing as ICE launches operation in the state

Though ICE's Physical Intimidation Tactics are Well Known, There is Another, Often Ignored, Element of These Operations...

Surveillance

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. DHS is now facing a class-action lawsuit accusing them of violating the First Amendment with these surveillance programs.

Section 2: How We Got Here

In reorganizing the federal government, the Congress has a responsibility to guard against attempts to also reorganize the checks and balances of the constitutional system. The greatest risk in moving too quickly is that we will grant unprecedented powers to this administration that would weaken our constitutional system of government. Pay attention. The Congress should be seriously concerned about the transfer authority that is being sought by this administration.

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CSPAN

July 30, 2002

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American Dragnet

Based on the reporting project's contract-spending dataset.

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During discussions about creating DHS, Senator Robert Byrd was concerned that it would dangerously expand executive power.

The Start of Biometric Surveillance

But the surveillance apparatus quickly spread far beyond Rhode Island.

What started in Rhode Island became a national surveillance system.

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American Dragnet: By 2022, those contracts had become a nationwide surveillance market.

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Finding 01: American Dragnet found that facial recognition access had already reached far into state DMV systems.

Finding 02: The records attached to those photos were even more expansive.

Finding 03: Location data widened the surveillance net further.

Finding 04: Utility records showed how ordinary infrastructure data could become an immigration enforcement tool.

What happened next: The dragnet did not stop with private data markets.

Section 3: Today — What Has Changed

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Marketplace

FY 2025 committed: $11.8B. Funds spendable through FY 2029: $73.3B.

American Immigration Council

Mission Creep: AI Surveillance at DHS Crosses Dangerous Line Into Tracking Americans

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User Notice Example

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I-138 Example

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Immigration Enforcement Subpoena

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What This Enables

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Section 3: Three things changed

Section 3: Three things changed

Section 3: Three things changed

Section 3: Three things changed

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Policy Solution: Surveillance Reform

Government Surveillance Reform Act of 2026

March 13, 2026

Learn more

The Government Surveillance Reform Act would represent the most comprehensive reform of surveillance laws in nearly half a century. The bill reauthorizes Section 702 for four years with necessary privacy reforms and constitutional safeguards, including:

  • Closing the backdoor search loophole: The bill requires the federal government to get a warrant to access Americans’ private communications gathered under Section 702, with important exceptions for emergency situations.
  • Closing the data broker loophole: The bill bans the federal government from buying Americans’ data from data brokers without a warrant.
  • Prohibiting reverse targeting: The bill prohibits using surveillance on foreigners overseas through Section 702 as a pretext for gathering data on Americans.
  • Repealing the “make everyone a spy” provision: This bill repeals a controversial 2024 expansion that allows the government to force millions of Americans and companies to secretly spy on its behalf.
  • Reforming intelligence collection outside FISA: This bill protects Americans from intelligence agencies using non-statutory authorities, including by prohibiting backdoor searches and reverse targeting outside of FISA.
  • Updating privacy protections for AI and other modern technologies: This bill requires federal law enforcement to get a warrant to surveil Americans’ location information, web browsing data, search and chatbot records, and car onboard and telematics data.
  • Halting warrantless collection of business records: This bill protects Americans’ data from warrantless collection under an authority that expired over five years ago.
  • Enhancing oversight and accountability: The bill strengthens judicial oversight, public reporting, and accountability requirements under FISA.

Government Surveillance Reform Act of 2026

March 13, 2026

Learn more

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For years, the U.S. intelligence community has repeatedly misused its authorities under FISA, including Section 702, as well as other surveillance powers, undermining public trust and raising concerns across the political spectrum. Protecting constitutional rights and protecting national security are not opposing goals. We applaud the reintroduction of the Government Surveillance Reform Act, a bipartisan path forward that brings back a comprehensive package of reforms. This package responsibly reins in warrantless surveillance while preserving the tools needed to keep Americans safe. We commend Senators Wyden and Lee, along with Representatives Davidson and Lofgren, for once again leading this cross‑party effort to advance essential, rights‑protecting reforms.

James Czerniawski

Head of Emerging Technology Policy at Consumer Choice Center

The Government Surveillance Reform Act contains critical reforms to protect U. S. persons from unreasonable and warrantless government surveillance. It would rein in AI-driven misuse of NSA classified databases to spy on U. S. persons without probable cause or a warrant; it would make much less likely that Americans would be harassed or prosecuted on the basis of poor-quality data held on them by data brokers; and it would make it easier for people unfairly surveilled to get redress from the courts. We warmly encourage the Judiciary Committees in the House and the Senate to mark up a bill that takes the best parts of this bill, Senator Lee's and Senator Durbin's SAFE Act and Rep. Biggs' Protect Liberty Act, before the sunset of these authorities in April.

Alex Marthews

National Chair at Restore the Fourth

The Government Surveillance Reform Act is an important step toward restoring the balance between national security and the civil liberties the Constitution was designed to protect. For too long, federal surveillance authorities have created opportunities for the warrantless collection and misuse of Americans’ communications. Few would argue that surveillance authorities are required to protect the United States from foreign threats, but we have to recognize that Americans expect that their fundamental civil liberties will be protected. Congress has routinely failed to do so, including the most recent reauthorization, which actually expanded surveillance. The reforms included in GSRA are responsible and necessary to ensure that intelligence tools aimed at foreign threats are not used to sidestep the Fourth Amendment rights of Americans.

Jason Pye

Vice President of the Due Process Institute

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Section 5: Additional Information

Additional details on AI usage, technical details, project motivation, and sources can be found below.