What it’s like to get caught in ICE’s surveillance web

Summary

Podcast Summary: Consider This from NPR

Episode Title: What it’s like to get caught in ICE’s surveillance web
Date: March 5, 2026
Host: Scott Detrow
Guests: Jude Joffe-Block, Meg Anderson (NPR Reporters)

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Episode Overview

This episode investigates the ways Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) uses both physical and digital surveillance to track, intimidate, and gather information on not only immigrants targeted for deportation but also U.S. citizens who observe, protest, or critique ICE practices. Drawing from first-hand accounts and expert insights, the discussion reveals a rapidly expanding surveillance apparatus with significant implications for privacy, free speech, and legal rights.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Firsthand Encounters with ICE Surveillance

• Emily’s Story – Direct Intimidation
  • Emily, a Minneapolis resident, recounts following an ICE vehicle and experiencing direct retaliation from federal agents.
    • The vehicle stopped abruptly, an agent took photos of her and her car, then aggressively drove toward her vehicle.
    • The agent called Emily by name and read out her home address, demonstrating immediate access to her private information.
    • Memorable Quote:
      • Emily: "Their message was not subtle, right? They were, in effect saying, we see you. We can get to you whenever we want to. And it did scare me." [01:01]
• Elle’s Story – Ongoing Intimidation
  • Elle, another Minneapolis resident, describes being surveilled while documenting ICE operations:
    • Agents took photos of her and her license plate, and sometimes banged on her car windows.
    • She realized she was being followed home, an act she interpreted as intimidation.
    • Quote:
      • Elle: "They would just get out their phones and then come and stand right in front of my car and take pictures of me and take pictures of our license plate. And they frequently would come up to my vehicle and pound on the glass." [04:10]

2. ICE’s Expanding Surveillance Technology

• Data Brokerage and License Plate Tracking
  • ICE leverages data brokers that purchase driver data from state DMVs, helping agents quickly identify and locate individuals via license plate recognition. This is used against both immigrants and protestors.
  • Jude Joffe-Block: "License plate data seems to be a big part of how these agents are figuring out who the car is registered to." [04:51]
• Investments in New Tech
  • ICE’s increased budget has allowed adoption of further technologies:
    • Facial Recognition – Used to identify individuals in real time.
    • Elite (by Palantir) – An app that maps addresses of people potentially facing deportation, with a Google Maps-like interface.
    • Cell Phone Location Tools – Technology that allows tracking without the use of court-issued warrants.
  • Quote:
    • Jude Joffe-Block: "ICE also has access to a tool that collects data that can be used to track cell phone locations." [05:57]

3. Online Surveillance and Free Speech Threats

• Administrative Subpoenas to Unmask Critics
  • ICE has issued administrative subpoenas to tech companies, such as Meta (Instagram, Facebook), to reveal identities of anonymous critics, sometimes under the pretext of “doxxing” ICE agents.
  • Example given of a social media user who received a Meta notification about a subpoena for sharing ICE agent information publicly; the subpoena was later withdrawn, but the threat to anonymity remains.
  • Nathan Wessler (ACLU, paraphrased): Anonymous speech is sometimes necessary to avoid retaliation and is part of a long tradition protected by the courts. [07:06]
  • Quote:
    • Meg Anderson: "What we found is it's happening a lot in the form of something called an administrative subpoena. So those can be issued by federal agencies without a judge." [06:11]

4. Legal Concerns: First and Fourth Amendment Issues

• Legal Experts' Views
  • The use of surveillance by ICE raises serious First Amendment concerns—particularly via intimidation and efforts to unmask critics—which could chill protest and the right to anonymous speech.
  • There are also Fourth Amendment concerns, as some surveillance methods bypass warrants that would otherwise be legally required.
  • Lawsuits have been filed alleging intimidation and infringement on free speech and privacy, particularly in Minnesota and Maine.
  • Quote:
    • Meg Anderson: "Generally, the right to anonymity is protected. And there are lawsuits... alleging that when ICE officers lead people to their homes, things like that, that that amounts to intimidation and violates a protester's freedom of expression." [07:22]

5. DHS and ICE’s Official Response

• Refusal to Disclose Details, Denial of Wrongdoing
  • DHS declined to explain their surveillance tactics in detail, citing the need to protect law enforcement methods.
  • Denied allegations that facial recognition software violates the Fourth Amendment; claimed all technology use is subject to legal and privacy oversight.
  • On First Amendment issues, DHS maintained that “freedom of speech does not include, quote, rioting”—even though those surveilled were peaceful protestors and observers.
  • Quote:
    • Jude Joffe-Block: "But in a statement to NPR, they refuted claims that these tools are unlawful... regarding allegations that the agency is violating the First Amendment, DHS said freedom of speech does not include, quote, rioting. Though to be clear, the activists we spoke to were engaged in peaceful protests and observation." [08:05]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Emily: "Their message was not subtle, right?... We see you. We can get to you whenever we want." [01:01]
• Elle: "They would just get out their phones and then come and stand right in front of my car and take pictures of me and... our license plate. And they frequently would come up to my vehicle and pound on the glass." [04:10]
• Jude Joffe-Block: "License plate data seems to be a big part of how these agents are figuring out who the car is registered to." [04:51]
• Meg Anderson: "Generally, the right to anonymity is protected." [07:22]
• Jude Joffe-Block: "...DHS said freedom of speech does not include, quote, rioting. Though to be clear, the activists we spoke to were engaged in peaceful protests and observation." [08:05]

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Key Timestamps

• Emily’s direct encounter — [00:00–01:09]
• Congress questioning DHS over databases — [01:09–01:33]
• Overview of national surveillance stories — [01:33–03:19]
• Details on protestor harassment and intimidation — [03:44–04:43]
• How ICE uses technology for surveillance — [04:43–06:08]
• Online monitoring and legal pushback — [06:08–07:22]
• Legal and constitutional concerns — [07:22–08:02]
• DHS official response — [08:02–08:41]

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Conclusion

This episode of Consider This paints a chilling portrait of the reach and sophistication of ICE surveillance—demonstrating how both physical and technological tactics are used not only to target immigrants but also to intimidate U.S. citizens and activists engaged in lawful protest and oversight. The implications for privacy, free speech, and civil liberties are profound, even as DHS continues to deny overreach or wrongdoing.

Transcript

[Scott Detrow]

A couple of months ago in Minneapolis, a woman named Emily was following an ICE vehicle around to keep tabs on it. We're only using her first name because she fears retribution from the federal government. Emily told NPR that on this particular day, the vehicle she was following came to an abrupt stop.

[Emily]

I stopped as well, and I waited. And then someone leaned out of the passenger side of that suv.

[Scott Detrow]

A masked federal agent leaned out of the window, took a picture of her car and a picture of her as

[Jude Joffe-Block]

I tried to leave.

[Emily]

The suv, like, flipped around and suddenly sped directly towards me. And I thought that they were gonna T bone me, like, deliberately run right into my driver's side door. But right before they hit me, they braked really hard.

[Scott Detrow]

Female agent rolled down the window and leaned out and addressed Emily by name.

[Emily]

And she yelled, emily, Emily, we're gonna take you home. Then she looked at her phone, and it looked like she was reading off my address, like she recited my home address.

[Scott Detrow]

Emily says she has no idea how they pulled up her information so quickly.

[Emily]

Their message was not subtle, right? They were, in effect saying, we see you. We can get to you whenever we want to. And it did scare me.

[Scott Detrow]

The Department of Homeland Security has told npr, quote, there is no database of, quote, domestic terrorists run by dhs. Congressman Lou Correa, a Democrat from California, asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about it during hearing in the House yesterday. One of your ICE officers in Maine recently told an observer that they're creating a database. Are you creating a database, ma'?

[Ad/Announcer]

Am?

[Meg Anderson]

No.

[Emily]

American creating a database.

[Scott Detrow]

Noem will soon be out of that job. President Trump announced she will leave the post at the end of the month. NPR has compiled dozens of accounts of people caught up in the surveillance web. Just like Emily, they add another layer to our understanding of the broad tools that DHS and more specifically, ice, are using to monitor people they seek to deport and to intimidate US Citizens critical of their policies. Consider this. What is it like to be caught up in DHS's surveillance web? From npr, I'm Scott Detrow.

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[Scott Detrow]

It's considered this from npr. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is using a variety of tools to surveil people they want to intimidate and apprehend. That Web helps federal agents find people they want to deport, but it also allows them to identify US Citizens who criticize and protest the federal government and its policies. NPR's Jude Joffe block and Meg Anderson have been digging into this, and they are joining us now. Hey there.

[Jude Joffe-Block]

Hello.

[Ad/Announcer]

Hi.

[Scott Detrow]

So, Meg, I want to start with you. Tell us what you have heard from people who have had interactions with immigration officers.

[Meg Anderson]

Yeah. So let me tell you about the experience of one person that really illustrates what we found. Her name is Elle. NPR is not using her last name because she's worried about retaliation from the federal government. She lives in Minneapolis, and she told us about following ICE around her neighborhood to document their actions.

[Scott Detrow]

They would just get out their phones and then come and stand right in front of my car and take pictures of me and take pictures of our license plate. And they frequently would come up to my vehicle and pound on the glass.

[Meg Anderson]

Once she said she was following ICE officers and realized that they were driving her to her own home, she felt like the officers were trying to intimidate her. And we collected dozens of accounts like this, both through interviews and court documents and in other states beyond Minnesota, too.

[Scott Detrow]

Okay. So those are the tactics that people are seeing in person. Jude, let me ask you, what do we know about how technology is being used to do things like this?

[Jude Joffe-Block]

Yeah. Well, in these cases of observers who are driving to document ice, and then agents know their names and, like in Elle's case, know where they live. License plate data seems to be a big part of how these agents are figuring out who the car is registered to. And there's a few ways ICE can get this information. And one is that data brokers buy up this data from state DMVs and sell it to ICE. This technique is also being used on immigrants, too. Agents are looking up license plates they can see on the road or in parking lots to identify whether the car is registered to someone who could be deported.

[Scott Detrow]

And, you know, license plate information seems like just the beginning of all of this, and it's worth flagging. These efforts have gotten a lot of funding under this administration, right?

[Jude Joffe-Block]

That's right. ICE's budget skyrocketed last year, and that's allowed the agency to invest a lot into new surveillance tech. We also know ICE agents are using facial recognition technology. There's also an app that helps ICE agents find where immigrants who can be deported might live. That's called Elite. It's made by the company Palantir. And one ICE agent described it in court testimony as showing an interface like Google Maps. ICE also has an access to a tool that collects data that can be used to track cell phone locations. And this week, more than 70 Democratic members of Congress wrote a letter urging the agency's watchdog to investigate this.

[Scott Detrow]

Okay, Meg, one other question is, what's happening online?

[Meg Anderson]

Yes. So there is surveillance happening online as well. And what we found is it's happening a lot in the form of something called an administrative subpoena. So those can be issued by federal agencies without a judge. And we know that they have already been sent to tech companies demanding to unmask anonymous social media accounts, in this case, accounts that are critical of ice. We spoke to one man who got an email from Meta, that's the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, alerting him to a subpoena. He had just shared a post that identified an ICE agent using publicly available information. Dhs, though, accused him of doxing the agent. He asked a federal court to block the subpoena. And then, you know, later, the agency did withdraw it. But Nathan Wessler with the ACLU told us that this is still a threat to free speech, even though the agency withdrew that subpoena.

[Scott Detrow]

There's a long tradition going back to the founding of this country, where courts have recognized that sometimes the only way to be able to speak safely without fear of retaliation is to do so without your name attached. On that note, what legal implications do all of these surveillance tools raise?

[Meg Anderson]

Yeah. So legal experts we spoke to brought up concerns in a variety of ways, most notably in threats to the First Amendment. That comes up in the case of those subpoenas and the online criticism. Generally, the right to anonymity is protected. And there are lawsuits in states like Minnesota and Maine alleging that when ICE officers lead people to their homes, things like that, that that amounts to intimidation and violates a protester's freedom of expression. Some lawyers we spoke to also brought up concerns about the Fourth Amendment, which protects people from unreasonable searches. They said some of these tools help DHS access information they would otherwise need a warrant for.

[Scott Detrow]

And Jude, what did DHS say about all of this? Y.

[Jude Joffe-Block]

Well, the agency didn't answer all of our questions about these tools or how they're being used, saying they would not, quote, reveal law enforcement methods or tactics. But in a statement to npr, they refuted claims that these tools are unlawful. When it comes to allegations that facial recognition technology violates the Fourth Amendment, the agency said its use is, quote, governed by established legal authorities and formal privacy oversight. And regarding allegations that the agency is violating the First Amendment, DHS said freedom of speech does not include, quote, rioting. Though to be clear, the activists we spoke to were engaged in peaceful protests and observation.

[Scott Detrow]

That was NPR's Ju Joffe block and Meg Anderson. Thanks to you both.

[Jude Joffe-Block]

Thanks.

[Meg Anderson]

Thank you.

[Scott Detrow]

Reporting from NPR's Kat Lahnsdorf contributed to the story. This episode was produced by Gabriel Sanchez and Karen Zamora with audio engineering by Ted Mebane. It was edited by Alina Hartunian, John Ketchum and Sarah Handel. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun. It's consider this from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow.

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