In January 2026, two People have been killed within the act of watching Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minneapolis. Renee Nicole Good was performing as a authorized observer whereas her spouse recorded the federal immigration brokers they encountered. Alex Pretti was holding a telephone in his hand, filming the brokers who would quickly take his life. But as harmful because the mere act of commentary turned for these victims of ICE and Border Patrol’s violence, video can be what documented their murders and is now holding federal brokers accountable.
That is the paradox United States residents face as they resolve how to withstand—and file—ICE’s incursion into American cities.
“Sadly, there isn’t any solution to movie ‘safely’ proper now—I believe all people could also be taking a danger due to how aggressive and brazen and outright unlawful ICE’s conduct has been,” says Trevor Timm, cofounder and govt director of Freedom of the Press Basis. (Disclosure: WIRED’s world editorial director sits on Freedom of the Press Basis’s board.) “Alex Pretti was killed partly as a result of he was filming ICE, which is an absolute travesty. However we noticed that capturing from half a dozen angles as a result of there have been different individuals there who have been filming as properly. And since they have been filming, we noticed the egregious lies that the Trump administration was spreading virtually instantly.”
This rigidity has existed for greater than 20 years world wide as widespread entry to smartphones has made video documentation and livestreaming a pivotal device for activists and different involved individuals seeking to expose injustice and impression political discourse. Within the US, individuals with cameras or smartphones out are being focused by federal brokers regardless of the First Modification of the US Structure defending the exercise of recording authorities operators in public areas.
Trump administration officers have tried to cloud this truth, although, as immigration enforcement operations have escalated across the nation. In July, Division of Homeland Safety secretary Kristi Noem referred to as documenting federal brokers “violence,” claiming: “It’s doxing them. It’s videotaping them the place they’re at.”
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin equally instructed WIRED in an announcement that “videoing our officers in an effort to dox them and reveal their identities that could be a federal crime and a felony.” DHS has maintained this place—even though, by DHS’s personal questionable definition, ICE brokers are “doxing” themselves.
That rhetoric represents a direct risk to anybody recording ICE brokers, whether or not they’re authorized observers, activists or reporters, says Jackie Zammuto, affiliate director at Witness, a nonprofit dedicated to utilizing video to combat human rights violations.
“Video documentation has the ability to show abuses, to assist name for accountability, and to problem official narratives,” Zammuto says. “On the similar time, we’re completely seeing a rise of documenters being focused—together with journalists who’re marked as journalists—even after they’re doing it legally, even after they’re respecting orders from the police. It’s a large danger, and I believe that it is vital for individuals to weigh that danger and their very own consolation in taking it.”
But Zammuto additionally notes there are sensible tricks to defend your self within the act of recording authority figures like ICE brokers. “There are methods to be safer, to contemplate your individual safety and likewise the safety of these round you,” Zammuto says.
Listed here are a few of these suggestions that WIRED has assembled from talking to those that have used the unconventional act of pointing video cameras at authority figures for activism, within the media, and in court docket.
Earlier than Filming
When filming ICE or Customs and Border Safety brokers, or extra typically recording occasions at a protest, utilizing another or burner telephone may also help defend your privateness and that of these round you. Nonetheless, leaving no digital hint in any respect is troublesome to realize: Immigration officers have constructed huge surveillance capabilities, together with shopping for up internet marketing information, deploying surveillance drones, tapping into license plate reader networks, and accessing programs that may monitor cellphones throughout whole neighborhoods.
Past widespread surveillance, ICE or Border Patrol entry to your telephone might pose direct digital surveillance dangers, both whilst you’re on the scene or at a later date should you’re detained they usually take your system to extract information. In case you are bringing your day by day system to a protest, flip off biometrics, disable all Face ID and fingerprint unlocking programs, and as an alternative use a password or a PIN to safe your system. Officers will need to have a warrant or court docket order to demand a PIN or passcode from you, whereas it’s legally simpler for them to compel you to unlock your system utilizing a biometric.
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