Privacy advocates: ICE using private data to intimidate observers and activists
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When Judy Levy got a message on Tuesday from a member of her book club telling her that ICE agents appeared to be staging in a nearby parking lot, she and her husband Noah jumped into their car and drove over. They were the first observers on the scene.
The St. Paul couple followed when eight SUVs filled with masked and armed men peeled out of the parking lot. After failing to shake the observers, the frustrated agents halted their caravan in the middle of traffic and surrounded observers’ cars, threatening them with arrest for impeding law enforcement.
Agents took photos of Levy and other observers’ license plates. Then a masked agent walked up to Judy Levy’s passenger side window.
The agent said: “‘Hello Judith. How are you today?’”
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Judy Levy was shaken, but the couple followed when the federal agents’ caravan started up again. That’s when ICE vehicles turned onto Levy’s street. They almost couldn’t believe it.
“Our street is off the beaten path, you don’t go down our street to get to anywhere.” Noah Levy said. “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t intimidating.”
MPR News has looked into reports that federal agents have accessed private data to track and intimidate anti-ICE activists since the immigration crackdown surged in Minnesota in December. Privacy advocates say it’s a clear violation of state law.
Widespread allegations of misuse by ICE
License plate readers and personal data in people’s car registrations are only supposed to be accessed for an active criminal investigation, said John Boehler, a policy counsel with the ACLU of Minnesota. There have been reports across the country for years that federal agents have been accessing private data when it’s not necessary for an investigation.
“Following or observing or reporting on federal agencies or federal activities is not a criminal activity — it's protected First Amendment activity,” Boehler said. “To be using those cameras, to use those license plate readers, to surveil protesters has a chilling effect on First Amendment rights, and that's what we think the goal is.”
Boehler said state law has pretty tight restrictions on how private data can be used. State and local governments contract with a company called Flock to store and access private citizen data. Flock insists that it does not have a contract with ICE and said the data is only shared with local government cooperation. 404 Media reported this spring that some local law enforcement agencies were giving ICE access to citizens’ private data, with leaked data showing thousands of searches done at the behest of federal authorities.
Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services said in a statement that they don’t provide ICE access to citizens’ private data.
ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not respond to requests for information about the apps or tools they’re using to access Minnesotans’ personal data.
Boehler said ICE and DHS have large budgets and have been utilizing advanced tools like facial recognition apps to try to identify people. The feds may even have created their own database of private citizen data. If they’re getting private citizens’ data using state tools, Boehler said it would be a clear example of misuse.
“It's another example of the lawlessness that ICE has been operating with in our state — they've been switching license plates, they've been driving cars without license plates,” Boehler said. “These are violations of the law in order to violate people's rights.”
The scale and speed of the federal government’s actions, and their refusal to maintain clear or accurate records makes it hard for people to sue the federal government for violating their constitutional rights. The ACLU of Minnesota has sued the government in hopes that a judge will order an injunction that restricts the federal government’s actions in the state, similar to an injunction issued in Chicago.
‘Federal agents are supposed to be beyond reproach’
People observing ICE have alleged that agents routinely harass and threaten observers with arrest. More than a dozen observers have been arrested since the surge started, according to advocates.
But people uninvolved with protests have also found themselves targeted.
Immigration attorney Karen Bryan was called into her St. Louis Park firm on Friday because ICE agents were in her parking lot. Bryan said ICE had previously arrested one of her clients and another potential client less than a block away.
Bryan, who is due to give birth in two weeks, was helped over the slippery parking lot by two assistants. She said she knocked on the window and said, “Could you please leave the parking lot? It's private property. You can park across the street. That's government property.”
Bryan said she was greeted by a masked female ICE agent who threatened her with a canister of pepper spray. “I said, ‘You're going to spray me in the face? I'm two weeks away from giving birth, and I'm just kindly asking you to leave my property.’”
Bryan said she isn’t political but supports the Constitution. She believes people have a right to access an attorney and get justice in court.
The ICE agents left after an activist Bryan’s staff contacted showed up. But first, the female agent took a video of Bryan.
“I don't want to die like the woman who was shot in the face or the pastor who had a gun put to his face,” Bryan said. “I don't understand what is going on. I mean, federal agents are supposed to be above reproach.”
Jac Kovarik is a block club captain in south Minneapolis who has observed ICE since the surge began.
The first time Kovarik saw private data used by ICE agents was a couple days after Christmas. They were observing ICE agents while a friend from Robbinsdale drove. The agents had already stopped them to warn they’d be arrested, but they kept following the vehicle. Then they realized the agents were leading them to their friend’s home in Robbinsdale.
“He pulled up to her house, both the agents got out of the car and were both performatively and theatrically taking pictures of her house,” Kovarik said. “Then they drove off and they went around to the back alley behind her house and took pictures of the back of her house."
It happened again to Kovarik last week when an ICE agent led them to a residence where Kovarik used to live.
“It’s one of many intimidation tactics, and obviously people should be safe,” Kovarik said, ”but if you feel pretty comfortable that … they’re not really going to be able to do anything to harm you, I think it’s to our benefit to show them that we’re not scared.”
Organizations that train people to observe ICE activity urge observers to stay calm, keep their distance and record everything that occurs.
In St. Paul, Judy Levy said it’s clear the agents meant to intimidate them.
But Levy said she and her husband are middle-aged white people who have never been in trouble with the law. She said the harassment makes them more eager to observe ICE agents in the future: “I wasn’t raised to sit back and not do something when people are being kidnapped, and families are being terrorized, and good, hard-working people who make up the fabric of this community are being persecuted.”
