How ICE's Surveillance System Works

TL;DR

ICE accesses a sprawling nationwide surveillance network — license plate readers, facial recognition, and cell phone trackers — often bypassing legal safeguards to detain immigrants and monitor protesters.

Key Points

• 1.Flock Safety's license plate network gives ICE backdoor access even in sanctuary jurisdictions. Glenwood Springs, CO (2:1 Harris voters, Colorado anti-cooperation law) paid $375K/year for Flock cameras; outside agencies accessed their data 516,892 times in January 2025 alone, including ICE's investigative arm HSI.
• 2.Private company cameras create an unaccountable surveillance backdoor. A Lowe's store in Glenwood runs Flock cameras with zero public disclosure of who accesses their data, meaning ICE can surveil movements in non-cooperative cities through private retail partners with no legal restrictions.
• 3.Flock data has been abused by rogue officers and used to surveil protesters. A Kansas police chief stalked his ex-girlfriend 228 times via Flock; October logs show searches logged as 'protest' in days following No Kings Day demonstrations, with thousands of searches listed only as 'TBD,' 'test,' or '0.'
• 4.Mobile Fortify, ICE's facial recognition app, is deployed without consent and has demonstrated serious accuracy failures. In Woodburn, Oregon, the app gave two different matches for one woman; the arresting officer admitted his probable cause was that she spoke Spanish and got an uncertain facial recognition hit — both legally insufficient.
• 5.Mobile Fortify retains images of US citizens for 15 years and is being used on protesters. Agents photographed anti-ICE protesters in Minneapolis (overwhelmingly white, English-speaking citizens) consistent with Mobile Fortify use; one legal observer was addressed by name by agents and had her TSA PreCheck revoked 3 days later.
• 6.Stingrays allow mass cellular surveillance, and ICE has a documented history of ignoring its own warrant requirements. The half-million-dollar vehicle systems capture IMSI numbers from all nearby phones; an Inspector General report confirmed widespread warrantless use, and cellular anomalies at a July 4, 2025 Seattle protest suggested mass IMSI harvesting.
• 7.A tripling of ICE's budget signals rapid expansion of these surveillance systems. Congress approved $75 billion in additional funding, nearly tripling ICE's annual budget; the agency rarely discloses its tools voluntarily, and what is known comes only from leaks, court filings, and observation — meaning the full scope remains unknown.