Volunteers have been tracking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents across the city, hearing about ICE sightings by word of mouth, on social media platforms like Instagram and through tips from their hotline.
The group calls itself NYC ICE Watch.
They say they have hundreds of volunteers citywide, divided by neighborhoods. The Bushwick group agreed to let NY1 follow them on April 15, on the condition NY1 didn’t disclose their identities, as they were fearful of retaliation by ICE or their employers.
What You Need To Know
Volunteers have been mobilizing across the five boroughs, trying to stop immigration authorities from arresting migrants
NY1 shadowed one of the groups leading the effort to stop U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The group calls itself NYC ICE Watch
NYC ICE Watch says it’s going to continue organizing against ICE for the long-term, no matter which administration is in the White House
“We’re going to go check on one of the places where ICE has been known to stage in the past,” said an ICE Watch member who was driving the group’s sprinter van.
ICE was not at the location on that day. But the group is ready with whistles if they see ICE agents, which they did back in February on Bushwick Avenue in Brooklyn.
The group and other community members surrounded an ICE vehicle which volunteers say had a detained man in it. ICE Watchers and other community members would not provide his name or his lawyer’s name to NY1, but said he has since been released and reunited with his wife and children.
When NY1 asked about the incident, an ICE spokesperson said the immigrant from Mexico entered and was living in the U.S. illegally, and that “a crowd of anti-ICE agitators rapidly descended upon on our officers and tried to obstruct law enforcement — a felony and a federal crime.”
ICE alleges the group became violent, and ICE officers activated their lights and sirens and attempted to depart the scene.
New data from the nonprofit Deportation Data Project, which works to get immigration data from the federal government and publicizes it, shows that ICE’s New York City division — which also includes Long Island and roughly half a dozen counties north of the city — arrested more than 9,600 people since the beginning of the Trump administration.
But only about one in five have non-immigration-related criminal convictions. Administration officials would not comment on the data.
Another member, in his 20s, joined ICE Watch about six months ago when he moved to the city. He says his father is an immigrant, and because he is an American citizen, he feels privileged to exercise his First Amendment rights.
“I do this before going to my full-time job,” he said. “People from this movement come from all walks of life.”
The group says its tracking reveals ICE now makes arrests in the morning, while the FBI picks up enforcement in the late afternoons and into the evenings. The FBI would not answer any questions, and referred NY1 to immigration authorities.
“Because of the strength of the network, especially in here and surrounding neighborhoods, we also have a very, very quick rapid response time. We have been able to, within minutes, come and record, and alert other neighbors about an ICE kidnapping,” the ICE Watch member said.
There were no encounters with ICE on April 15, but the group handed out flyers informing people about their rights.
The member, who only wanted to reveal his middle name — Tupac — has been with ICE Watch since it began about six years ago, under the first Trump administration. Membership grew in reaction to ICE’s presence in the city, as well as the most high-profile anti-ICE activity, in Minneapolis, and the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
“All it takes is for one incident to have negative repercussions, so we always, we stay ready, we wear masks,” Tupac said.
Retired NYPD detective and John Jay College of Criminal Justice adjunct professor Michael Alcazar believes NYC ICE Watch members have a right to protest — but not to interfere with ICE agents.
“ICE is not designed or trained to deal with crowd control, that’s law enforcement. They have different standards of use of force, so if these protesters, these demonstrators are challenging them, they might meet with sterner action than local law enforcement,” Alcazar said.
When NY1 asked about NYC ICE Watch, an ICE spokesperson issued a statement saying: “…The First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly – not rioting….”
And ICE said it’s enforcing the rule of law passed by Congress. It went on to say, “ICE will continue to carry out immigration enforcement for the safety of Americans who have been victimized by rapists, murderers, drug traffickers, and gang members. Illegal aliens that ICE is deporting broke our nation’s laws.”
White House border czar Tom Homan talked about that in February.
“The bottom line is, we have the most secure border in the history of this nation, we got record numbers of criminal aliens arrested and deported in this country because this is one team, one fight,” Homan said.
“Fear is their weapon, and they want us to live in fear,” Tupac said.
Tupac, a freelance photographer raised in Queens, says volunteers try to stay calm and not incite violence, even though they are trying to stop any arrests they see. He says his mother and father were both immigrants from South America.
“We do this out of a sense of protecting our families,” Tupac said.
He is an American citizen, and says he exercises his right to free speech by writing sightings on the ground, as a public service to warn the immigrant community about potential danger.
“We’re here to tell them they don’t have to live in fear. They can be empowered,” he said.
NYC ICE Watch says it’s going to continue organizing against ICE for the long-term, no matter which administration is in the White House — and that what they seek is an end to ICE altogether.