In January 2026, two Individuals have been killed within the act of watching Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minneapolis. Renee Nicole Good was appearing as a authorized observer whereas her spouse recorded the federal immigration brokers they encountered. Alex Pretti was holding a cellphone in his hand, filming the brokers who would quickly take his life. But as harmful because the mere act of commentary grew to become 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 determine how to resist—and record—ICE’s incursion into American cities.
“Sadly, there isn’t any technique to movie ‘safely’ proper now—I believe everyone could also be taking a threat due to how aggressive and brazen and outright unlawful ICE’s conduct has been,” says Trevor Timm, cofounder and government director of Freedom of the Press Basis. (Disclosure: WIRED’s international 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 folks there who have been filming as effectively. And since they have been filming, we noticed the egregious lies that the Trump administration was spreading nearly instantly.”
This stress has existed for greater than 20 years all over the world as widespread entry to smartphones has made video documentation and livestreaming a pivotal tool for activists and different involved folks seeking to expose injustice and affect political discourse. Within the US, folks 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 reality, although, as immigration enforcement operations have escalated across the nation. In July, Division of Homeland Safety secretary Kristi Noem called documenting federal brokers “violence,” claiming: “It’s doxing them. It’s videotaping them the place they’re at.”
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin equally informed WIRED in an announcement that “videoing our officers in an effort to dox them and reveal their identities that may be a federal crime and a felony.” DHS has maintained this place—even supposing, by DHS’s personal questionable definition, ICE agents are “doxing” themselves.
That rhetoric represents a direct menace 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 fight human rights violations.
“Video documentation has the facility to reveal 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 threat, and I believe that it is essential for folks to weigh that threat 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 below are a few of these ideas that WIRED has assembled from chatting with those that have used the novel 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 an alternative or burner phone can help protect your privacy and that of these round you. Nonetheless, leaving no digital hint in any respect is troublesome to attain: Immigration officers have constructed huge surveillance capabilities, together with buying up online advertising data, deploying surveillance drones, tapping into license plate reader networks, and accessing techniques that may monitor cellphones across entire neighborhoods.
Past widespread surveillance, ICE or Border Patrol entry to your cellphone may pose direct digital surveillance dangers, both when you’re on the scene or at a later date should you’re detained and so they take your machine to extract information. If you’re bringing your day by day machine to a protest, flip off biometrics, disable all Face ID and fingerprint unlocking techniques, and as an alternative use a password or a PIN to safe your machine. 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 machine utilizing a biometric.
