Recent, activists who peacefully work to protect communities from ICE were dealt two big setbacks. First, the ICEBlock app has been removed from Apple phones, making it harder for organizations to track ICE movements. Second, ICE is now accusing people who follow them of violence (an accusation that’s deeply non-credible after all the lies we’ve seen ICE tell), and has shot at least one activist.

ICE does these things for an obvious reason: these efforts work! When activists are able to keep tabs on ICE, they’re able to prevent them from arresting people and even detaining US citizens for no lawful reason. Even when ICE gets to people, it enables activists to connect families with legal resources that can help them get back out of detention. While censoring app stores and shooting activists is shocking, it’s not surprising. Authoritarian regimes can’t allow citizens to track them if they want to operate lawlessly.

But, this doesn’t mean that activists have no alternatives. In this post, I want to share some things activists can do to gather intelligence on ICE in ways that are largely unstoppable and perfectly legal. By using proven intelligence strategies, activists can know exactly where ICE is operating, especially for big raids.

Some quick words of warning: don’t do any of the below to further a crime. These methods become illegal when used to further attacks, terrorist action, or anything else that’s illegal. Only use the following ideas for lawful observation, education, and sharing resources with victims. Nothing in this post is legal advice. I am not a lawyer, and you should consider consulting a lawyer if you have questions about any of these methods.

Tracking ICE Radio Signals (SIGINT)

Back in the day, people wanting to keep tabs on law enforcement had it easy. Anyone could fire up a radio receiver and hear exactly what the police were doing. But, these days, radio traffic is encrypted. Not only is it nearly impossible to decode these signals, but it’s also illegal to decrypt law enforcement communications.

But, that doesn’t mean that ICE radio signals can’t be used to gather intelligence. The timing, frequency, and location of radio signals (all things that are legal to observe without decrypting anything) can still tell activists a lot about ICE activities. So, activists facing large ICE operations should consider getting into signals intelligence (SIGINT).

The first thing you’ll want for monitoring communications is a broadband receiver, like the affordable RTL-SDR dongles. Then, you’ll want to see if anyone already knows the frequencies ICE uses locally, often on RadioReference.com (this is the page for Los Angeles County showing known ICE frequencies). If local ICE frequencies aren’t available, you’ll need to find an ICE facility and listen in for a while to see what frequencies have the strongest signals. You can also use basic radio direction-finding (RDF) to determine whether a signal is coming from the facility, and verify the frequency.

Once you’re sure you have the right frequencies, you can start watching for unusual traffic patterns and line them up with activities. If a certain frequency lights up a lot just before or after a bunch of vehicles leave, that’s probably the one you really want to keep an eye on. You can also monitor raids to see if nearby signals are coming from the participants in the raid. By setting up a tower or operating from high ground somewhere, you can watch the whole area for bursts of traffic that mean a raid is happening.

Finally, you’ll want to get into advanced instantaneous signal locating. Using two KrakenSDR receivers in different locations, it’s possible to pinpoint the exact location a transmission is coming from in real time. This can both sniff out hidden ICE locations and identify where raids are happening without following ICE vehicles.

Drones (ISR)

Another way to track ICE activities is through the use of drones. I know that some activists are already doing this, and in response, ICE is getting the FAA to issue temporary flight restrictions to keep drones out of the sky in areas with high activity. On top of that, it’s required to keep most drones within line of sight of the operator, making it hard to legally follow convoys of cars. So, the idea of using a cheap fixed wing drone (such as a Parrot Disco) with 4G control dongles and long battery life is not recommended.

That having been said, legal drone flights can still be useful for some operations. Putting an eye in the sky can help you to see what’s going on without getting in agents’ faces and risking a violent reaction. When not in a “no fly zone”, drones can also be useful for keeping an eye on legally dubious internment facilities.

Just as with the radio signals, “no fly zones” can be useful information (OSINT). If a TFR or NOTAM is issued in an area with a lot of ICE activity, the old Streisand Effect comes into play (in this case as OSINT). Have drone operators check for restrictions, and when they pop up, that’s a pretty good indicator that there will be some kind of important activity in the center of the TFR.

The Sky Is Not The Limit (GEOINT)

Sadly, many detention facilities and other ICE activities happen in areas that are always off limits to drones (ex. military bases). But, this doesn’t mean you can’t watch these areas from above. Companies like Planet Labs sell satellite imagery to the general public. You’d think that the government does something to stop this, but they don’t even stop people from buying imagery of Area 51 and seeing experimental planes, so there’s nothing stopping you from buying imagery of basically anywhere on the planet.

Getting Insider Knowledge (HUMINT)

Finally, it’s important to note that ICE activities generate other data that is often shared with law enforcement in an area. If you live in a red state that supports ICE, you probably won’t be able to get this information unless you have a friend in a local, county, or state law enforcement agency who is willing to feed you information on raids, hold requests, etc.

If you live in a blue state or a blue city, it’s best to contact the Democratic politician closest to the local police department, such as a county commissioner, mayor, or secretary of public safety. They might be able to get the police agency under their control to start quietly sharing information that can then get passed to activists. If you can get access to such information, do not public share that this is happening, or ICE will plug the leak.

Putting It All Together

Between these SIGINT, OSINT, ISR, GEOINT, and HUMINT methods, plus intelligence activists are already gathering via hotlines and scouts, it’s possible to keep getting high quality information that can help inform the actions activists take. Let’s call this “intelligence-driven activism”.

The key think to understand here is that all of these methods look for the byproducts of ICE activity. You’re not looking for fire. You’re looking for the smoke. Where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire. So, don’t be afraid to look for other kinds of smoke!

It’s important for activists to keep being creative. ICE will do what it can to plug leaks, change frequencies, and try to ban or harass anyone involved in aiding activists. Accusations of terrorism will continue. If you don’t adapt to this environment and try to keep ICE from determining your sources and methods, they’ll find ways to keep all of the above from working. Keep things close to the vest and always be ready to change what you’re doing!

Featured image from Dsimic on Wikipedia Commons (CC-BY-SA 4.0 license)