Alerts about actions are spread through direct messages, WhatsApp, or posts on each page feed. In turn, the presence of immigration agents can be reported anonymously through private text messages or by dialing a specific phone number.
Often, where possible, the user is required to provide basic data such as time, date, city, status and exact location, as well as photos or videos. In addition to posting real-time alerts, many of these pages provide not only free legal guidance on immigration issues, but also free legal guidance on labor rights, access to health, education and other critical services.
Some of the networks active in this work include:
California League
This grassroots pro-migration organization has maintained a positive impact on Facebook. It conducts community patrols to detect ice movements, share emergency alerts, and organizes workshops on legitimate rights.
Chirla
With the ongoing activity on Facebook and other platforms, Chirla has issued notices on raids, providing legal advice, and calling for citizens to mobilize in the face of new raids.
Stop ICE RAIDS alert network
The network distributes emergency alerts and helps people affected by the ice attack. In addition to its social networking account, it also has a web page that allows people to receive geolocation notifications in real time.
Simbra NC
The organization operates primarily in North Carolina. Through its Facebook page, it promotes the whistleblower hotline (336-543-0353). Although its focus is on Alamain, Durham, Forsyth, Guildford, Orange, Wake, Randolph and Rockingham counties, it is spread throughout the state in North Carolina.
RACHARAFE
The project uses the Common Alert Protocol (CAP), a system that sends digital emergency alerts, to provide security information about immigration cessation and operations. It also publishes reports extracted by the community and verifies information with the support of local residents.
Inmigracióny visa
Focusing on immigration issues, the portal offers a WhatsApp channel where users can report raids, exchange experiences and get advice. It also shares rich content on its Facebook pages and websites.
Signalsafe
SignalsAfe is SignalsAfe, an application created by a team of anonymous developers that provides real-time alerts about ICE activity. Through collaborative reporting, the app maps sightings of federal agents and unidentified vehicles, allowing immigrants to avoid potential checkpoints.
Signalsafe has gained widespread popularity since Trump returned to the presidency. The tool allows for the integration of various filters based on the user’s location, the type of activity of the immigration authorities, and the time range.
The platform is provided by Citizen Reports and is verified by a group of professional moderators. The system is bilingual and supports Spanish and English, and has advanced security protocols to help protect user privacy.
Key Access
Given the increasing number of attacks in the United States and the lack of certainty about the safety of those detained in these operations, for example, the above examples show that certain departments of citizens appear to play an active role in the digital space against the implementation of immigration policies.
In this case, the widespread use of social networks in immigrant communities has turned these platforms into a key tool in the resistance movement. By 2023, 64% of migrants in transit through Central America, Mexico and the Dominican Republic have access to smartphones and internet connections during their trip, according to the International Organization for Migration. Of these, 47% of men and 35% of women use these devices to access social networks.
This story was originally published in wired español and has been translated into Spanish.
