ICE plans to build a social media surveillance unit that will work around the clock to look through social media posts and generate leads for raids and arrests.
The agency is looking to hire contractors to work in offices located in Vermont and California with the role of sifting through social media sites such as Facebook, X, and TikTok, to find potential targets for deportation. The contractors will compile data from photos, posts, and available documents online such as resumes and geocached information.
Available records detail that new hired contractors will collect person-specific data – such as addresses, vehicles, and even an individual’s associates – on people the agency believes meet their “enforcement priorities.”
The draft put out by ICE requires the contractors have a contingency plan that ensures they can work under times of extreme stress such as “civil disturbances…national disturbances, and international crises,” as well as requiring the contractor to provide “on-call emergency support 24 hours a day, seven (7) days a week, including holidays,” effectively giving ICE the ability to surveille anyone through their social media accounts 24/7, year-round, without error or hiccup.
