That is misleading. He was not arrested under suspicion of being an illegal alien so the ID part is irrelevant.
EDIT: Actually, this is correct. I kept reading and found specific information supporting your point. Thanks!
I think the reason this is salient is, DHS only claimed after the fact that they arrested him for assault. At the time he wasn’t given info, so he remarked “wtf my ID was right there, why am I being arrested when I can prove citizenship?”.
Mobile Fortify draws from several databases and I don’t think ICE has overwrite access to any of them.
ICE goes around laws to draw extra data all the time (though that’s read access, not write). Nominal access controls are not being respected right now (though that doesn’t mean every single control is being violated). You can also look at DOGE / social security data, etc.
ICE officials have told us that an apparent biometric match by Mobile Fortify is a ‘definitive’ determination of a person’s status and that an ICE officer may ignore evidence of American citizenship—including a birth certificate—if the app says the person is an alien.
—Ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee Bennie G. Thompson (D.-Miss.)
If this claim is true then there would be direct evidence of that happening. There should be no need to rely on word of mouth.
I don’t think it’s reasonable to call this word-of-mouth. My comment provided credible evidence that ICE officials made this claim. Maybe it isn’t widespread yet, and maybe it won’t end up happening, but you’re downplaying the chance this happens and overestimating the care ICE demonstrates towards citizens. See also the planned denaturalization quota of 100–200/month in 2026
A chilling effect may be the intention but its not the reality.
I can tell you that quite a few of my friends (my target demographic for this article!) already report their speech being chilled. It’s happening, at least for some groups I care about. Large protests are not strong counterevidence.
I disagree with much of what you wrote.
EDIT: Actually, this is correct. I kept reading and found specific information supporting your point. Thanks!
I think the reason this is salient is, DHS only claimed after the fact that they arrested him for assault. At the time he wasn’t given info, so he remarked “wtf my ID was right there, why am I being arrested when I can prove citizenship?”.
ICE goes around laws to draw extra data all the time (though that’s read access, not write). Nominal access controls are not being respected right now (though that doesn’t mean every single control is being violated). You can also look at DOGE / social security data, etc.
I don’t think it’s reasonable to call this word-of-mouth. My comment provided credible evidence that ICE officials made this claim. Maybe it isn’t widespread yet, and maybe it won’t end up happening, but you’re downplaying the chance this happens and overestimating the care ICE demonstrates towards citizens. See also the planned denaturalization quota of 100–200/month in 2026
I can tell you that quite a few of my friends (my target demographic for this article!) already report their speech being chilled. It’s happening, at least for some groups I care about. Large protests are not strong counterevidence.