Federal authorities and national security experts are increasingly alarmed by what they describe as a coordinated civilian intelligence network targeting immigration enforcement across the United States. According to Fox News Digital reporting, anti-ICE activists have moved far beyond traditional protest and are now operating as disciplined surveillance units that track, catalog, and respond to federal law enforcement activity in real time.
At the center of these concerns is the rise of what organizers themselves call “digital minutemen,” a term drawn deliberately from Revolutionary War militias that scouted British troop movements before open conflict began. In today’s version, the targets are U.S. federal immigration authorities.
“This is an insurgency,” said retired U.S. Army Green Beret Eric Schwalm. “I would know. I used to run them.”
From Protesters to Collectors
Unlike spontaneous demonstrations, the networks described in the reporting operate continuously. Civilians are trained to observe federal agents, distinguish them from local police, and log detailed information about their movements. These individuals are referred to internally as rapid responders and externally, by critics, as collectors.
In intelligence terminology, collectors are human intelligence assets, or HUMINT. Fox News Digital reports that these civilian collectors feed information into at least 13 databases nationwide, storing photos, timestamps, geolocation data, license plate numbers, vehicle descriptions, uniform details, and behavioral patterns of alleged ICE and DHS personnel.
“These are not just activists with phones,” Schwalm said. “This is structured intelligence collection.”
Encrypted Coordination and Real Time Alerts
Coordination occurs through encrypted messaging platforms such as Signal and WhatsApp. In Minnesota alone, there are at least 20 Signal chats. In the Seattle area, the number rises to 35. Rhode Island networks use WhatsApp to issue rapid alerts.
Early last week, FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the use of encrypted Signal chats by ICE Watch activists to track and interfere with federal enforcement actions.
From these chats, information flows directly into databases that aggregate sightings across cities and states. The result is what Fox News Digital describes as a nationwide web of more than 200 anti-ICE organizations functioning as a civilian intelligence apparatus.
Military Intelligence Methods Repurposed
A major focus of concern is the adoption of a military grade reporting framework known as SALUTE. The acronym stands for Size, Activity, Location, Uniform, Time, and Equipment. It is traditionally taught to soldiers to track enemy forces on the battlefield.
Jill Garvey, co founder of States at the Core, openly trains civilians in this method. During a Zoom webinar, Garvey instructed recruits to assess whether they were observing “a tactical unit,” identify “types of munitions and how much,” and determine whether officers were moving in “four, two, four, or six man formations.”
“We are all ICE Watch,” Garvey declared, boasting that she had trained 40,000 rapid responders in the past year.
Schwalm said the implications are serious. “If Iraqi resistance ran this level of operation against us, we couldn’t have stayed past 2007,” he said. “They didn’t even need to shoot at us. Protests like this would have created a narrative nightmare.”
Databases as Weapons
Among the most controversial elements of the network are its databases. One of the most prominent, MN ICE Plates, stores thousands of records of alleged ICE vehicles and agents. Entries include photos, locations, timestamps, and cross referenced sightings labeled as confirmed or highly suspected.
Over the past week alone, entries in the Minnesota database nearly doubled to more than 5,300 records.
Another platform, ICE List, published by Irish activist Dominick Skinner, reportedly contains the names, photos, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers of approximately 4,500 ICE and Border Patrol agents. Skinner describes the project as journalistic accountability.
“Clear views of agents, uniforms, vehicles or locations,” Skinner requests in his incident reports.
When contacted, Skinner refused to answer questions and instead accused Fox News Digital of operating within what he called “the fascist media sphere in the USA.”
Adopt a Corner and Hold the Line
The reporting describes repeated trainings where activists are urged to “adopt a corner,” meaning they are assigned fixed observation points to monitor federal activity. In Chicago, Protect Rogers Park includes SALUTE in its standing operating procedures to protect churches, food pantries, and sensitive locations.
Gabe Gonzalez, a co founder of the group, praised participants for taking risks, calling them “courageous.”
At similar trainings, Garvey instructed recruits to wear whistles visibly so others would recognize them as “part of the team.” Three whistle blasts signaled an ICE operation in progress. Participants were told to rehearse police encounters at home.
Psychological Warfare and Narrative Control
Beyond physical tracking, the networks are engaged in what critics describe as psychological warfare. Schwalm warned that constant surveillance, public exposure, and aggressive framing of agents as mercenaries or abductors erodes morale and shapes public perception.
“These stakeouts don’t just create danger,” he said. “They put law enforcement on the losing end of a narrative war.”
Some platforms openly embrace this framing. The RESIST database promises users that “mask or not, they can’t hide anymore,” calling itself civilian powered intelligence designed to enable “public exposure and psychological disruption.”
Wajahat Ali, host of the Left Hook podcast, praised Garvey’s strategy bluntly. “Your camera is your weapon,” he said.
Funding, Ideology, and Foreign Links
Several groups involved are tied to socialist and Marxist organizations, including the People’s Forum and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. These groups openly state their goal of dismantling what they call American hyper imperialism.
Some are funded through dark money networks, including the Hopewell Fund, which sponsors States at the Core. The fund defended the training, stating it provides instruction for people to “lawfully and peacefully observe law enforcement in their communities.”
Other groups, such as ICE Out of New York, accept tax deductible donations through nonprofit structures while running surveillance operations critics argue resemble domestic intelligence gathering.
Legal and National Security Implications
Federal statutes prohibit threats, stalking, obstruction, and interference with federal officers. Critics argue that even if individual actions appear legal, the scale and coordination of these networks may cross into felony territory.
“These are not isolated acts,” Schwalm said. “This is an entire nation of collectors against our country’s law enforcement. It’s extremely dangerous.”
A New Phase of Domestic Conflict
What emerges from the reporting is a portrait of protest movements that have evolved into permanent surveillance organizations. They combine encrypted communications, standardized intelligence tradecraft, centralized databases, and ideological motivation.
Supporters insist they are exercising constitutional rights and providing transparency. Critics warn the country is witnessing the normalization of civilian intelligence operations aimed at the federal government itself.
As FBI investigations continue and databases grow, the question facing the nation is no longer whether these networks exist. It is whether the United States is prepared for a future where protest movements operate like insurgent intelligence cells, armed not with rifles, but with data, cameras, and coordination at scale.
