Proposed: ICE Individual and Institutional Accountability Framework
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The ICE terror war against the nation and people of the USA is on full throttle with the budget just passed that increases ICE funding by $29.9B and allocates $45B to create new ICE concentration camp sites. The new ICE budget is said to exceed Russia’s annual defense expenditures! ICE agents are proceeding across the nation in relentless lawlessness – with total lack of accountability. ICE agents are masked without any identifying badge numbers and are committing crimes and harming our communities across the nation.
But the pushback of accountability will emerge and indeed already has started to. There are sites that are being built to collect images and videos of rampaging ICE jackboot thugs marauding in our communities – heavily armed, heavily protected by body armor – backed up by police shooting flash bangs at community defenders and National Guard and Marine deployments on US streets. This is the beginning of a framework for ICE accountability but in order for it to work it needs to move forward into a major undertaking of our fightback communities.
THIS IS PROPOSAL – NOT A PLAN
To be clear – this is a preliminary proposal – it is not intended to supersede any efforts already in motion. Fightbackbetter does not have resources to make this happen. The idea is to begin a discussion process that might or might not lead to the proper framework for holding ICE agents accountable individually and ICE and its structures – and officials – institutionally accountable.
The following features could be part of the accountability / identify effort.
INTERESTED? HAVE IDEAS? USE THIS FORM TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK
Repository Form – a link where witnesses can upload pictures, video, audio, written and recorded statements, complete with location, date, time, circumstances, contact, indicator if submitter is willing to make an affidavit statement, possibly other elements.
Wiki approach: Both the coding and development as well as the information gathering should engage and involve volunteer coordination in coding. It is likely resources will be scarce but it is also feasible that highly skilled and motivated volunteers can possibly surmount resource limitations.
Repository cloud data – The data needs to be securely protected with secure back ups.
Data Analytics Efforts – Means needs to be developed to link the picture and video evidence to identifier systems that can help categorize and match up agents appearing in multiple artifacts as well as to potentially identify the suspects.
Legal team: Any outlet of such information needs to be monitored by a legal team – at least one or more attorneys to make sure that the site does not create any liability for the effort. There also needs to be review of the incoming artifacts for egregious and potentially illegal acts and if this effort in the future builds cases – to gather the evidence accordingly.
Para Legal Team: Law students and others with legal assistance experience to assist the legal team.
Volunteers: Writers, organizers, publicity, amplifying the information, campaign organizers – volunteers of all sorts.
Coordinating Body: Across the entities engaged in this effort there needs to be a process to drive the process forward with the most effective strategy.
Reporting: There should be a media outlet site for the analysis of the collecting data to report the terror and opposition.
Confidential Information Line: Open to victims of ICE and even current and former ICE who do not like what they see or want to become whistle blowers – with the level of security that for example Wikileaks and other whistle blower sites deploy. The gathering of this information can use similar techniques and this framework effort can use the best practices from such successful efforts.
At least one such effort has already been launched
This site tracks reporting of ICE agents. This editor has not vetted the information but the site looks to be taking a step toward such a planned accountability effort. Hopefully a fully integrated effort can organize each of the initiatives and collectivize the efforts toward the common goal of accountability.
Concerns:
DOXXING Legal Concerns
The following is a legal view of some of the concerns about doxxing – any news reporting on the crimes of individual ICE agents needs to take great care in navigating this issue. Some states have passed anti-doxxing laws – that might have questionable constitutionality – but that might not stop attempts to bring legal troubles. First and foremost there needs to be some foolproof identification standard because the biggest exposure is likely falsely identifying someone as being a criminal ICE thug and carelessness in the identification process could lead to such possibility. Whether this process publicly doxes or identifies the perpetrators but keeps their identity out of public reporting – the information being reported needs to follow guidelines from any legal team involved in the effort.
https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/doxxing-free-speech-and-first-amendment
What KInd of Accountability?
Trump has signed executive orders attempting to claim immunity from any accountability for “police” which this government is attempting to define ICE agents as police – as opposed to fascist marauding gangsters with government support. Seeking justice in the courts might be possible and should certainly be attempted. True justice might not come legally in the current legal climate but governments change – and gathering the evidence now can help make cases.
However, accountability can also be attained through accurate reporting – by exposing the ICE thugs to their communities where they might attempt to blend in – by making it known among their associates what they are doing – many ways. Oppressed people engaged in struggle have an uncanny way of figuring out how to bring justice and accountability once movements are in full swing.
The evidence we gather will also give us the information we need to hold the individual elected officials and collectively political entities (like the Democratic and Republican Parties) that are A. Directly compliclt in actions support of ICE terror and B. Are either quiet or only opposing some of the aspects of the ICE terror in a superficial and ineffective way.
Any accountability starts with collecting the data and an accurate way of categorizing and analyzing the data.
Interest in ideas and participating in process to develop further:
