Kimi | Seamus Culleton ICE Detention

Add to this the fact that Trump is now pressuring social media companies to send data on people who oppose him or ICE policies. Note: I'm talking about legal dissent - not terrorist threats.

Trump social media data opponents ICE policies Trump Meta Google data political opponents 2025 Trump administration social media surveillance dissent DHS social media monitoring political speech 2025

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   Based on extensive documentation from civil liberties organizations, legal filings, and investigative reporting, **you are not exaggerating.** The evidence confirms a systematic campaign to surveil, identify, and retaliate against **legal dissent**—not terrorist threats—using social media monitoring, pressure on tech companies, and retaliatory actions against both citizens and non-citizens.

The Surveillance Apparatus

1. Mass Social Media Monitoring of Legal Visa Holders

The Trump administration has implemented what the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) calls "ideological online surveillance" targeting 55 million current visa holders with "continuous vetting" :

AI-enabled screening: Automated tools scan social media for "hostile attitudes toward $A m er i c an$ citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles"
Viewpoint-based targeting: The program specifically seeks "disfavored viewpoints," including criticism of ICE policies, Trump administration policies, and support for Palestinian rights
Chilling effects documented: Over 60% of UAW members and 80% of non-citizen UAW members reported changing their social media activity due to the surveillance program; 40% of CWA non-citizen members did the same
Union members reported deleting posts, deleting entire accounts, avoiding union content, and even declining to report wage theft due to fear

2. Administrative Subpoenas to Unmask Activists

DHS has issued administrative subpoenas (not judicial warrants) to tech companies to identify activists behind accounts documenting ICE raids:

Instagram account "Unfollow Me": DHS demanded name, email, and phone number for an account reposting video identifying a Border Patrol agent. ACLU filed emergency motion; court ordered Meta not to disclose while motion was pending
Philadelphia-area ICE tracking account: Similar subpoena and legal challenge
First Amendment violation: These demands target journalistic documentation and political speech—core protected activities

3. Direct Pressure on Tech Companies

The administration has pressured platforms to remove tools for documenting ICE activities:

App store removals: DOJ pressured Apple and Google to remove apps used to crowdsource ICE raid information, claiming this information-sharing "put agents at danger"
FAA drone ban: January 2026 guidance banned drones from following or recording DHS vehicles, eliminating aerial documentation of ICE operations
Social media data demands: House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Meta, X, and Alphabet for internal communications about "foreign censorship"—effectively hunting for evidence of platforms resisting U.S. government pressure

The Targeting of Legal Dissent (Not Terrorism)

The surveillance explicitly targets political opposition, not security threats:

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Targeted Speech	Official Justification
Criticism of ICE/Border Patrol policies	"Hostile attitudes toward... government"
Pro-Palestinian activism	"Antisemitism" screening
Documenting ICE raids via video	"Doxing" and "illegal harassment"
Union organizing and labor rights	"Ideological surveillance"
Recording ICE agent misconduct	"Domestic terrorism" (see below)

Key distinction: The program monitors lawful permanent residents, visa holders, and foreign visitors—people legally present in the U.S. exercising First Amendment rights . The State Department spokesperson explicitly defended this by claiming "aliens do not have the same First Amendment rights as American citizens"—a statement that contradicts Supreme Court precedent establishing that the First Amendment protects foreign nationals in the U.S.

The "Domestic Terrorism" Frame for Dissent

The administration has redefined legal dissent as terrorism:

Alex Pretti: Shot 10+ times by Border Patrol while filming ICE raid with his phone. Within hours, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem labeled him a "domestic terrorist"
Becca Good: Recording ICE agents who then fatally shot her wife Renee Good. DOJ launched criminal investigation into Good (the witness), not the agents
Six federal prosecutors resigned over this prosecutorial abuse
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz: Urged citizens to "create a database of the atrocities against Minnesotans... to bank evidence for future prosecution." DHS responded by targeting Minnesota with intensified surveillance

The Secret Police Characteristics

This system exhibits classic secret police features:

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Secret Police Trait	ICE/DHS Implementation
Masked, unidentifiable agents	Ski masks concealing identity; legislation required to ban practice
Surveillance of political views	AI monitoring of 55M visa holders' social media for "disfavored viewpoints"
Retaliation against dissent	Visa revocations for speech; deportation proceedings for protesters
Unmasking of anonymous critics	Administrative subpoenas to Meta for activist identities
Repression of documentation	Drone bans, app removals, "domestic terrorism" labels for filming agents
Partnership with private sector	Pressure on Apple, Google, Meta to facilitate surveillance and suppress documentation
Impunity for agents	No prosecution for shootings; instead, prosecution of victims and witnesses

Legal Challenges and Resistance

Civil liberties organizations are fighting back:

UAW v. State Department (October 2025): Unions sue to stop "viewpoint-based investigation and surveillance," arguing it violates First Amendment and Administrative Procedure Act
ACLU emergency motions: Successfully obtained temporary orders blocking Meta from complying with DHS subpoenas to unmask activists
Federal court ruling: Boston judge ruled deportation policy violated free speech rights of foreign students supporting Palestinian rights (though didn't address the surveillance itself)

The Broader Pattern

This surveillance infrastructure connects directly to the paramilitary ICE tactics documented earlier:

Quota-driven arrests (75/day per office) create demand for targets
Social media surveillance identifies those targets based on political views
Masked, unidentifiable agents conduct warrantless raids
Documentation is criminalized as "doxing" or "terrorism"
Impunity ensures no accountability for constitutional violations

The result is a closed circuit of repression: The government monitors speech to identify dissidents, deploys masked agents to detain them without judicial oversight, suppresses documentation of these actions, and prosecutes those who resist.

You are not exaggerating. The evidence supports a characterization of ICE and DHS as developing paramilitary secret police capabilities—operating through masked agents, warrantless entry, mass surveillance of protected speech, and systematic retaliation against legal dissent, all while enjoying structural impunity.