Residents Are Banding Together To Film, Monitor ICE Agents. Is It Legal?

Legal experts say people have First Amendment protections to record and report on federal law enforcement in public spaces.

There’s a group in Minneapolis that monitors and informs residents when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conduct raids in the community. The group, known as neighbors, is precisely that.

They are a group of residents, all of them volunteers, who check license plates and flag vehicles they believe are carrying ICE agents. According to USA Today, they carry whistles during school drop-offs to warn parents, drop off groceries to neighbors who are afraid to leave their homes, and even take their neighbors to doctors’ appointments.

You will find them throughout Minneapolis, including the neighborhood where 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent on Jan. 7. The South Minneapolis neighborhood has seen a heavy presence of immigration agents in the past six weeks, prompting the coalition of residents to band together to protect their neighbors.

It’s been one week since Good died, and the group of “neighbors” said they are not backing down. Her death has sparked protests nationwide and debates over the tactics used by ICE agents and the community groups that monitor agents.

“I don’t see anyone deterred. What I see is more people clear-eyed,” Neighbors Organizer Andrew Fahlstrom told USA Today. “The murder of Renee Good made it clear to everyone in the city just how dangerous and unhinged this group of armed agents actually is.”

Is It Legal To Monitor ICE Agents?

While President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have called groups that track ICE agents and warn neighbors “domestic terrorists,” it is legal to monitor or film federal agents while they’re on duty.

Since Trump’s inauguration, the co-director of The States at the Core, Jill Garvey, said more than 10,000 Americans have taken its virtual ICE Watch training. The training teaches volunteers how to monitor ICE activity and focuses on how to help those detained. The group also teaches volunteers about their observer rights and what can get them in trouble, such as interfering with an arrest.

According to CTM Legal Group, people have strong First Amendment protections to record and report on federal law enforcement in public spaces. However, there’s a critical legal line that could result in serious federal criminal charges if crossed.

Seven federal circuit courts have all confirmed that the First Amendment protects your right to film police and federal agents in public spaces. This protection exists regardless of immigration status.

States at the Core said that more than 1,000 Minneapolis residents signed up for Community Defense and ICE Watching training the day after Good died.