Anti-ICE groups adopting sophisticated counter-surveillance: ‘Game changer’

SPECIAL: A former senior National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security official warns that coordinated, technology-driven anti-ICE resistance is compromising operations through digital sabotage in cities across the United States.

The use of new and emerging technologies by agitators is “changing the atmosphere in which ICE operates,” cybersecurity and national security expert Stewart Baker said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

“This is already a game-changer,” Baker said.

Following reports that anti-ICE agitators are using the encrypted messaging app known as Signal to track and block agents, Baker said: “We’re going to see more of this, and it’s not easy to stop. A lot of what’s being done out there is perfectly legal expression, but it’s on the verge of causing serious harm.”

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Baker served as NSA general counsel under Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton and as DHS assistant secretary for policy under President George W. Bush.

Beyond Signal, there is discussion among activists about using advanced but inexpensive technology to serve as a counter-surveillance measure.

Some of these methods are detailed in a think piece titled “How Hackers Are Fighting ICE.” By the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit digital civil liberties organization. The methods identified by EFF include a piece of hardware called “OUI-SPY” and a database called “DeFlock” that can be used by activists to detect and record the presence of law enforcement cameras and other technologies that would otherwise be hidden.

EFF also describes an open source app called WiGLE that it says has the ability to alert the user when certain Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signals from federal law enforcement are detected.

The group states that it has no connection with these projects and does not endorse them or make any representations regarding the legality of their use.

“The group, which has defended digital civil liberties and pushed back against overly broad surveillance since 1990, defends people’s unequivocal constitutional right to observe and record law enforcement activities occurring in public places as long as the recording does not interfere with those activities,” EFF executive director Cindy Cohn said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“We also defend people’s legal and constitutional rights to share this information with others. The Constitution and Supreme Court precedent are very clear on these rights,” Cohn said, “and we also support and defend people’s rights to identify, map, and share information about surveillance technology being used in their communities as a matter of transparency and accountability.”

He added: “The greatest danger today to both federal authorities and protesters, bystanders, immigrants, and U.S. citizens comes from the violent tactics federal forces use in U.S. cities, rather than from the tools observers use to document that behavior.”

Baker told Fox News Digital that although “these groups are pretty skeptical of a lot of the technology that they think they can use,” it shows that they are “remarkably organized.”

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A person holds an anti-IC banner as demonstrators gather during a general strike protesting U.S. President Donald Trump’s deployment of immigration enforcement officials in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 23, 2026. (Tim Evans/Reuters)

Over the past 30 years, technology has “moved toward a place where anonymity is impossible,” even in the context of law enforcement, he said.

“you can define [people] from the signals your tires send to the dashboard to tell you that you have a flat. “You can recognize them from Bluetooth signals, Wi-Fi signals… There are so many signals that we defer that trying to stop them from being read by the rest of the world is going to fail more and more,” he explained. “And that means, from a law enforcement perspective, they’re much more trackable on an individual level.”

As a result, law enforcement operations are much more dangerous not only for agents, but also for protesters, bystanders, and even targeted illegal immigrants. The shooting deaths of activists Alex Pretti and Renee Good at the beginning of the year are proof of that, Baker said.

“People protesting ICE have set up a network to recruit hostile people to the scene of ICE operations and [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] “This leads to more conflict, which also ends badly for the people who go there,” Baker continued.

Fox News Digital reported that the anti-ICE mobilization around Pretti’s killing in Minneapolis mirrors methods used to overthrow governments and spark bloody revolutions around the world.

Coded Signal chats, command and control centers, rapid response propaganda, and tear gas clashes with law enforcement have served to mobilize forces and shape public opinion in the ongoing conflict. Close analysis of the guidelines distributed online by anti-ICE groups and the minute-by-minute events surrounding Pretti’s death reveal tactics and strategies well known to military and intelligence analysts as elements of global insurgencies.

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A card with pictures of Renée Good and Alex Pretti lies among flowers and other mementos at a memorial in Minneapolis, Minn., on Jan. 27, 2026. (Octavio Jones/AFP via Getty Images)

What does all this indicate? Baker believes this means “everyone will be exposed.”

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“We’re all going to live in a world where we’re framed by people who don’t like us. And ICE agents will get there first, but a lot of other people will get there and be pursued, too.”

“There are people who are willing to use violence against agents, and that fear of violence will lead to sensitive reactions from agents. This is a very dangerous situation,” Baker said. “This is dangerous for everyone. I understand why people are so eager to explore this technology… but it also brings risks for the people who operate these networks.”

Fox News Digital’s Asra Nomani and Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi contributed to this report.