PHOENIX — Every day in America, immigrants are detained and taken out of their communities by a newly super-funded Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Almost as quickly as the law enforcement agency has taken control of American streets, thanks to unprecedented support by the Trump Administration, hundreds of ICE tracking groups have quietly formed around the country. Ordinary people have stepped into new roles, they say helps hold federal agents accountable while carrying out their raids.
This week, ABC15 embedded with People First Project, which operates a volunteer network in Phoenix that tracks, follows, records, and alerts community members about the existence of ICE agents. In a matter of minutes, the volunteer network can alert thousands of people about ICE operations, of which People First Project estimates around two dozen are carried out every day in metro Phoenix alone.
"People won't remember exactly the impact we had on communities in this time, but the families will remember," People First Project founder Clarissa Vela said.
ICE did not respond to a request from ABC15 on the impact of the volunteer tracking networks on their operations.
Watch this story in the video player above.
