--- title: "Immigration Officers Sweeping Protestors’ Photos, License Plates and Personal Data Into Huge Database" description: "Federal agents have reportedly been compiling data on protestors who haven't been charged or arrested for a crime." date: "2026-01-29" modified: "2026-01-29" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/future-society/immigration-ice-database-protestors" categories: - "Cybersecurity" - "Data Privacy" - "Future Society" --- # Immigration Officers Sweeping Protestors’ Photos, License Plates and Personal Data Into Huge Database ![Federal agents have reportedly been compiling data on protestors who haven't been charged or arrested for a crime.]() *Arthur Maiorella / Anadolu via Getty Images* Last week, social and news media was abuzz with allegations that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers had access to a shadowy database full of information on protestors. During a confrontation with ICE agents, two legal observers [had their faces scanned]() by a federal officer to include in a vague database. "We have a nice little database, and now you're considered domestic terrorists," the ICE agent said at the time. It wasn't clear at the moment whether the agent was bluffing. But now, new details [reported by *CNN*]() reveal that Alex Pretti, the ICU nurse murdered by ICE agents in Minneapolis was indeed closely tracked by a border agent system before his killing. According to the publication's source, ICE already had a treasure trove of personal details about Pretti before his death on Saturday. As the story goes, info on Pretti's physical identification was collected following a run-in a week prior to his death, with another gaggle of ICE officers who broke one of his ribs during the encounter. That's not the only documentation of this shadowy data collection. A memo circulating around the same time advised agents to "capture all images, license plates, identifications, and general information on hotels, agitators, protestors, etc., so we can capture it all in one consolidated form." And earlier this month, border czar Tom Homan [told *Fox News*]() that he was pushing to create a "database where those people that are arrested for interference, impeding and assault," because, as he put it, "we're going to make them famous." **More on ICE:** *[Activists Say Ring Cameras Are Being Used by ICE]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()