{"id":46133,"date":"2026-01-15T12:41:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T20:41:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=46133"},"modified":"2026-01-15T12:41:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T20:41:40","slug":"no-says-rights-coalition-recording-ice-agents-is-not-illegal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/15\/no-says-rights-coalition-recording-ice-agents-is-not-illegal\/","title":{"rendered":"No, Says Rights Coalition, Recording ICE Agents Is Not Illegal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A man gestures at US Border Patrol agents as they detain an unidentified man of Somali descent in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 8, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Octavio Jones\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe First Amendment unequivocally protects the right to observe, monitor, and take pictures and video of government officials conducting their duties in public.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Corbett<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jan 14, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since President Donald Trump<\/a> returned to power and unleashed Immigration<\/a> and Customs Enforcement on US cities, members of the National Coalition Against Censorship<\/a> have periodically reminded<\/a> Americans that \u201cyes, you have the right to film ICE.<\/a>\u201d The NCAC did so again on Tuesday, as videos emerge<\/a> of agents telling<\/a> observers to stop recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe join together as nonprofit civil rights<\/a> and free expression advocates to condemn the Trump administration\u2019s statements that it is illegal to record videos of ICE agents. These claims are incorrect as a matter of law, directly contrary to our First Amendment<\/a> values, and deeply troubling for democratic governance,\u201d NCAC said<\/a> in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Protesters<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Reign of Terror\u2019: ICE Builds Appalling Record of Killings, Beatings, Kidnappings, and More<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Federal<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Part of a Larger War\u2019: Whistleblower Exposes ICE Effort to Spy on Immigrants\u2014and Americans<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ability to hold the government accountable is at the very core of our democracy<\/a>. To preserve that ability, the First Amendment unequivocally protects the right to observe, monitor, and take pictures and video of government officials conducting their duties in public. This explicitly includes law enforcement officers engaged in their public duties,\u201d the coalition continued, citing decisions from all federal appellate courts that have addressed<\/a> the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a Wednesday appearance on KQED<\/em>\u2018s podcast Close All Tabs<\/em>, CJ Ciaramella, a criminal justice reporter at Reason<\/em>, similarly highlighted<\/a> that while the US Supreme Court<\/a> \u201cactually hasn\u2019t put out a ruling saying there\u2019s an unambiguous First Amendment right to film the police,\u201d the circuit courts \u201cthat have considered the issue have pretty much said there is a First Amendment right to record the police and observe the police, and they\u2019ve all decided that pretty unambiguously.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd this ranges from, you know, the 9th Circuit, which is traditionally a pretty liberal leaning court, to the 5th Circuit, which has a reputation as a more conservative circuit court,\u201d Ciaramella explained. \u201cThe 5th Circuit looked at it and said, you know, based on the First Amendment tradition, the Supreme Court<\/a> precedents, this seems pretty unambiguous to us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s not a completely like black and white issue, but it\u2019s also not… a thorny or divisive First Amendment question. Every court that\u2019s looked at it has said, yeah, based on our long First Amendment traditions. And in America, you have a right to record the police,\u201d he added. \u201cNow, Minnesota is in one of the circuits that hasn\u2019t yet ruled on this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/x.com\/morgan_sung\/status\/2011476486096568707?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2011476486096568707%7Ctwgr%5E5b055b04fcdcc001025ffc1bc237f5abc485a4f2%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fcan-i-record-ice-agents<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NCAC statement comes amid a flurry of videos of violent and otherwise problematic<\/a> ICE actions, especially in Minneapolis, where Trump has sent thousands of troops and ICE officer Johnathan Ross<\/a> fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in the head last week. Ross was recording on his phone, and amid mounting calls for his arrest and prosecution, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has put out a \u201cpropaganda<\/a>\u201d video defending the actions of ICE agents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journalists and other critics of Good\u2019s killing have debunked DHS claims in part by pointing to bystanders\u2019 footage from the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the NCAC statement doesn\u2019t point to any specific incidents with agents, it does sound the alarm about Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem\u2019s suggestion last July that videotaping ICE operations is \u201cviolence<\/a>\u201d and anyone \u201cdoxing<\/a>\u201d agents will be prosecuted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After playing a clip of Noem\u2019s remarks on Close All Tabs<\/em>, host Morgan Sung said: \u201cNotice the use of the word doxing here. That\u2019s the act of posting private information about someone to target and harass them, usually like their home address or personal phone number. The Trump administration<\/a> has equated identifying and publicly naming ICE agents to doxing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NCAC argued that \u201cstatements such as Secretary Noem\u2019s misinform the public about their First Amendment rights and chill constitutionally protected speech. As a policy matter, threats to punish those who monitor law enforcement increase the likelihood that people will be intimidated out of exercising their constitutional rights and lead to precisely the outcome such oversight is intended to prevent\u2014law enforcement agents who act with impunity as transparency is demonized by political leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like ICE, agents with Customs and Border Protection, another DHS agency, have been sent to various cities and\u00a0recorded<\/a>\u00a0behaving violently in recent months, often while donning masks. After Ross killed Good, Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino\u2014who is currently in Minnesota\u2014sent a \u201clegal refresher\u201d to agents in the field\u00a0stating<\/a>\u00a0that taking photos and recordings is protected activity under the First Amendment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/x.com\/jonfavs\/status\/2011215165321249216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2011215165321249216%7Ctwgr%5E5b055b04fcdcc001025ffc1bc237f5abc485a4f2%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fcan-i-record-ice-agents<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coalition said that \u201cregardless of one\u2019s views on immigration policy, the increased budget<\/a> and enforcement operations of ICE were a core campaign issue in the presidential election, and are a widespread topic of conversation and concern.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRecordings of law enforcement directly inform the public, shape policy discussions, and even serve as the catalyst for large-scale political movements across the political spectrum. They have helped to expose horrific and illegal acts by the government,\u201d NCAC pointed out. \u201cAt the same time, they also protect law enforcement officers. If an officer is acting within the bounds of the law, a recording will help prove as much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe stand behind the public\u2019s well-established right to record public officials, law enforcement, and ICE agents engaged in their public duties. We jointly condemn this administration\u2019s refusal to recognize the First Amendment right to record officers in public. And we call on this administration to recognize that constitutional rights are a feature, not a bug, of democratic governance,\u201d the coalition concluded. \u201cFor our constitutional rights to be real, our public officials must uphold them\u2014as they have sworn to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The groups that signed on to the statement are the ACLU, Center for Democracy & Technology<\/a>, Center for Protest<\/a> Law & Litigation at the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, Defending Rights & Dissent, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Freedom of the Press Foundation, Government Information Watch, Knight First Amendment Institute, National Coalition Against Censorship, People for the American Way<\/a>, Public Citizen<\/a>, Tully Center for Free Speech<\/a>, and Woodhull Freedom Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joining them as individuals are writer and historian Pat McNees, and three experts from Yale Law School: David A. Schulz, Stacy Livingston, and Tobin Raju.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Corbett<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Corbett is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A man gestures at US Border Patrol agents as they detain an unidentified man of Somali descent in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 8, 2026. \u00a0(Photo by Octavio Jones\/AFP via Getty Images) \u201cThe First Amendment unequivocally protects the right to observe, monitor, and take pictures and video of government officials conducting… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46133"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46134,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46133\/revisions\/46134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}