‘Icy roads’: How Waze users are warning migrants of ICE raids

Technology is helping thousands of immigrants in the United States against the Trump administration’s relentless hunt for undocumented foreigners. Apps like Waze and more traditional social networks such as Facebook and WhatsApp groups are being used nationwide to alert people about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids.

In the case of the collaborative navigation app Waze — used to find the best route and get traffic updates — users are reporting “icy roads” in hot places like Florida this summer. Of course, these are not real reports, but a tactic to warn migrants of ICE raids.

Examples of the creative messages include: “I heard from a friend that it’s pretty icy over by Mission Donuts today,” or “Icy conditions 🧊 🥶 SIZE: between 4-7 officers,” written almost like a Morse code. Even the strange reports of “icy streets” in cities like Chicago during hot July days sparked a Reddit thread explaining the initiative and encouraging other drivers to join. Some migrants act as verifiers to check the information before amplifying it privately on social media and messaging platforms.

Waze told CNN that posting false reports violates the app’s usage policies. “Intentionally submitting false reports in Waze is against our policies. People can flag inaccurate reports by downvoting or submitting a support ticket – once they’re identified, we’ll remove them from the map," said the company, but the platform cannot prevent reports from continuing to appear.

Meanwhile, migrant advocacy organizations like the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) have defended the strategy, saying digital platforms can be a lifeline for thousands of undocumented people amid Washington’s crackdown on irregular immigration.

“Far from being a disruption to law enforcement, this kind of digital organizing is an act of survival — a modern expression of the right to community defense,” said Brenda Bastian, the group’s chief content officer, in an email to CNN. “This is more than a digital issue. It’s about civil rights. And we won’t let the digital space become another tool of oppression — we’re making sure it remains a tool of resistance.”

Authorities have quickly responded to the phenomenon, threatening legal action. “This sure looks like obstruction of justice,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a statement to CNN. “Our brave ICE law enforcement is already facing a nearly 1,000% increase in assaults against them. If you obstruct or assault our law enforcement, we will hunt you down and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

However, any government prosecution would face significant case law affirming that warning people of a potential arrest is protected speech under the First Amendment.

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