Action 208 – ICE OUT of our faces!
Background: The next No Kings protest has a date – March 28 – and groups are already planning their rallies (1). Sen. Collins is touting her role in curbing ICE excesses in Maine, but vulnerable populations are still justifiably on edge (2). Now we read that ICE and CBP are using their cameras to film not only their targets, but also protesters, and that the visual images thus obtained are probably being fed into a vast data base of images that could be used to target us law abiding citizens who protest any authoritarian takeover. (3) This policy initiative is being overseen by Roman Jankowski, formerly of Project 2025 infamy (4), and now DHS’s chief privacy officer. (5) As reference (3) clearly describes, the use of facial recognition technology is extremely prone to error and has no business being used in settings like our legal public expression of our first amendment rights, our protest of ICE brutality, or our voting spaces.
A few Senators (Markey, Wyden et al) have responded to this threat, with the introduction of a bill informally titled “ICE out of our faces” (6). Unfortunately, neither of Maine’s senators is a cosponsor – yet. One of the Senators, Ron Wyden of Oregon, has also documented publicly that he has received disturbing information about classified CIA activities (7). We do not know what he is referring to – it’s classified – but it coincides with the efforts of DHS to build a facial recognition data base of legal protesters, as well as with Tulsi Gabbard’s participation in the raid on Fulton County, Georgia’s 2020 election archives. (8)
Regardless of these hamfisted attempts to deprive us of our first and fourth amendment rights, (as well as our right to vote without intimidation) it is vitally important that we show up at protests and at the polls. Here are resources you can use to keep yourself safe. https://www.nokings.org/kyr. Here is a video on how to film ICE, or any other potentially illegal search and seizure that violates Amendment #4, or in fact any other agents who are abusing civil liberties and rights. https://www.wired.com/video/watch/how-to-film-ice. Those frog-besuited protesters in Oregon had the right idea. Until the ICE and CBP goons are prevented from wearing masks and filming us, show up in costume! And always stay peaceful, never give them an excuse for violence.
Actions: Ask Maine Senators
v to cosponsor the “Ice Out of Our Faces” Act;
v to join in ALL the Democrats’ demands to reform ICE before any budget for DHS is approved; and
v to filibuster the MEGA (“Make Elections Great Act”) which is the old SAVE act in a new dress (10)
Extra Credit:
(1) https://www.nokings.org https://www.activatemaine.com/calendar
(2) for example, see https://mainemorningstar.com/2026/02/05/effects-linger-fear-remains-one-week-after-apparent-end-of-large-scale-ice-operation-in-maine/
(3) https://www.wired.com/story/cbp-ice-dhs-mobile-fortify-face-recognition-verify-identity/
(4) The section in Project 2025 that he probably had a hand in writing is Section 5, Department of Homeland Security, pp. 133-169. You may be able to read this section as well as the entire “Mandate for Leadership” at https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24088042-project-2025s-mandate-for-leadership-the-conservative-promise/ Worthwhile bookmarking or downloading for future reference.
(5) More on Jankowski here:
· https://www.dhs.gov/person/roman-jankowski
· https://prospect.org/2025/05/01/2025-05-01-public-records-wreckers/
(7) https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-5-2026
(8) Also, Gabbard oversees the CIA, which is prohibited from domestic spying, but that doesn’t seem to prevent her from engaging in wacky conspiracy theories that Venezuela, China and Italy were somehow involved in Trump’s 2020 election loss, an overseas connection that could give her a foot in the door to mess up our midterm elections. Cf: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2020s-most-insane-conspiracy-theory-italygate-returns
(9) https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-1/ https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-4/
(10) https://cha.house.gov/press-releases?id=460DC098-9C01-4F60-8BA5-E795D1501893 Read the list of measures! Ugh!