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<div class="header reader-header" style="display: block;"> <font
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href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180623/17171740098/leaked-ice-manual-shows-govt-allowing-informants-to-engage-illegal-behavior-impersonate-lawyers-journalists-doctors.shtml">https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180623/17171740098/leaked-ice-manual-shows-govt-allowing-informants-to-engage-illegal-behavior-impersonate-lawyers-journalists-doctors.shtml</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Leaked ICE Manual Shows Gov't Allowing
Informants To Engage In Illegal Behavior, Impersonate Lawyers,
Journalists, And Doctors</h1>
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<div class="reader-estimated-time">
<p>by
<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/user/capitalisliontamer">Tim
Cushing</a> - Jun 25th 2018</p>
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<p>
The 9/11 attacks <a
href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20171223/10335338873/dhs-documents-show-harassment-intrusive-device-searches-are-common-occurrence-us-borders.shtml">gave
us the DHS</a>. And from that atrocity <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Immigration_and_Customs_Enforcement"
target="_blank">came ICE</a>. We used to get by with
Customs and a Border Patrol, but no, we needed something
additional that tied the homeland's "security" to a new,
deeply brutal form of "customs enforcement." Normally,
the word "customs" would suggest the rounding up of
illegal imported goods or the collection of duty
payments from incoming arrivals.
</p>
<p>
Instead, we were handed an agency that concerns itself
mainly with ejecting people from the country in the most
aggressive way possible, cheered on by White House
officials and a large group of Americans who view our
closest southern nation with deep suspicion and a touch
of xenophobia. ICE's current activities aren't the fault
of the Trump Administration, but this administration has
done <a
href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170130/00540836584/our-humanity.shtml">more
than most</a> to take everything that's bad about ICE
(which is a lot) and crank it up to 11.
</p>
<p>
<a
href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180428/20350639738/ice-performs-warrantless-raid-private-farm-draws-heat-state-federal-officials.shtml">Warrantless
raids</a>, misrepresentation of <a
href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20171015/11284138407/ice-now-calling-aiding-unaccompanied-minors-human-trafficking-to-bypass-sanctuary-city-laws.shtml">advocacy
efforts</a>, deporting <a
href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180524/16432539900/ice-trying-to-deport-journalist-reporting-abusive-ice-behavior.shtml">critical
journalists</a>… these are all part of ICE's playbook.
But there's far more to it than this. The official
"playbook" for ICE undercover operations basically allow
the agency to operate as a criminal operation and engage
in illegal activity for the greater good of booting
immigrants out of the US.
</p>
<p>
The guidebook for ICE's undercover operations<a
href="https://www.unicornriot.ninja/2018/icebreaker-pt-5-confidential-homeland-security-undercover-operations-handbook/"
target="_blank"> has been published by Unicorn Riot</a>,
which makes no statements about how it obtained this
document. Its Twitter account <a
href="https://twitter.com/UR_Ninja/status/1010251521618010120?s=09"
target="_blank">refers to it as a "leak,"</a> which
suggests this wasn't the result of a FOIA request.
Regardless of its origins, it's a harrowing read. Many
of the highlights of the 227-page <a
href="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4555191/Ice-Undercover-Operations.pdf"
target="_blank">manual</a> [PDF] can be viewed in <a
href="https://twitter.com/UR_Ninja/status/1010251521618010120?s=09"
target="_blank">UR's tweet thread</a>. Other details
have been posted at its website, which takes a
bullet-pointed trip through the entirety of the
document.
</p>
<p>
What is crystal clear is that ICE undercover operations
involve informants who are allowed to engage in criminal
activity, including fun stuff like trafficking
immigrants, purchasing stolen property, drug dealing,
paying bribes, entrapment, and anything else that might
be deemed "necessary" to ensure the viability of an
investigation.
</p>
<p>
Informants are strongly encouraged not to engage in
violent acts or entrapment, but given enough leeway to
perform these acts if deemed necessary. The only thing
that changes is the number of government officials
receiving reports about these departures from policy
guidelines.
</p>
<p>
If these sanctioned illegal acts happen to turn a
profit, everyone wins. ICE itself can partake of funds
obtained through illegal activity. Some of this is
routed back to informants to purchase whatever's needed
to continue the investigation. In many cases, this means
funneling funds into purchasing supplies needed for
further criminal activity. The funds may also be used to
fund ICE <u>itself</u>. It's perfectly acceptable for
ICE to use funds derived from the criminal activity of
its informants to cover ICE agent overtime.
</p>
<p>
ICE is also authorized to create shell companies as
cover for investigations. In ICE terminology, this is
"backstopping" -- providing a credible back story for
ICE operations should they happen to be investigated by
their investigation targets. This ordained creation of
shell companies allows ICE operatives to obtain fake
SSNs, brokers licenses, medical degrees, pilots
certifications, and immigration documents.
</p>
<p>
The shell companies themselves are made
possible/plausible with the assistance of several
federal agencies:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>
<em>Federally-issued undercover
identification/backstopping for undercover
proprietary businesses and shell companies can be
obtained through the Undercover Operations Unit.</em>
</p>
<p>
<em>Types of available corporate
identification/backstopping include, but are not
limited to, the following:</em>
</p>
<p>
<em>A. Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) (Note:
All EINs must be obtained through the Undercover
Operations Unit in order to avoid tax issues with
the Internal Revenue Service);<br>
B. Dun and Bradstreet reports;<br>
C. Department of Transportation/Motor Carrier
numbers;<br>
D. Department of Defense Trade Compliance
Registration numbers;<br>
E. Office of Foreign Asset Control License;<br>
F. FAA airplane registration number/certificates;<br>
G. U.S. Coast Guard marine identification; and<br>
H. business credit cards.</em>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
Then there's the list of personas undercover informants
can adopt, which include priests/clergy, lawyers,
doctors, therapists, and "news media." Naturally, some
of these roles involve the harvesting of privileged
communications -- even though the privilege is assumed
by the person the informant is conversing with and
certainly not extended by those working for ICE. But, as
the handbook, points out, this puts informants in the
position of overhearing <em>actually privileged</em>
communications due to the nature of the charade, which
may find them conversing with <em>real</em> lawyers,
members of the clergy, doctors, and therapists.
</p>
<p>
This is referred to as "Sensitive Circumstances" by the
DHS, an official designation that means nothing more
than a case-by-case review rather than the blanket
approval it extends to other undercover activities.
</p>
<p>
The guidebook, issued in 2008, may have seen some
updates in recent months, but it's unlikely anything was
added to rein in ICE's condoned criminal activity.
Unicorn Riot notes it has confirmation this manual <a
href="https://twitter.com/UR_Ninja/status/1010532533791019009"
target="_blank">was still in use as of 2016</a>, so
it's not a relic of one particular administration. It
apparently predates Obama's election and quite possibly
extends into Trump's.
</p>
<p>
This shows how far our government is willing to go to
enforce its laws. It will condone the breaking of laws
in the name of enforcing them. The handbook may as well
be named "End Justifies The Means" -- a 272-page
compendium of acceptable means that would be
unacceptable if anyone other than the government were
engaged in them.
</p>
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