A few days prior, a Facebook user created identical posts in several Tampa Bay Facebook groups saying that an employee of the Home Depot on 22nd Ave. N was asked by an ICE agent what the best entrance was to use for a raid on Tuesday, June 17. It wouldn’t be a first for the hardware chain. Lately, ICE operations have started targeting day laborers—often immigrants—who wait in Home Depot parking lots across the U.S. most mornings for contractors to hire them on a daily basis.
St. Pete residents circulated the post widely on Facebook and Instagram to spread awareness to anyone who might want to avoid contact with ICE. A handmade sign reading “ICE 6/17” appeared in the grass outside Home Depot that morning.
Tuesday came and went with no ICE activity at the store. There was one seemingly unrelated arrest in the parking lot conducted by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, per eyewitness accounts and pictures taken of the officers involved. The nature of this arrest was unclear, but all witnesses CL spoke with said it did not appear to be immigration related. One Reddit commenter self-identified as the sibling of one of the officers pictured and said it was related to fentanyl trafficking, not immigration, though the commenter’s identity could not be verified.
Through social media posts being screenshotted and reposted cyclically, the story changed. Eventually, infographics were made saying that ICE was present in unmarked vehicles at multiple Home Depots across town, when in reality they were referring to a single arrest by county deputies.
How did the rumors about ICE activity start?
CL reached out to the individual who first posted the alert on social media. They said that a friend of theirs, an employee of Home Depot, was working in the parking lot wearing their store uniform when an “undercover officer” approached them. The supposed agent asked which entrance would be best to use for an ICE enforcement operation. The employee reportedly asked their friend to post it on social media so that they could remain anonymous.The manager on duty the day of the raid told CL that he was aware of the rumors of ICE but did not believe it was true, and said that he was not aware of contact between ICE and any employees. Home Depot also denies that ICE ever makes them aware of an enforcement operation before it takes place. A media representative for ICE told CL he had no knowledge of any enforcement operations taking place at that location.
This isn’t the first time misinformation about immigration enforcement activity has spread in the Tampa Bay area. On several occasions this year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection vehicles have shown up on the side of the highway, prompting the spread of posts about “ICE checkpoints.” CBP denies having Florida checkpoints, and commenters on the posts say they drove past the vehicles without being stopped. One person made a post on the St. Petersburg Reddit page that read: “Heads up: ICE on US 19,” with no time or location details given. These posts about ICE activity are ubiquitous, but rarely verified.
Nothing happened. Who cares?
Across the country, activists have formed ICE watch groups to monitor local immigration enforcement operations and report them to the public. The groups formed in response to an increase in ICE activities, many of which have involved unlawfully detaining or deporting people residing in the U.S. By publicizing the locations of raids, ICE watch groups aim to help individuals who are afraid of being targeted by ICE to avoid encounters with the agency.ICE watchers emphasize that this reporting is strictly informational in the interest of upholding transparency, and is not intended to encourage or promote illegal activity of any kind.
Some Tampa Bay ICE watchers attempted to verify details about the Home Depot operation before it occurred, but could not get in touch with the person who made the initial social media posts. Several people showed up at the store that Tuesday to monitor it for ICE activity.
CL spoke with an ICE watcher in New York City, who goes by S, to better understand law enforcement monitoring. “ICE watching and recording is really important just for the everyday citizen to understand what is actually going on when they see ICE agents in their neighborhood,” S said.
She emphasized the importance of training and understanding the reasons behind ICE reporting, saying that just sharing on social media with no verification and no tact could do more harm than good.
“The state really likes us to feel like it is ubiquitous, all knowing, all powerful, and that it’s everywhere,” S said. “That oftentimes leads us to inaction. It spreads fear, especially when we’re talking about heavily policed, surveilled and criminalized communities … That fear can end up impacting people’s ability to go out and find work, or [their] mental health.”
The manager of the Home Depot where ICE sightings were falsely reported said that it had been weeks since they’d had any day laborers outside the store, though the extent to which ICE presence contributed to the absence of workers is not known.
Sherman Austin is a prominent activist whose most recent venture is founding StopICE.net, a nationwide mobile alert network to report and deliver alerts about ICE sightings.
“It’s important to verify because there’s a lot of anxiety and fear right now as it is,” Austin told CL when asked about erroneous ICE reports. “Eventually, [the false report] will circle back around and people will realize that the information wasn’t accurate, and they’ll have less faith in the information next time it comes out.”
“It’s important to verify because there’s a lot of anxiety and fear right now as it is.”
How do I share information about ICE activity without spreading fear?
StopICE.net has a number of automated and manual verification processes to determine whether a report is legitimate. Until a sighting can be verified, it is tagged as an “unconfirmed sighting” on the alert. Austin said that due to people sharing untimestamped screenshots on social media, moderators seeking to verify ICE sightings often see alerts that are duplicates of sightings from weeks prior.Austin said that the verification process is complicated by local law enforcement collaborating with ICE through the 287(g) program. Since local officers can be deputized to enforce immigration laws, it’s difficult to say for sure whether any action by a municipal police department is immigration related or not. In cases like this, Austin says transparency and details are the best way to get accurate information across. With more details, community members in the know can help to verify the likelihood that an action is immigration related.
S recommends the S.A.L.U.T.E. method to capture the most crucial details. S.A.L.U.T.E. stands for size, activity, location, uniform, time and equipment. This information helps to understand exactly what kind of activity is going on. Entering this information into online utility salute.kyr.digital will return a copyable message formatting this information as an alert that can be shared with rapid response networks like local ICE watches or StopICE.net.
She says that, for example, DHS could show up at a neighbor’s door for a procedural check-in. If someone witnessing this situation posts to social media: “ICE knocking on doors in St. Petersburg,” the post could get shared and lead immigrant neighbors to become afraid in their homes. Instead, this individual could report through relevant channels, like StopICE.net, that one officer (size) knocked on a door (activity) in the Crescent Lake neighborhood (location) wearing a DHS vest (uniform) at 2:15 p.m. (time) carrying a clipboard (equipment). Community members with knowledge of the immigration system would likely recognize this as a standard check-in rather than a door-by-door enforcement.
S encourages anyone who wants to help spread information to have a S.A.L.U.T.E. graphic on hand to share with anyone who shares unhelpful reports. She also said that, before sharing, people with a low risk of being targeted by ICE should consider that their personal social media may not actually be a source other people look to for information about ICE. “Too much awareness can also lead to inaction regarding fear,” S said, “[and can] lead to absorbing a lot of hurt and trauma that is not always ours to be absorbed.”
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This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 2, 2025.