ICE using private data to intimidate observers and activists, advocates say

When Judy Levy got a message on Tuesday from a member of her book club telling her that ICE agents appeared to be staging in a nearby parking lot, she and her husband Noah jumped into their car and drove over. They were the first observers on the scene.

The St. Paul couple followed when eight SUVs filled with masked and armed men peeled out of the parking lot. After failing to shake the observers, the frustrated agents halted their caravan in the middle of traffic and surrounded observers’ cars, threatening them with arrest for impeding law enforcement.

Agents took photos of Levy and other observers’ license plates. Then a masked agent walked up to Judy Levy’s passenger side window.

The agent said: “‘Hello Judith. How are you today?’”

Judy Levy was shaken, but the couple followed when the federal agents’ caravan started up again. That’s when ICE vehicles turned onto Levy’s street. They almost couldn’t believe it.

“Our street is off the beaten path, you don’t go down our street to get to anywhere.” Noah Levy said. “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t intimidating.”