This moment will be defined by what we choose to record

When unmarked, masked federal agents grabbed an international student and forced her into an SUV on a public street in the spring of 2025, the United States entered into a new era of federal policing.

At first, it was alarming — a move more commonly associated with authoritarian dictatorships than a democratically elected government with checks and balances. Now that this tactic, and others like it, have become routine, it is no longer enough to react in alarm. It is time to extensively document everything that is happening.

This escalation of federal policing raises serious constitutional and accountability questions, especially when enforcement actions are difficult to observe, verify or challenge in real time. Stopping people in public and asking them for proof of citizenship without apparent cause, breaking down the doors of homes without a warrant signed by a judge, smashing car windows and dragging people out of their vehicles all potentially violate the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizures.