By DEMIR KASAPOGLU

With the increase in illegal kidnappings of legal and illegal immigrants by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), new attention has come upon the usage of fake cell towers. Commonly known as “StingRays,” these fake cell towers automatically connect to all phones within their range which gives ICE agents realtime locations of possibly dozens of people.

The usage of StingRays has been going on since, at the very least, 1995. In 2012, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) sued the FBI and obtained over 4,000 pages of records that revealed how extensive the usage of StingRays have become by federal law enforcement agencies. 

In 2017, The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain records showing the usage of StingRays by ICE. The FOIA request by the ACLU revealed that ICE had been using StingRays in thousands instances to “apprehend” individuals, and to “gather evidence relevant to a case against any apprehended individual.” 

According to Forbes, in 2024, ICE signed a $4.4 million contract with the original manufacturer of StingRays, Harris Corporation. In May of this year, ICE purchased another $1 million worth of “cell site simulator vehicles,” a sign that they are increasing their operations of StingRays. Both deals were made during the Biden administration.

The usage of StingRays is not contained to finding people of interest but rather, any and all phones within the range of the StingRay. This usage of StingRays will only increase in the future, creating the very surveillance state that the United States claims to be fighting against. 

_{Featured image: Wall Street Journal}