I Went to Watch the Tiny Operation That's Making ICE Lose Its Mind. A Lot Can Happen in 24 Hours.

"It was pitch-black out-not even a suggestion of dawn streaked the sky above. But the Wilmington Rec Center was suspiciously crowded with cars. It was not yet 6 in the morning, and the cars were not empty. Doors opened and shut, and people began to emerge, gathering into a semicircle. Still more cars crept into the lot and their headlights exposed a growing rank of silhouettes before the engines were killed and the lights cut and more people got out and joined."

"I was not prepped on this passcode, the challenge everyone had to pass, and so I faltered: "I'm a journalist, with, uh, Slate magazine. I think you guys knew I was coming?" I was not the only new "recruit"-there was David, in plaid pants, plus two friends of an existing member, who needed no introduction, as they had someone to vouch for them. The guy who I was there to meet, who was going to vouch for me, was a late no-show."

"First they were onboarding the plebes. Everyone had a nickname, or a call sign, or a handle from the group chat. No one was who they said they were. "Everyone go around the circle and say your Signal name." "I'm Vic," said Victor. "I'm Chapel," said Yoshi. David, new, in the plaid pants, didn't have a Signal name yet. So he just said "David." When it came to me, I introduced myself. "We're gonna call you Slate," someone said."

A Harbor Area Peace Patrol group in Los Angeles' South Bay conducts predawn monitoring of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. Members gather in the Wilmington Rec Center parking lot before 6 a.m., arriving in cars and forming semicircles as headlights reveal silhouettes. New recruits undergo an onboarding with a passcode and adopt Signal nicknames or call signs; most participants use aliases. Volunteers carry supplies and equipment, including bullhorns and fresh batteries, and some members vouch for newcomers. The group organizes rounds to observe nearby ICE activities and coordinates quietly in small teams during the early morning hours.

Read at Slate Magazine