Democrats are widely accused of saying “Do nothing” in the face of an unprecedented American attack on American legal systems and public welfare programs. Indeed, according to some Democrats, doing nothing is the best course of action. Unfortunately for said DEMS, the American people want political leaders who can, you know, and do things, and protect against the conflicts of Weak Government – and they see their elected inaction as a sign of their weakness, not strength.
Of course, some Democrats have made it known that, as Trump unleashes unlimited powers of surveillance on the American people, they are willing to make at least a small, modest effort to act. One such democracy is rep. Rob Garcia, of California, currently serves as the Democrat on the House Committee on Defense and Government Reform. This week, Garcia suggested that he would help create a “Master Ice Tracker” designed to document the actions taken by the Federal Police Force.
Garcia made the comments during a press conference in Los Angeles, where he was joined by the city’s Mayor, Karen Bass.
“In the course of the next few weeks, the Oversight Committee will present, on their website, the Master Ice Tracker where we have to track all the examples that we can send that the public will send us information,” said Garcia. “American citizens are being dragged off the streets by masked men and thrown into holding cells without access to a lawyer or a phone,” the wire said. “No one, regardless of whether they are behind that, or whether they live in fear of being thrown behind bars by their government because of their race or what they look like.”
What does this tracker look like? When reached for comment about Gizmoto, Sara Guerrero, a spokeswoman for the Democrats, said the campaign was part of an effort to address mismanagement.
“Oversight Democrats have launched an investigation into the illegal detention of American citizens by the Department of Homeland Security,” Guerrero said. “We are establishing a tracker of misbehavior to systematically document the abuse of violations of this regime – including cases where the ice has been cut by the US and the Tracker.
He added: “We do not use the sites to track officials or put anyone at risk. We publish records to expose patterns of misconduct and create a public record for the American people. Our work will always protect the public, the law, and the constitution.”
Gizmodo has also reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Republicans wasted no time putting together an opinion. Trump attorney “Shutdown Democrats already refuse to pay our law enforcement agents. Now, @reprobertrcia and @SenPbruenthal are trying to put ice agents at risk for doing their jobs,” Bondi wrote. “@ODHEDICEDEpt has zero tolerance for violence against violence – we will prosecute anyone who physically assaults our agents.”
On Fox News, holding Ice Director Todd Elonsy and in Garcia’s mind: “Are they tracking the FBI and the DEA? They’re not staying.
The tracker is all well and good, and could be a useful legal resource if and when the Democrats take control of Congress again. That said, it’s not clear – yet – what the tracker will look like, or how useful it will be. In the meantime, activists have put together their own apps and platforms designed to track the abuse of ice officials. But if you have an iPhone, you might be in luck. Apple has been very much in tune with the Trump Administrations wishes and has been actively releasing apps.
