A new platform offers crypto rewards for border surveillance — and invites anyone to join the hunt.
In Arizona’s borderlands, the desert is already deadly. People crossing into the United States face blistering heat, dehydration, and exhaustion. But for years, another threat has stalked these routes: Armed vigilante groups who take it upon themselves to police the border – often violently, and outside the law. They have long undermined the work of humanitarian volunteers trying to save lives.
Now, a new artificial intelligence platform is actively encouraging more people to join their ranks. ICERAID.us, recently launched in the United States, offers cryptocurrency rewards to users who upload photos of “suspicious activity” along the border. It positions civilians as front-line intelligence gatherers – doing the work of law enforcement, but without oversight.
The site opens to a map of the United States, dotted with red and green pins marking user-submitted images. Visitors are invited to add their own. A “Surveillance Guidance” document outlines how to capture images legally in public without a warrant. A “Breaking News” section shares updates and new partnerships. The platform is fronted by Enrique Tarrio – a first-generation Cuban American, far-right figure and self-styled “ICE Raid Czar”, who describes himself as a “staunch defender of American values”.
