Government agents don't get to punish people for filming them.

"I never feared law enforcement before I started ... recording the Task Force. Now I think about how it takes just one officer to hurt or even kill someone. Of course, my mind goes to Minneapolis and the shootings there. That could be me, could have been any of us."
– ACLU client in Demster v. Blanche

Friend –

In our latest case against the ongoing abuses of ICE and other federal agents – and in defense of our First Amendment rights – we're suing on behalf of Memphis residents who were retaliated against for recording immigration and law enforcement activity.

We can't hold our government accountable if we can't see what they're up to. We just filed declarations from these clients last Thursday – here's what to know about their experiences and the suit as it stands:

Thousands of federal, state, and local agents have been aggressively patrolling Memphis for months.

The 31-agency task force, which includes ICE, CBP, the U.S. Marshals, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol, has wreaked havoc on the community since it arrived in September 2025.

Memphis residents report that agents have:

* Tackled an observer trying to record, pinning her down, arresting, and jailing her

* Swerved at or boxed in observers with their vehicles

* Subjected observers to retaliatory traffic stops

* Photographed observers' faces, vehicles, and license plates

* Tailed observers in their vehicles and sat outside their homes

* Identified and taunted observers by name, when observers have never met them before

* Shined bright lights at observers' faces, phones, and cameras to obscure filming

ACLU Supporter, the Memphis Safe Task Force has terrorized local communities, conducting mass traffic stops and large-scale immigration arrests.

Agents have conducted over 124,000 traffic stops – primarily in Black and brown neighborhoods. Of the 3,000 people arrested in the first two months of the Task Force, only 6% were white.

Now, our clients are facing retribution simply for filming these abusive operations.

We'll be clear: Our right to record law enforcement's public actions is protected by the First Amendment, full stop. And we at the ACLU will always be here to defend that right.

Our team will keep you updated on this continued work to protect our rights and our communities against the misconduct and abuse that we have witnessed by ICE and other agents.

Thank you as always for being with us in this fight.

The ACLU Team

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