Proud Boy Enrique Tarrio wants you to report undocumented people – and get paid for it
Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys leader from Miami who President Donald Trump pardoned for his participation in the Jan. 6 attack, wants citizens to take deporting undocumented immigrants into their own hands. Literally, he has an app for that.
Tarrio has announced he will be the 'czar' of an independent organization that pays people cryptocurrency for reporting undocumented migrants.
Enrique Tarrio, who until recently was serving a 22-year sentence for seditious conspiracy charges for his involvement organizing the Jan. 6 attack, promoted a web app called ICERAID.US on his X account. The app crowdsources tips to help law enforcement arrest and deport immigrants. The group, while not affiliated with the U.S. government, aims to support the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration.
'I am honored to serve as ICERAID Czar and to lead a platform that empowers Americans to protect our nation's values and security,' said Tarrio in a statement.
Tarrio's involvement as a spokesperson for the initiative comes as the Trump administration separately encourages people to report suspected undocumented people to federal authorities. On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security published a vintage-style image featuring Uncle Sam hammering a poster to a wall that said 'Help Your Country…and Yourself…Report All Foreign Invaders' and listed ICE's hotline.
'Help your country locate and arrest illegal aliens,' the agency said in the social media post sharing the image.
Immigrants' rights activists and community leaders say they worry that the government's campaign encouraging citizens to report undocumented immigrants will turn communities on each other. They also worry that some individuals will weaponize reports to abuse or intimidate undocumented immigrants in the workplace or in personal relationships. ICE's top investigator in Puerto Rico recently told NPR that tips to her agency have come in from businesses reporting on competition or people outing neighbors and ex-partners.
In a press release, ICERAID described Tarrio as a 'staunch defender of American values' who would oversee the app's 'strategic growth, community engagement, and partnerships, ensuring that it remains a beacon of patriotism.'
Users will be able to snap photos of people they believe are violating immigration laws and upload them to the platform along with a brief description. Other crimes that can be reported include obstruction of justice, drug trafficking, terrorism, and animal cruelty. The app generates a color coded map where users can see others' reports.
The app's website cautions that privacy laws vary state by state and features an extensive guide on surveillance laws — 'for informational purposes only.' It singles out Florida's privacy laws, which require consent to be recorded in private settings.
Tarrio said that people who make reports will get paid in a cryptocurrency known as $RAID and that the app will roll out weekly contests so users can get 'bonuses on your bounties.' He also emphasized that people should make reports directly to federal and local authorities, including ICE.
'The more images and locations you upload and validate, the more $RAID you earn,' the ICERaid webpage reads.
'We need to incentivize our citizens to help ICE with these deportations. And this is how you do it,' said Tarrio on a right-wing podcast on Wednesday.
The app also says that undocumented immigrants can 'earn a large reward if you pursue a legal status in the United States through self reporting using the ICERAID application.' However, only federal authorities can confer anyone legal immigration status, which the ICERAID webpage acknowledges, as well as that it's not an official government website.
Tarrio, who identifies as afro-Cuban, grew up in Little Havana. He was previously the state director of Latinos for Trump in Florida. He was the chairman of the Proud Boys when members of the extremist, white nationalist group stormed the Capitol with other pro-Trump organizations. Several Proud Boys were among the nearly 1,600 people charged or convicted in relation to the Jan. 6 incident.
Although Tarrio himself was not in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, the Department of Justice viewed him as one of the masterminds of the insurrection. In September 2023, he and other Proud Boys were convicted for conspiring to impede Congress from certifying Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election. In January, Trump issued a sweeping pardon to individuals convicted for criminal charges related to Jan. 6.
READ MORE: Enrique Tarrio, sentenced for central role in Jan. 6 plot, is freed by Trump
Last week, Tarrio and four other Proud Boys filed a federal lawsuit in Orlando against the Department of Justice and the FBI. The lawsuit claims that the federal government violated their constitutional rights and that their prosecution in the Jan. 6 cases were politically motivated. The men seek $100 million in damages.
Now that Tarrio is a free man, he's focused on promoting the citizen policing web app. He spoke extensively about it on the podcast Wednesday, where Barry Ramey, a Proud Boy from Plantation who Trump pardoned for assaulting two officers with pepper spray, joked that the app was 'the conservative version of that Pokemon game that came out years ago.'
'Perfect example. This is like Pokemon,' Tarrio replied, laughing. 'I'll talk to the developers, see if we can get a catch phrase similar to 'Gotta catch them all'.'
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