Border Report – scary stuff
SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Al Otro Lado, an immigration advocacy group, has filed a Freedom of Information Act request after discovering what appears to be a hidden “watch list” buried within an ICE government website.
The list reportedly contains the names of countless immigration attorneys who are overwhelmingly Latino, Asian, or with African-sounding names.
Arlene Amarante, who is based in Tennessee, says she is one of the attorneys on the list.
“I quickly realized I was looking at a list of lawyers. I looked for my own name, found my name and it seemed like I wasn’t the intended audience,” said Amarante.
Amarante told Border Report she discovered her name on the list while trying to confirm with ICE that she was representing a specific client.
“One of the troubling patterns I suppose that I recognized, was that a large number of these practitioners on the list were people of color,” Amarante said.
She questioned the need for this type of list.
“Why does the list exist? Whether it’s an innocent incursion or something that is more intentional or nefarious, we need to get to the bottom of it. It’s troubling because there’s a pattern of threats by the administration — the implication by the government is that offering support to a client is the harm in itself and the names on the list sort of seems to support that.”
Al Otro Lado alleges the database poses “grave concerns of political targeting and professional intimidation at a time when the administration is openly escalating its attacks on immigrant advocates.”
Since its discovery, ICE has removed the list from its website.
Amarante says she managed to get a screen grab of the list before it was taken down.
(Courtesy: Al Otro Lado.
In March 2025, the White House issued a memo titled “Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court,” accusing immigration attorneys of “unscrupulous” conduct and directing the Attorney General to take action against attorneys and law firms pursuing litigation against the U.S.
The memo ordered agencies to “seek sanctions” and disciplinary actions against those challenging government policy.
“There is no obvious legitimate reason for ICE to be compiling what appears to be a covert roster of immigration lawyers,” said Andrew Fels, Al Otro Lado staff attorney. “We are giving ICE an opportunity to publicly explain the watch list’s purpose. Publishing the underlying policies governing the watch list’s creation and inclusion criteria will conclusively resolve this issue.”
Border Report contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement about the list, but our inquiries have not been answered by ICE.
“History may be repeating itself,” said Cassandra Lopez, Al Otro Lado’s legal director. “Once again, our staff and colleagues appear on a government watch list simply for doing our jobs—defending the constitutional right to seek asylum and holding the government accountable in court. The pattern is unmistakable and deeply alarming.”
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