Antifa group shares link to list of 1,600 ICE employees alongside photos, locations, and job titles

The list was originally compiled by a New York based artist

Antifa grew to prominence in the US in 2017 as a counter movement to far right activists (REUTERS)

A Nebraska affiliate of the left wing group Antifa has tweeted out a link to a list of names and photos of nearly 1,600 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.

The list of names and photos links to archived Linkedin profiles for each individual, and was originally compiled by Sam Levigne, a New York based artist who has said that he created the list to shed light on who is enforcing America’s immigration policies.

“Some enterprising hero archived the ICE employees listed on Linkedin,” a tweet from the Nebraska affiliate of Antifa, a self-styled anti-fascist group, said.

The database was originally published on GitHub with an accompanying Medium post written by Mr Levigne, but both were subsequently taken down by the websites, which claimed that the database presented “doxxing” concerns.

“I’ve downloaded and made available the profiles of (almost) everyone on LinkedIn who works for ICE, 1,595 people in total. While I don’t have a precise idea of what should be done with this data set, I leave it here with the hope that researchers, journalists, and activists will find it useful,” Mr Lavigne wrote in the original Medium post.

Mr Levigne acknowledged that the conversation around doxxing — a term used to describe the search and subsequent publication of identifying or private information about individuals online — could apply to the list, but pushed back on the concerns.

“I think that’s a totally valid question to bring up,” Mr Levigne told the Verge when asked whether the list he created could be used to target and harass the employees named. “But, I think that the information is already out there, and if people want to embark on individual campaigns of harassment, then they’re going to be doing that no matter what”.

An request for comment from ICE regarding the list was not immediately returned, but a spokesman asked The Independent for the link and did not appear to have previously known about the list or the tweet from the Antifa affiliate.

The list comes amid a national immigration crisis that has been exacerbated by President Donald Trump’s administration and its move towards less tolerant immigration tactics, including a recent “zero tolerance” policy that has led to over 2,300 children being separated from their parents at the US border.

Following an uproar sparked by those separations, Mr Trump signed an executive order this week that he said would stop families from being separated at the border, though it remains unclear what will be done about the children who have already been removed from their parents at the border. Some experts have suggested that there will be some children who may never see their parents again.