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Tiny Clippy – A native Office Assistant built in Rust and egui

https://github.com/salva-imm/tiny-clippy
1•salvadorda656•3m ago•0 comments

LegalArgumentException: From Courtrooms to Clojure – Sen [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmMQbsOTX-o
1•adityaathalye•6m ago•0 comments

US moves to deport 5-year-old detained in Minnesota

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-moves-deport-5-year-old-detained-minnesota-2026-02-06/
1•petethomas•10m ago•1 comments

If you lose your passport in Austria, head for McDonald's Golden Arches

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-embassy-mcdonalds-restaurants-austria-hotline-americans-consular-...
1•thunderbong•14m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Mermaid Formatter – CLI and library to auto-format Mermaid diagrams

https://github.com/chenyanchen/mermaid-formatter
1•astm•30m ago•0 comments

RFCs vs. READMEs: The Evolution of Protocols

https://h3manth.com/scribe/rfcs-vs-readmes/
2•init0•36m ago•1 comments

Kanchipuram Saris and Thinking Machines

https://altermag.com/articles/kanchipuram-saris-and-thinking-machines
1•trojanalert•37m ago•0 comments

Chinese chemical supplier causes global baby formula recall

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/nestle-widens-french-infant-formula-r...
1•fkdk•39m ago•0 comments

I've used AI to write 100% of my code for a year as an engineer

https://old.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1qxvobt/ive_used_ai_to_write_100_of_my_code_for_1_ye...
1•ukuina•42m ago•1 comments

Looking for 4 Autistic Co-Founders for AI Startup (Equity-Based)

1•au-ai-aisl•52m ago•1 comments

AI-native capabilities, a new API Catalog, and updated plans and pricing

https://blog.postman.com/new-capabilities-march-2026/
1•thunderbong•52m ago•0 comments

What changed in tech from 2010 to 2020?

https://www.tedsanders.com/what-changed-in-tech-from-2010-to-2020/
2•endorphine•57m ago•0 comments

From Human Ergonomics to Agent Ergonomics

https://wesmckinney.com/blog/agent-ergonomics/
1•Anon84•1h ago•0 comments

Advanced Inertial Reference Sphere

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Inertial_Reference_Sphere
1•cyanf•1h ago•0 comments

Toyota Developing a Console-Grade, Open-Source Game Engine with Flutter and Dart

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Fluorite-Toyota-Game-Engine
1•computer23•1h ago•0 comments

Typing for Love or Money: The Hidden Labor Behind Modern Literary Masterpieces

https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/typing-for-love-or-money/
1•prismatic•1h ago•0 comments

Show HN: A longitudinal health record built from fragmented medical data

https://myaether.live
1•takmak007•1h ago•0 comments

CoreWeave's $30B Bet on GPU Market Infrastructure

https://davefriedman.substack.com/p/coreweaves-30-billion-bet-on-gpu
1•gmays•1h ago•0 comments

Creating and Hosting a Static Website on Cloudflare for Free

https://benjaminsmallwood.com/blog/creating-and-hosting-a-static-website-on-cloudflare-for-free/
1•bensmallwood•1h ago•1 comments

"The Stanford scam proves America is becoming a nation of grifters"

https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/students-stanford-grifters-ivy-league-w2g5z768z
4•cwwc•1h ago•0 comments

Elon Musk on Space GPUs, AI, Optimus, and His Manufacturing Method

https://cheekypint.substack.com/p/elon-musk-on-space-gpus-ai-optimus
2•simonebrunozzi•1h ago•0 comments

X (Twitter) is back with a new X API Pay-Per-Use model

https://developer.x.com/
3•eeko_systems•1h ago•0 comments

Zlob.h 100% POSIX and glibc compatible globbing lib that is faste and better

https://github.com/dmtrKovalenko/zlob
3•neogoose•1h ago•1 comments

Show HN: Deterministic signal triangulation using a fixed .72% variance constant

https://github.com/mabrucker85-prog/Project_Lance_Core
2•mav5431•1h ago•1 comments

Scientists Discover Levitating Time Crystals You Can Hold, Defy Newton’s 3rd Law

https://phys.org/news/2026-02-scientists-levitating-crystals.html
3•sizzle•1h ago•0 comments

When Michelangelo Met Titian

https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/michelangelo-titian-review-the-renaissances-odd-couple-e34...
1•keiferski•1h ago•0 comments

Solving NYT Pips with DLX

https://github.com/DonoG/NYTPips4Processing
1•impossiblecode•1h ago•1 comments

Baldur's Gate to be turned into TV series – without the game's developers

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c24g457y534o
3•vunderba•1h ago•0 comments

Interview with 'Just use a VPS' bro (OpenClaw version) [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40SnEd1RWUU
2•dangtony98•1h ago•0 comments

EchoJEPA: Latent Predictive Foundation Model for Echocardiography

https://github.com/bowang-lab/EchoJEPA
1•euvin•2h ago•0 comments
Open in hackernews

ICE bought vehicles equipped with fake cell towers to spy on phones

https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/07/ice-bought-vehicles-equipped-with-fake-cell-towers-to-spy-on-phones/
329•mdhb•4mo ago

Comments

leakycap•4mo ago
> the relationship between the agency and the company predates the Trump administration

IMSI catchers/stingrays have been common practice in local law enforcement for decades, haven't they? How is this different?

> Some cell-site simulators can also intercept regular calls, text messages, and internet traffic.

In what decade was this true, other than text messages? I don't think it is very easy even for an IMSI catcher/stingray to eavesdrop on calls over LTE, for example.

hedora•4mo ago
It's different because ICE is a paramilitary group operating illegally inside the US. They don't get warrants, engage in racial profiling, disappeared 2/3rds of the people sent to some of their facilities, arrest citizens, assault peaceful protesters, etc.

They're doing this over the objection of state and local authorities, and despite the fact that their actions have been repeatedly ruled illegal by the courts.

psunavy03•4mo ago
A Federal government agency is "a paramilitary group operating illegally inside the US?" What?

"I think they're being employed in a shitty and potentially illegal manner outside their remit" is a perfectly arguable take that doesn't require tinfoil-hattery.

kokanee•4mo ago
You might not like the tone, but I don't see what makes the words false. "Paramilitary" describes a non-military group behaving similarly to a military group, and we're talking about armed masked men sweeping homes, taking prisoners, and engaging in violent conflicts. "Operating illegally" means that federal, state, or local laws have been broken, and that seems to be the case, e.g. Gonzalez v. ICE.
theultdev•4mo ago
Federal law supersedes state law.

ICE is simply enforcing federal immigration laws.

JumpCrisscross•4mo ago
> ICE is simply enforcing federal immigration laws

“From January to June, the average number of detainees per day in ICE custody rose 43 percent, to more than 57,000. But since July, when the [OBBA] funding was approved, the detainee population has increased only about 5 percent, to roughly 60,000, the latest statistics show.

The stream of social-media clips showing masked federal agents kicking down doors, raiding Home Depot parking lots, and pulling people from their car have kept up the appearance of an ever-expanding campaign. ICE’s own data show that the agency’s buildup stalled over the summer” [1].

Meanwhile, with first-year deportations around 400,000 [2], they stand to match what Obama did in 2012 [3], despite spending $40 to 70bn, or 10 to 15x, more [4][5].

Instead of enforcing our immigration laws, ICE is involved in domestic policing, partisan intimidation and the illegal detention of American citizens.

[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/10/ice-imm...

[2] https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/23/new-milestone-over-2-mil...

[3] https://docs.house.gov/meetings/GO/GO00/20200109/110349/HHRG...

[4] https://www.ice.gov/factsheets/budget2012 $5.8bn, FY2012, $8.2bn CPI adjusted to ‘25

[5] https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ice-budget-big-beautiful-b... $45 to 75 billion under OBBBA

theultdev•4mo ago
Difference between deportations under Obama vs Trump is they aren't coming right back over.

Easy to inflate deportations when you catch the same fish and the river is flowing.

Much slower when you dam off the river and have to dig the remaining catfish out of the mud.

JumpCrisscross•4mo ago
> Difference between deportations under Obama vs Trump is they aren't coming right back over

“U.S. Border Patrol agents recorded nearly 238,000 apprehensions of migrants crossing the southern border illegally in fiscal year 2025” [1]. For 2012 to 2015, the chart shows about 360k, 420k, 480k and 330k, respectively.

So ICE is spending $330 to 580 thousand dollars per additional Southwest border encounter in 2025 versus 2012. ($250 to 440 thousand if we average Obama’s second-term numbers.)

These numbers 10x even San Francisco’s circa 2016 homeless-industrial profligacy [2]. Unless ICE is a ball of wormy corruption, they’re clearly not focused on immigration enforcement.

[1] https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/10/icymi-illegal-cr...

[2] https://www.hoover.org/research/despite-spending-11-billion-...

theultdev•4mo ago
Interior enforcement is the focus currently.

Crossings are lower overall due to securing of the border.

JumpCrisscross•4mo ago
> Interior enforcement is the focus currently

If it is, it's being pursued corruptly and incompetently.

From the top of the thread, ICE is spending boatloads more money to deport just about as many people as Obama did with a tenth of the budget [1]. Cross-border encounters are within 100,000, so the difference is not explained by recividism.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45506994

nielsbot•4mo ago
Do you agree enforcing immigration laws in this way is good and/or important? If so, can I ask why? What is our end goal?
JumpCrisscross•4mo ago
> can I ask why?

Simply put, Americans gave Republicans a popular mandate to reduce illegal immigration.

Much of this was economic: illegal immigrants dilute the labour force. Some, particularly among Latin Americans, rose from perceived injustice: it’s frustrating to go through the American immigration process only to see someone who skipped it live a similar life. Some, e.g. those focused on crime, were just racists.

If ICE were simply enforcing the law, I don’t think there would be a national outcry. The problem is they aren’t. All while blowing the military budget of Saudi Arabia [1][2] to accomplish what Obama did with a tenth as much.

[1] https://breakingdefense.com/2025/02/saudi-arabia-increases-d...

[2] https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ice-budget-big-beautiful-b...

analog31•4mo ago
It was an extremely weak mandate, and in normal times (e.g., assuming the concept of limited government), a weak mandate would be a mandate to act with restraint. Thus a "mandate" doesn't justify what's happening.

The Republicans abandoned the economic debate, and shifted focus to social issues. This is what caught the Democrats, including myself, off guard. Rather than stealing our jobs, the immigrants were accused of stealing our cats.

Framing it as an economic issue in hindsight seems like a polite way of "steelmanning" the voting base, but I'm not sure it's really justifiable.

nielsbot•4mo ago
> Americans gave Republicans a popular mandate

Trump's win wasn't even close to being a mandate. Also, people (now) hate his enforcement policies.

> illegal immigrants dilute the labour force

ICE is not simply going after illegal immigrants for one thing. Also, immigrants support the economy. They do jobs Americans won't for one thing. But I'd love to see data on the amount of labor force dilution immigrants are doing. We should really one looking at the ownership class sitting on trillions of dollars of wealth and not sharing.

> perceived injustice

Exactly. We should have solidarity, not be pulling up the drawbridge behind us. But the current arrangement suits Capital just fine.

> If ICE were simply enforcing the law, I don’t think there would be a national outcry. The problem is they aren’t.

Agree. They're doing fascism.

intermerda•4mo ago
> Much of this was economic: illegal immigrants dilute the labour force.

Then why are the farmers complaining about it? https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-farm-groups-want-trump-s...

JumpCrisscross•4mo ago
You’re asking why massive buyers of labour want cheaper labour?
nulbyte•4mo ago
I don't know why this was flagged. It may be wrong, but I think it worth discussing to correct.

Not all of Federal law supersedes state law. The Tenth Amendment clarifies:

> The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

If it's not given to the federal government to regulate, the federal government can't regulate it.

anigbrowl•4mo ago
It hasn't been flagged.
JumpCrisscross•4mo ago
> Federal law supersedes state law

It does. That doesn’t mean federal agents supersede state law.

California restricted civil arrests at its courts [1]. The Congress can pass a law superseding this. What ICE can’t unilaterally do, legally, is ignore it. They have, the same as they’ve ignored federal court orders.

[1] https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtm...

lenerdenator•4mo ago
They're enforcing the law in profoundly illegal ways.
asacrowflies•4mo ago
How is what is supposed to be "law enforcement" repelling from helicopters to ziptie children and running over protesters with armored personnel carriers and receiving satellite and cellphone intelligence and coordinating with that national guard ....not "paramilitary"
cosmicgadget•4mo ago
They bring their own ill-fitting gear and jump out of U-hauls. Sure they have the occasional off-the-shelf imsi catcher. "Wannabe paramilitary", final offer.
JumpCrisscross•4mo ago
> bring their own ill-fitting gear and jump out of U-hauls

ICE ran a 5AM motorcade through my mountain town, compete with helicopter escort. We’re in a red state, though, and border a red farm state, so I understand they were actually told to knock it off.

> "Wannabe paramilitary", final offer

The only part of a definition [1] that ICE might fail is in whether they’re professionally designated to act as a secret police. If by wannabe you’re saying ICE intends to be and act like a paramilitary, you’ve effectively conceded the point.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramilitary

cosmicgadget•4mo ago
Lol what? "They want/intend to be a paramilitary organization therefore calling them wannabe paramilitaries isn't correct."

Genuine curiosity, what did the motorcade look like? Gov plates or personal vehicles? Was the helicopter ICE or local police keeping an eye on things?

JumpCrisscross•4mo ago
> "They want/intend to be a paramilitary organization therefore calling them wannabe paramilitaries isn't correct."

(I never said what you’re falsely quoting.)

An armed civilian organisation that wants to be—and behaves like—the military has satisfied the most important (and usually difficult to prove) requirement of paramilitarism. The only remaining question, if we’ve established intent, is capability. They obviously have the manpower, budget and equipment to constitute a martial force.

TL; DR If ICE is a “wannabe paramilitary,” they’re a paramilitary. If you’re giving that up you’re giving away the game.

> Gov plates or personal vehicles?

Civilian. (The relevant bit for whether a group is a paramilitary.)

I’d note that whether ICE is a paramilitary is a red herring. Paramilitaries are fine. Militias as paramilitaries.

The problem is ICE is acting as a secret state police.

> local police keeping an eye on things?

Not state or local.

cosmicgadget•4mo ago
> Falsely quoting

What's the acceptable notation for paraphrasing? I typically use > for quotes.

Agreed, most of this is an unnecessary argument over terminology when I was simply calling them Temu Stasi.

We'll see about the secret police thing, for now they seem to be just about getting their deportation bounties.

JumpCrisscross•4mo ago
> What's the acceptable notation for paraphrasing?

No clue :P. But I think quotation marks should be saved for actual quotations, particularly in a threaded context. (Air quotes absolutely muddy the waters.)

arandr0x•4mo ago
I'm unfamiliar with the business of finding illegal immigrants. Isn't the idea of detaining them that you're worried they might flee if they know they're going to be deported? If so isn't it counterproductive for ICE to make noise (announcing themselves basically) if doing a 5am raid for farm workers? You'd think showing up at the field in a separate bus and spreading out would work best.
crooked-v•4mo ago
The cruelty is the point. They want to hurt people.
fzeroracer•4mo ago
It doesn't require any tinfoil-hattery though because everything they're doing is very public. Like you look at their actions Chicago [1] and I think it's impossible to NOT think they're an illegal paramilitary group. They're rounding up, detaining and arresting US citizens and destroying their property under the guise of sweeping illegal immigrants. They've violated people's constitutional rights multiple times over.

[1] https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/01/massive-...

gruez•4mo ago
>They're rounding up, detaining and arresting US citizens and destroying their property under the guise of sweeping illegal immigrants.

What's the proportion of US citizens arrested compared to actual illegal immigrants?

fzeroracer•4mo ago
I'm sorry, why does the proportion matter? What happened to the presumption of innocence? Are you saying you, personally, would be OK with being rounded up and arrested as long as they got X illegal immigrants along the way?
coredog64•4mo ago
Presumption of innocence applies to your trial, not to being apprehended. E.g. the state has to prove that you are guilty.

If I'm a US citizen and I get swept up in an immigration raid, my lawyer calls my wife who brings my US passport and I'm released. A pain in the ass, but not a violation of my civil rights. Now if I get beat up by ICE, or they file a false claim for resisting, then sure, we've got grounds for a case that my rights were violated. But constitutional rights are not a blanket "I can never be arrested if I think I'm innocent"

selectodude•4mo ago
You cannot be arrested without probable cause. Being arrested in a dragnet immigration raid is just a crystal clear fourth amendment violation. Simple as that.
mothballed•4mo ago
I was 'not' arrested by DHS/CBP.

They simply got a warrant retroactively after they already did it. Released without charge, but they just invented some paperwork afterwards that an anonymous dog had alerted (judge signed it about 12 hours after I was 'not' arrested). No mention on the PC paperwork who the dog was or who the handler was, as far as I know they didn't exist.

So yeah that's nice in theory but in practice they can simply jail you without recording an arrest, then retroactively invent PC. When I ran a federal background check it came up with no arrests, despite the fact I was imprisoned.

warkdarrior•4mo ago
The Supreme Court was clear that if your skin is not white, this is probable cause. Also location is important (like being at a car wash) or speaking with an accent.
actionfromafar•4mo ago
Is Yiddish accent still OK? Or is that scheduled for next term?
dashundchen•4mo ago
ICE has been denying due process to the people they've kidnapped, including US citizens and children.

The whole point is people are being arrested and deported without probable cause, or based on their race, and deported without real due process.

There is no chance for these people to call their lawyer or wife, in fact ICE can't even tell you where some of these people are being detained.

Understand what is happening here.

gruez•4mo ago
It matters because the wording of the OP implies they're targeting citizens, but in reality they're getting caught in the dragnet. That's regrettable, but it's unclear how it's worse than any other sort of law enforcement, which also have false positives. According to wikipedia the felony conviction rate in the US is only 68%, which implies for every 100 "criminals" that are arrested, there are 32 "innocent" people. That's probably far worse than ICE's rate of catching citizens, so does that mean we can call the entire US law enforcement apparatus a "paramilitary force"? One final thing to note, Canada's conviction rate is even lower at 62%, and China's is even higher at 99.975%.
vkou•4mo ago
If they can violate any one's rights, they can violate anyone's rights.
jedimastert•4mo ago
More than zero.
mothballed•4mo ago
The number US citizens actually deported is greater than zero, although I'm not sure how many under Trump.
cosmicgadget•4mo ago
It is critical to understand that as a general rule, what they are doing is completely legal. We created the conditions for this to happen and are empowered to change it.
JumpCrisscross•4mo ago
> as a general rule, what they are doing is completely legal

In general, particularly in the past, yes. Currently, a statistically significant number of ICE agents are acting outside the colour of law, in some cases with possibly treasonous intent.

cosmicgadget•4mo ago
Huh? They're either chasing down people with an administrative warrant (which as far as I can tell are largely valid) or they're using reasonable suspicion which SCOTUS just decided can be determined by a combination of ethnic, economic, and geographic factors. The latter seems wrongly-decided but it is lawful by definition.

What actions are you referring to and what is the treasonous intent? They seem to just be self-selected xenophobes trying to chase bonus money.

fzeroracer•4mo ago
The SCOTUS abdicating their duty to the constitution does not make ICE's actions any less illegal, it just makes the Supreme Court as an institution illegitimate. It is unfortunate that things have devolved so far, but it is more important than ever that we state things clearly and succinctly in the face of those that have decided the constitution no longer matters.
cortesoft•4mo ago
You might believe SCOTUS has abdicated their duty, but that doesn’t make it illegal. The whole reason the Supreme Court exists is because there is no such thing as “clearly illegal” without some kind of adjudicating body that can decide if something breaks the law. Laws aren’t like math axioms; you can’t prove or disprove that a law has been broken with pure logic, you have to have humans interpret the words and apply it to a situation.

By definition, the supreme courts decisions are the law, unless the legally prescribed measures to overrule them are taken.

fzeroracer•4mo ago
By definition, the law is what we, collectively, agree on as being the law. The Supreme Court is only able to serve as the executor of the law on the basis of the institution being seen as legitimate and by virtue of being given that right by society.

The Supreme Court suddenly deciding that the constitution does not matter does not make their decision law, it erodes trust in that institution and removes their mandate to execute the law. Said supreme court has decided to throw away all trust in favor of giving unchecked and clearly illegal power to the executive, overriding Congress's very clear authority as delegated by the constitution.

Many of the actions taken by this Supreme Court are illegitimate and are things that will need to be reckoned with assuming that the presidency changes hands in 2028. As well as the actions by ICE and this presidency in general.

cortesoft•4mo ago
Well, the law of this land is based on the Constitution, which gives the Supreme Court ultimate authority to interpret the law. That is what gives it the force of law.

Now, the legitimacy of the CONSTITUTION is based on what we, collectively, agree on, however

mothballed•4mo ago
If that's true that's the same thing as Supreme Court simply having all the power isn't it? SCOTUS largely serves as a veto power on the other two branches. If they can actually unilaterally make a binding interpretation of the constitution then they could simply declare the constitution is actually saying SCOTUS has all of the federal powers and that Clarence Thomas is King.

SCOTUS has been relied on far too much as a method of legitimation of extra-constitutional powers. People know they are lying bastard, but because the court-gods have used their holy powers to interpret the constitution as magically meaning stuff like intrastate commerce is actually interstate commerce and sawn off shotguns aren't actually protected 'arms' then many gullible zealots will actually believe that.

cortesoft•4mo ago
There are supposed to be checks on the power of the supreme court through both the ability to impeach justices and the ability to pass constitutional amendments. Those checks are not working as they are supposed to for many reasons.
JumpCrisscross•4mo ago
> the law of this land is based on the Constitution, which gives the Supreme Court ultimate authority to interpret the law

The Constitution vests "the judicial Power of the United States" in "one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish" [1].

That isn't the same as "ultimate authority to interpret the law." In practice, SCOTUS does usually have this power, due to Marbury and other precedent. In practice, too, it can be bullied, e.g. by FDR and potentially right now.

[1] https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/article-3/

FuriouslyAdrift•4mo ago
Immigration has always come under the plenary powers of The Congress and is not subject to judicial review. This plenary power doctrine has weakened over the centuries but it still holds.

https://cis.org/Report/Plenary-Power-Should-Judges-Control-U...

k33n•4mo ago
The constitution doesn't prohibit the deportation of illegal immigrants. It's interesting that you believe the Supreme Court is illegitimate for rightly ruling based on the letter of the law.

If you want it changed, you have 100 ways to advocate for that without declaring one of the greatest American institutions we have as "illegitimate". It's an extreme view, but certainly common in shrinking hyper-left-wing online spaces.

You won't always get your way. That's Democracy.

walkabout•4mo ago
> The constitution doesn't prohibit the deportation of illegal immigrants.

Who are you responding to? I don't see that anywhere in this thread.

FuriouslyAdrift•4mo ago
Immigration 'mostly' falls under plenary powers of The Congress and the courts have little to no authority in these matters (similar to how Presidential pardons may not be overturned by the Court or Congress). This legal theory has been changing over time but it still mostly holds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plenary_power https://cis.org/Report/Plenary-Power-Should-Judges-Control-U...

JumpCrisscross•4mo ago
> What actions are you referring to

The deportations to Ecuador despite a court order not to. Detaining an American and refusing him a lawyer [1]. Ignoring state law (where not superseded by federal law).

[1] https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/01/massive-...

cosmicgadget•4mo ago
Ecuador: my recollection is they did the deportations without process which is probably illegal and was therefore halted by SCOTUS pending a final decision. The administration sent a plane after a lower court had ordered them not to, then claimed incompetence. As far as I am aware, since then deportees have been given enough process that it hasn't required another trip to the shadow docket. I'd personally bin this under "not descriptive of the legality of ICE's campaign in general" because it (afaik) is halted indefinitely. It's terrible, for sure, but that's not the question at hand.

Detentions: I've read a handful of stories of citizens being detained in the dragnet operations, then released. We'll see if they have successful civil rights suits. Depending on the scale, this could disprove the contention that ICE is largely acting within the law. Since this isn't a haphazard operation, they probably have some reason to believe their detention powers cover this.

JumpCrisscross•4mo ago
> since then deportees have been given enough process that it hasn't required another trip to the shadow docket

My understanding is a lot of them get deported before their cases have run course. That, in turn, robs them of standing.

> Depending on the scale, this could disprove the contention that ICE is largely acting within the law

I agree that everything being said here is allegation. That said, if we're waiting for unappealable judiical findings, that's could take us into the 2030s.

harimau777•4mo ago
Just because SCOTUS says something doesn't make it just. Especially this court.
joshuahedlund•4mo ago
How about denying the Fourth Amendment rights of US citizens to be secure in their homes in the recent Chicago apartment raid? https://www.notesfromthecircus.com/p/the-sufferable-evil

How about detaining US citizens without warrants for days at a time and then releasing with no charges? https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/09/george-...

cosmicgadget•4mo ago
Let's hope the people not subject to a warrant sue ICE's pants off. As far as I can tell, most of the dragnets are either in public places or with the permission of the property owner.

I'd love to be wrong because it means the judciary has a chance to shut this down but I fear outside of a few civil rights suits this will have to be remedied at the ballot box.

habinero•4mo ago
It's essentially impossible to sue ICE, they have qualified immunity. Police have been doing similar things for years.
cosmicgadget•4mo ago
The officers do, not the agency or police department. People sue and win against police departments all the time.
softwaredoug•4mo ago
I mean slavery was legal, Jim Crow was legal...

A lot of things are legal and still wrong based on our core principles as a country. Its our duty to oppose them.

cosmicgadget•4mo ago
So call what they're doing 'wrong' not 'illegal'. The remedies for those two things are very different.
softwaredoug•4mo ago
Well also a lot of what they're doing to enforce laws without warrants, arresting citizens without cause, lack of due process, etc is illegal.

But a lot of this won't change without "active, provocative, non-violent" resistance as Gandhi would say.

coredog64•4mo ago
Out of curiosity, what makes "arresting citizens" illegal?

If I'm in a crowd in the presence of a number of other law breakers, why would I think that I couldn't ever be temporarily detained? I mean, yes, it shouldn't be indefinite and there shouldn't be a high bar to clear to prove actual innocence, but we have process for this. I can be arrested without much provocation at all. I then have to be charged, I have the opportunity to enter a plea, get bail, and then I get a trial. All of that can (and does) happen to people who are legitimately innocent.

softwaredoug•4mo ago
I should have said "without cause" (now edited). Brown folks are detained randomly because they don't have their papers on them and "look Mexican".
hitarpetar•4mo ago
due process
dragonwriter•4mo ago
> Out of curiosity, what makes "arresting citizens" illegal?

Without probable cause? The Fourth Amendment.

> shouldn't be a high bar to clear to prove actual innocence

I see that you are comfortable with a presumption of guilt so long as the burden of proof of actual innocence isn’t too rigorous, but that’s exactly backwards.

code_runner•4mo ago
If you mean we created an environment where people could come and find success and live their lives, and we perhaps weren’t as strict as we could’ve been in some situations… I don’t think that violently kidnapping people off the streets, without showing badges, in unmarked vehicles, masked, etc is a punishment that fits the crime.

Missing a court date once multiple years ago, failing to navigate a complex process, and even intentionally over staying a tourist visa does not warrant the loss of humanity, due process, basic rights, dignity, and humanity

cosmicgadget•4mo ago
Agreed.
k33n•4mo ago
Obama was quite strict about it and deported tons of illegals. An arrest isn't a violent kidnapping. Being arrested by the feds for breaking the law has usually been a fairly unpleasant ordeal.

Most Americans support the idea of deporting people who break our immigration laws, thusly cutting in line while millions of others patiently wait.

This really doesn't have to be an emotional issue. Very few Americans support actual open borders. We can't feed, house or provide medical care to the entire world. That is why there is a process.

Were you this vocal when Obama deported millions, or is this just more "I hate Trump" hot air?

nxobject•4mo ago
> Being arrested by the feds for breaking the law has usually been a fairly unpleasant ordeal.

> This really doesn't have to be an emotional issue.

I think you're misreading the OP and/or ignoring recent news. OP's contention is that the way it's being executed deserves an emotional response -- everything from ignoring judges to send people to El Salvadoran mega-prisons, to roaming streets in masks with creditable allegations about racial profiling. [0]

I'd like to know more about your claim about feeding, housing, and providing care to the whole world.

[0] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/us/politics/supreme-court...

thephyber•4mo ago
Obama’s deportation numbers were juiced compared to post-2015 numbers because there was a change in the definition of that term.

Obama’s deportations were mostly border patrol apprehending and pushing people back across the border, not ICE being super efficient at rounding up people in the interior of the country.

A good primer on immigration enforcement before and during the Obama admin:

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/obama-record-deporta...

crooked-v•4mo ago
> An arrest isn't a violent kidnapping.

Okay, but dragging citizens out of their homes without a warrant (https://www.commondreams.org/news/ice-raid-chicago-apartment) sure is.

intermerda•4mo ago
> Obama was quite strict about it and deported tons of illegals. An arrest isn't a violent kidnapping. Being arrested by the feds for breaking the law has usually been a fairly unpleasant ordeal.

Obama prioritized deportation of people convicted of serious crimes and recent arrivals after they got their day in court. He did not call Mexicans rapists. The admin did not arrest US citizens. Being arrested by the feds even if you did not break the law is a much worse ordeal.

> Most Americans support the idea of deporting people who break our immigration laws, thusly cutting in line while millions of others patiently wait.

The line for legal citizenship does not move faster if you deport more people.

> This really doesn't have to be an emotional issue. Very few Americans support actual open borders. We can't feed, house or provide medical care to the entire world. That is why there is a process.

When masked men come out of a van and kidnap you off the streets in broad daylight, tell me if it's an emotional issue or not.

> Were you this vocal when Obama deported millions, or is this just more "I hate Trump" hot air?

Were you always a fascist sympathizer or did Trump stoke those feelings in you?

k33n•4mo ago
Lmao
coredog64•4mo ago
"due process" means "This is the process the government must follow" and is not shorthand for "You are allowed to appeal to the USSC". I think most people would be surprised how little process is owed to someone who is not legally present in the United States and how few opportunities there are for appeal.
AnimalMuppet•4mo ago
Little... but not none.

Follow the law. I'm not asking for more process than the law specifies, but ICE has to actually follow the law. If they won't, then they no longer have legal authority to do what they're doing, and they're just another gang.

seadan83•4mo ago
The 14th amendment: "prohibits states from denying any person "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law""

The US constitution applies to all persons (people) inside of the USA regardless of citizenship. The amendment says PERSON, not CITIZEN.

Therefore it should not matter at all how that person got here, they are due the same rights and process as __anyone__ else on American soil. That is the 14th amendment of the constitution, further backed by multiple ultra-important and historical supreme court precedents that rights apply to ALL 'people' and not just 'citizens'.

dragonwriter•4mo ago
> The 14th amendment: "prohibits states from denying any person "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law""

More relevant to ICE, is the 5th Amendment, which prohibits the federal government from doing that.

15155•4mo ago
Being deported isn't legally deprivation of "life, liberty, or property."

Deportation is not a punishment and is entirely avoidable in 99% of cases: don't overstay or enter illegally.

actionfromafar•4mo ago
How about children being ziptied in their homes and roughed up in the middle of the night?

Oops a citizen, don’t look so brown next time. Catch and release.

code_runner•4mo ago
I always forget websters definition of punishment is “violent masked unidentified government sanctioned gangs roaming the streets and violently apprehending people”

That’s such a great point. Deportation is supposed to be incredibly violent because it’s a punishment. I’m jotting that one down since it’s certainly not written in any laws. I don’t wanna forget.

toast0•4mo ago
How is it not deprivation of liberty to be forcibly removed from where you are and not allowed to return?
15155•4mo ago
Because you didn't have the legal right to remain there in the first place?
cosmicgadget•4mo ago
You're confusing natural rights and civil rights. And backpedaling from "they're not being deprived of these rights" to "they deserve it". They may deserve it but you don't know that without- (please finish the sentence)
dragonwriter•4mo ago
> "due process" means "This is the process the government must follow" and is not shorthand for "You are allowed to appeal to the USSC".

Questions of due process, as due process is a federal Constitutional guarantee, are controversies arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States, and, as such, are within the judicial power defined in Article III of the Constitution.

code_runner•4mo ago
These people are shuffled around the country without their lawyers being informed and are “lost” in the system for long stretches of time without representation.

This means they can’t prove if they are here legally or not.

Furthermore, the administration wants to end birthright citizenship, which they will no doubt aim to make retroactive. Not being able to prove citizenship or status means (according to you) that you have no rights. anybody born here or otherwise will subject to this process and unable to prove their citizenship.

And again, the treatment these people are receiving is absolutely heinous, especially considering that they’ve not been charged with or found guilty of a violent crime.

I’m not sure about specific rules around who can appeal to the Supreme Court, nor am I sure why such an appeal has been mentioned… but once people on American soil lose basic rights we all do. All it takes is being ACCUSED of the right non-violent crime and then you have absolutely zero rights and are treated like an animal.

We should be better than this even if the law doesn’t say we have to be (which it does). If folks are here illegally and subject to deportation, prove it. Don’t hide them in the system and deprive them of representation.

I’m not sure what an undocumented (or documented but missing some arbitrary checkbox) person did to you but I can assure you it doesn’t mean that person or others should be subjected to this treatment in a civilized society.

yibg•4mo ago
What's moral vs what's legal aren't always the same thing. Especially in times like this, they get very quickly divergent.

To the parent poster's point, the obligation of the citizen in a democracy (at least in theory) is to try to align those.

jbritton•4mo ago
ICE is targeting groups of people based upon a probability that some are illegal. This violates the 4th amendment. The 4th amendment requires reasonable suspicion of a specific individual. This is also why they don’t have warrants, because no judge would grant it. The LA courts have ruled their activity illegal. The federal government is appealing. The SCOTUS ruling allows ICE to continue doing what they are doing until the appeal is heard.
N70Phone•4mo ago
> as a general rule

To rudely open a dictionary:

"As a general rule" - phrase of general - in most cases.

Agents of the state are supposed to be acting within the law IN ALL CASES.

The SS & SA were operating entirely within the law, if you ignore the times where they weren't.

cosmicgadget•4mo ago
Did it seem from how I employed the term "as a general rule" that I didn't understand its meaning?
N70Phone•4mo ago
It seemed quite the opposite. That you knew exactly what you were saying, but using weasel words to imply ICE was acting above board without stating any falsehoods that might be challenged.

The rhetorical trick of my reply being that it forces you to either address to the meat of the subject, or leave the statement uncontested.

But congratulations, conceding the argument rather than ousting yourself as a fascist was the better choice.

cosmicgadget•4mo ago
Please read the rules.
apparent•4mo ago
Are they arresting citizens whose behavior does not warrant arrest? I have read about several arrests, but the citizens were all interfering with lawful detentions that ICE was carrying out.
actionfromafar•4mo ago
Yep, the children were interfering, sleeping in their beds.
apparent•4mo ago
Can you share links to this? Sounds awful. I have not heard of any children sleeping in beds being arrested by ICE, which would obviously be inappropriate/illegal.
mmustapic•4mo ago
https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/01/massive-...
apparent•4mo ago
Sorry, I don't see anything about citizens being arrested here. Is there any news coverage supporting the above claim that citizens are being arrested without cause (that is, not just for interfering with ICE?
softwaredoug•4mo ago
If they act as MITM, they can intercept cell phone calls.

Stingrays are somewhat it common practice. But they force every device to attach to look for the one they want. And its reasonable to feel queasy about that for any number of reasons.

NoiseBert69•4mo ago
Why aren't they using the official lawful interception interfaces?

They will get all the data. Not only voice, data and SMS/RCS.

All modern smartphones (like Pixels) allow you to switch off 2G. They even warn if you want to activate it.

cosmicgadget•4mo ago
Who says they aren't?
JumpCrisscross•4mo ago
> Why aren't they using the official lawful interception interfaces?

They may not want to leave a paper trail.

“To obtain a [legal] wiretap order, law enforcement must demonstrate probable cause to a judge” [1]. Given ICE has been arresting Americans, they probably aren’t bothering with cause. Legal intercepts also require “minimization procedures to limit the interception of conversations unrelated to the investigation,” which ICE may not want to do. And perhaps most importantly, “violations of 18 U.S.C. § 2511 are considered federal felonies,” with those convicted facing criminal penalties and being subject to civil liability.

I hate to make this analogy, but it’s akin to the Gestapo’s NBH obsession. They knew they were acting illegally, and didn’t want to leave the evidence that would convict them.

[1] https://legalclarity.org/what-is-wiretapping-and-when-is-it-...

nulbyte•4mo ago
But, isn't intercepting communications using a fake cell tower a wiretap?
selectodude•4mo ago
Of course it is. But good luck proving how they got the information.
scaramanga•4mo ago
Assuming there is even a venue where evidence would be provided for the purpose of being looked at
gruez•4mo ago
>But, isn't intercepting communications using a fake cell tower a wiretap?

The article doesn't actually mention what ICE is actually using the cell site simulators for. It's possible that they're only collecting IMSIs and not text/voice traffic, which might still be wiretapping, but it'd be more difficult to argue in front of a judge.

jfyi•4mo ago
Are you familiar with the concept of parallel construction?

If evidence of the wiretap never needs to be entered into the official record, did it really exist in the first place?

SoftTalker•4mo ago
I wonder if there's an argument that mobile phones are using publicly-owned broadcast spectrum, and therefore, like when walking around in public, there isn't an expectation of privacy. Ham radio rules for example prohibit encryption because they are using public airwaves.

It used to be possible to just set up an analog receiver and you could listen to nearby cell phone calls.

maxlybbert•4mo ago
I actually find that a decent argument, but I believe it’s already been shut down. When police used thermal imaging to “observe” a house, without doing anything they thought required a warrant, the Supreme Court decided it was too intrusive ( https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/533/27/#tab-opin... ). But if I understand the ruling correctly, if the police make it well-known that they have the ability to do something intrusive, then they don’t need a warrant.
kevin_thibedeau•4mo ago
Intercepting cell phone communications is restricted by law. This was enacted when public officials had their clear AMPS phone calls recorded with legally owned passive radios.
Zetaphor•4mo ago
We're far beyond the point of them caring about the laws. Judges are granting temporary residency to immigrants in court proceedings, and then those same people are detained and deported by ICE as soon as they walk out of the courtroom.
myko•4mo ago
> They may not want to leave a paper trail.

This makes sense, considering the regime is hiring Jan 6th insurrectionists like Jared Wise. Legality has gone out the window.

JohnTHaller•4mo ago
> Why aren't they using the official lawful interception interfaces?

Probably for the same reason they're wearing masks

jeroenhd•4mo ago
Lawful interception requires things like paperwork, warrants, probably cause, and some kind of reason why you need to tap cellular comms in the first place. If you're operating a deportation agency in the style of roaming gangs of officers, you're probably not going to want to wait for the courts to dismiss your brute-force attempts to find illegals behind every door you break down.

The anti-2G security measure is pretty much exclusive to a few high-end phones as far as I can tell. iPhones can enable it with lockdown mode (which also disables things like JIT and can make websites and app run slower), Google has added a toggle, and I think a few other manufacturers have it too, but you need support in the modem firmware to actually do anything with it.

Even then, 3G and 4G can also leak identifiers if you can fake being a base station. The identifiers are not as easy to obtain as on 2G, but there's a reason 5G added a masking feature to LTE. Especially combined with access to an SS7 capable line, you can pretty much replicate all of the 2G hacks with cellular tech at least up to 4G, maybe even newer than that.

Cellular firmware protection mechanisms seem to be targeting 2G exploitation so far. It'd be extremely unpractical (and probably impossible) to enforce some kind of "5G NR only" mode, but without such a mode you're going to be at risk of Stingray-like devices.

tdeck•4mo ago
> Lawful interception requires things like paperwork, warrants, probably cause, and some kind of reason why you need to tap cellular comms in the first place.

In case folks hadn't been paying attention, probable cause isn't even worth their trouble when arresting someone these days.

> “DHS law enforcement uses ‘reasonable suspicion’ to make arrests,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to The Associated Press

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-admin-race-baiting-lawsuit-wo...

toast0•4mo ago
> The anti-2G security measure is pretty much exclusive to a few high-end phones as far as I can tell.

I've got it on my phone which I think is mid-market at best: moto g stylus 5g - 2023. Snapdragon 6 Gen 1. ~ $250 in 2023.

jeroenhd•4mo ago
That's great to hear. Last time I looked around in the cheaper segment, very few phones seemed to come with the feature.
hnuser123456•4mo ago
It's part of newer versions of stock android.
Bender•4mo ago
Lawful interception requires things like paperwork, warrants, probably cause

Technically yes but there are back-room agreements to bypass this. I used to have warrants on my desk to set up call tracing in the 90's and eventually I was told to not require them any more and just leave test system and modems enabled logging disabled so agents could set up their own call tracing. The people I worked for had no skin in the game as they were all from the EU. I would be very surprised if this was no longer a thing. If anything I would expect it to be much simpler and more stream-lined by now, probably some HTTPS API end-point and some app on their phone.

In fairness to the agents some things are time sensitive like kidnappings / abductions. Provided logging is not disabled I think it is fine they have real time access if someone actually audits the logs and matches them up to incidents much like license plate queries by cops are supposed to be audited.

scaramanga•4mo ago
Another possibility not mentioned here is simply demonstrating that they can get away with not doing so.
nickthegreek•4mo ago
anytime these type of stories come up, its helpful for someone to post about ieee's rayhunter opensource project.

https://github.com/EFForg/rayhunter

which pairs nicely with a

https://www.amazon.com/Orbic-Verizon-Hotspot-Connect-Enabled...

spoaceman7777•4mo ago
Hmm, says it works with the Pinephone and Pinephone Pro too, which are very portable, and are just generally devices many more would consider useful (I've thought about buying one at least, just for the open-source-ness of it)
auguzanellato•4mo ago
Another nice tool is CellGuard

https://cellguard.seemoo.de/

It works on iOS devices without any extra hardware, even on non jailbroken devices, by analyzing baseband debug logs exported by the OS.

nxobject•4mo ago
For what it’s worth, the authors note that since this is installed on a phone, by the time CellGuard has detected a rogue base station, it’s too late anyway.
jeroenhd•4mo ago
These spying devices often do permit network traffic to flow through, so if deployed widely these apps could be used to report on where large-scale messing with cellular communications is taking place. The only way to stop this technology is to turn off your phone completely (and opt out of any low-power "find my" networks built into Android and iOS, of course).
nickthegreek•4mo ago
faraday pouch for added peace of mind.
Scoundreller•4mo ago
iPhone / iOS Find My function doesn’t require cellular data.

https://support.apple.com/en-in/104978#:~:text=If%20Find%20M...

Still lots of devices that have physical SIM cards and would be senseless if the device couldn’t be tracked if the SIM was removed.

I figured it worked more like an AirTag and pinged nearby devices.

jeroenhd•4mo ago
That's my point. Apple and Google are using local BLE broadcasts that get uploaded to servers for locating devices. That means ICE can detect/count people in the vicinity by just monitoring the location network signals your devices will emit. For some devices, the location beacon feature will keep working even if you turn them "off".
josefritzishere•4mo ago
1984
potato3732842•4mo ago
Why wouldn't they? There's been people complaining about fed cops having these tools and techniques for over a decade now.
msie•4mo ago
I hear ICE's budget has grown to an absurd amount and they can operate through the shutdown.
intermerda•4mo ago
Trump's bill allocated 170 billion dollars to ICE. That figure is greater than annual defense spending of every country in the world other than US and China. I believe it's spread over four years, so amortized over that time period it would have more budget than all but 12 countries in the world.
chneu•4mo ago
To put into perspective of how insanely huge this is, Trump is about to bail out US Farmers who have been hit by Trump's trade wars. How much? $10 billion.

That means trump is spending 17x the farm bailout on ICE. That's insanity.

That $10 bil is coming out of our pockets.

lupusreal•4mo ago
Insanity is a politician actually doing what he said he'd do, and was elected to do.
godelski•4mo ago
If you're running an Android phone open settings > Network & Internet > Internet > click on your network (e.g. Google Fi) > turn on 2G network protection (at the bottom).

Alternatively: Security & privacy > Advanced Protection > Device protection. That does other stuff too though

I'm not aware of a way to do this on iPhones...

I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that many of these attacks work by performing 2G downgrading.

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF•4mo ago
> a way to do this on iPhones

A quick search suggests Lockdown mode might do it, which is corroborated by their support docs. It also does a bunch of other things that will probably degrade most users' experience, for what it's worth. https://support.apple.com/en-us/105120

> Wireless connectivity: Your device won't automatically join non-secure Wi-Fi networks and will disconnect from a non-secure Wi-Fi network when you turn on Lockdown Mode. 2G and 3G cellular support is turned off for iPhone and iPad.

(Instructions to enable it are on the linked page.)

godelski•4mo ago
Thanks!

But also WTF Apple... I appreciate that this mode exists but each of those things should be allowed to be toggled independently. People need more fine grained experience.

For things that I think will affect people more than the wireless connectivity

  Messages: Most message attachment types are blocked, other than certain images, video, and audio. Some features, such as links and link previews, are unavailable. 

  FaceTime: Incoming FaceTime calls are blocked unless you have previously called that person or contact within the past 30 days. Features such as SharePlay and Live Photos are unavailable.
I swear... Apple really does not want to make privacy and security convenient for users. It's as if (...) they want to provide the tools to say they have the best security but then make the UX so poor that no one will end up using them (and then they can justify not developing more because "nobody uses them")
xvector•4mo ago
Security engineer here. Bundling these together actually makes sense.

- Message attachments are blocked because Apple has not figured out to serialize and deserialize attachments without buffer overflows. Look at how many zero days are due to message attachments. It's pretty clownish tbh.

- FaceTime is blocked because Apple has not figured out how to prevent an incoming FaceTime call from silently spying on you, which has already happened a couple times.

Government interception of your cell connection falls into a similar category of threat, so it's bundled together.

toast0•4mo ago
> FaceTime is blocked because Apple has not figured out how to prevent an incoming FaceTime call from silently spying on you, which has already happened a couple times.

There's also the codec problem. Apple doesn't trust itself to write secure codecs for message attachments, realtime codecs are at least as suspect. Codecs are tricky, and many vendors mess them up, so I'm not picking on Apple.

godelski•4mo ago
I'm sorry, but you didn't make a case for bundling together and why finer grain control is would not make sense.

I have no doubt that the problems you guys solve are incredibly complex. There is no question about that.

But does bundling really make sense? I'm not sure why being subject to a 2G downgrade attack is relevant to my threat model including message attachments or FaceTime.

For example, going to a concert, protest, or any large gathering greatly increases my chance of being subject to a 2G downgrade attack but I'm unconvinced it increases my chances of multimedia or FaceTime based attacks.

These fall together in an high enough level but doesn't all security issues? A step down in abstraction and I don't think these are linked.

But you're the expert here. I'll trust you over me, but would like to better understand what I'm missing. This is Hacker News. We can expect everyone here to be familiar with programming and basic security here. So get technical with me

habinero•4mo ago
Also security engineer here. You're thinking too small and in the wrong direction. You're not protecting against 2G downgrade attacks, you're protecting against an attacker who has a whole library of things to try on you to see what works.

Lockdown mode is intended to protect against sophisticated actors, the kind who will buy 0days for six or seven figures, roll it into a new version of their product and sell it to governments.

Lockdown mode blocks the riskiest parts of the platform. For example, iMessage no longer automatically unfurls links, because anyone can send you a message and potentially send an exploit that your phone happily triggers without you doing anything.

You don't get to pick a la carte because Apple wants the feature to be effective and simple to enable.

CaptainOfCoit•4mo ago
> People need more fine grained experience.

That's pretty much against the Apple ethos, you're supposed to either use the things like everyone else does, or find something else. I guess that's the great and bad part about Apple. Signed, iPhone user.

Havoc•4mo ago
There is also a 5G standalone option that forces everything on to 5g

That would appear to cut 4G too though which is not great

hypeatei•4mo ago
Is there a reason why Google and Apple wouldn't turn 2G downgrade off by default? Even the setting itself says "emergency calls over 2G are still allowed" so what is the reasoning behind leaving people exposed to this?
simcop2387•4mo ago
Likely due to areas that still have only 2g coverage. Still a lot of that in rural usa
hypeatei•4mo ago
What areas are those? From some quick research, the only carrier left that provides 2G coverage is T-Mobile but they're phasing that out this year.
godelski•4mo ago
Just because the map shows you can get 5G (or 4G) does not mean you'll actually be able to use that network. It's tricky and telecom companies like to play these bullshit games. It's pretty similar to how they'll advertise "up to X MBPS" internet speeds but the average speed is far lower.

You'll actually have these experiences in congested cities. Ever go to a concert and realize you don't actually have cell service? That's because the tower is fully occupied. Unfortunately phones might not report this to you and might not report the downgrade. Making Android and Apple complacent...

yencabulator•3mo ago
Is that still true? Even 3G support was largely torn down in the US some years back.

https://www.eseye.com/resources/blogs/2g-3g-network-status-u...

https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/the-3g-shutdown-how-will-it-aff...

zigzag312•4mo ago
My recent experience when roaming was that calls only worked on 2G even though 4G and 5G were avaliable. After a call, phone would sometimes stay stuck on 2G which meant internet was not working. I had to disable 2G to force the phone to switch to 5G. But if I forgot to enable 2G again, calls didn't work. I checked this with multiple people and they all had the same issue.
ThePowerOfFuet•4mo ago
Then your carrier has a shitty roaming agreement where you were roaming. Enabling the 4G and 5G bearers is an option they can choose to enable (and pay for) their customers — or not.
wakawaka28•4mo ago
This is totally speculative but I bet 2G is more reliable and has longer range. If your reception is bad, it may be necessary to downgrade to get any connection at all.
SuperMouse•4mo ago
LTE/5G is available on the low bands (700/800MHz) in Europe for a long long time now.

I'm running LTE-only with zero problems for 2 years now without a single coverage gap. Even in the rural parts.

shakna•4mo ago
Europe's size may not lead you to comprehending the US' size.

East to west, Texas is larger than most European nations. Meaning it has rural areas larger than some European nations.

Whilst there probably are other complaints to add to build the explanation, scale isn't one. The US does have vast and empty spaces.

ThePowerOfFuet•4mo ago
Enabling newer 3GPP releases on low frequency bands is not a solution that only Europe can provide; they can do it in Texas, too, if they want to.
CaptainOfCoit•4mo ago
> Europe's size may not lead you to comprehending the US' size.

Why not?

Europe seems to be about 10 million km2 in land size, and the USA 9 million km2. Are you trying to say that because Europe has bigger land size, it's hard for Europeans to imagine individual states' sizes?

shakna•4mo ago
By everyone thinking you can get 100% coverage across the Great Basin Desert? Yes. Yes I do think that the population density of Europe leads them to think everything is closer and easier than it is.

That one desert, of many, is about 190,000 miles in size. That's half the size of the whole of France.

Are you really saying covering that, with 100% coverage, with no dead spots at all, is a reasonable task to undertake?

defrost•4mo ago
That's a population distribution issue, not an area size issue (you yourself raised the size of Texas as a "problem").

FWiW the state I grew up in is 3x the area of Texas with cattle stations larger than those tiny Texas ranches.

~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur5EQ1NZN6A

If you want to challenge the myth of coverage in Europe forget about size comparisons and look to some of the hard walking trails in remote areas; Via Dinarica Kosovo is known for it's beauty and harsh terrain, not for it's cell reception.

Elsewhere in the Balkans, Romania, et al you'll find blind spots.

shakna•4mo ago
The signal in the Kimberley's is shithouse, mate. Last time I was there, I went three days with zero signal, because I was in some more remote communities. That's not really an argument against what I was suggesting, is it?
defrost•3mo ago
> That's not really an argument against what I was suggesting, is it?

No, that's pretty much just a tangential straw interpretation of your own design as the signal quality in Kimberley, or lack thereof, has got three tenths of f'all to do with the issue being population distribution rather than size.

Both Europe and the US have low population regions with poor signal.

Upthread I suspect the anecdata about good quality signal in Europe came from somebody who had more exposure to the well trod higher population density parts of Europe and hadn't encounter less covered corners.

shakna•3mo ago
> I'm running LTE-only with zero problems for 2 years now without a single coverage gap. Even in the rural parts.

The anecdote, was suggesting that our vast and empty lands are trivial to cover. But as you know, that has nothing to do with reality. I'm so sorry I tried to convey it with a tinch of kindness to them. Next time I'll tell them to pull their fucking head in.

CaptainOfCoit•4mo ago
> Are you really saying covering that, with 100% coverage, with no dead spots at all, is a reasonable task to undertake?

Well, do people live in this desert? If not, then I wouldn't say that's reasonable.

But then I don't feel like your replies here are reasonable either and pretty disingenuous overall, so maybe lets just leave it at that, and you can continue believe your country is much bigger than it is.

shakna•4mo ago
Yes, people do.

But no, I don't live in America. I live in the much, much, much less dense country of Australia. Where tourists frequently die, because they believe that they'll have cell signal everywhere.

godelski•4mo ago

  > Well, do people live in this desert? If not, then I wouldn't say that's reasonable.
It stretches from Reno Nevada to Salt Lake City Utah. It also includes Las Vegas, Ogden Utah, and Provo Utah. But there are plenty of small cities in between. If you drove on the I-80 from Reno to SLC you'd pass through Fernley (23k people), Lovelock (2k), Imlay (200), Winnemucca (8.5k), Carlin (2.4k), Elko (21k), Wells (1.3k), Oasis (34), West Wendover (4.5k), and a few dozen more cities comparable to Imlay or Oasis as well as just as many ghost towns. That drive would take over 7hrs and is over 800km long.

This is not an uncommon setting in the US either. I'm sure there's a few unique paths like this in Europe, but honestly, are there that many? I once drove the majority of the US (I started in The South, so think 24 -> 70 -> 29 -> 80 -> 29 -> 90) and despite driving across almost all of America the biggest city I drove through was St Louis, which doesn't even have 300k people. I think if you counted all the people that were <5km distance from me over the subsequent several days and several thousand kilometers I doubt the number would add up to my stop in St Louis and would only have happened because I went through Sioux Falls (~200k at the time).

ben_w•3mo ago
I think the comparison here would probably be the Greek archipelago. Or indeed Greece, or even more broadly the Balkans, given how the settlements are mostly in valleys and there's a lot of mountains, but I wrote the next paragraph before thinking of that:

You can go into the absolute wilderness of the states/the waters of the Mediterranean with suitable gear, and there's some dotted isolated communities within the uninhabited territory/EEZ of the greater region.

I don't know if either has good cell coverage. I presume not, given I managed to lose cell coverage even just crossing the English Channel by ferry a few years back.

godelski•4mo ago
Size can mean multiple things.

Here's some quick facts comparing population and area

  - There are 17 European countries >100km2 but 37 US states are
  - 13 states (only one of those is <100km2) has a population density <= Norway. 
  - The most population dense state is Jersey, at 488 people/km2. 5 European countries are more dense than that.
  - 10 US states have >100 people/km2 but 25 European countries do (I'm rounding Albania up)
  - California, the most populous state, is smaller than Sweeden, but larger than Germany in area. It has half the population of Germany. 90% of CA's population lives in 5% of the area (near SF and LA)
  - Driving North-South through California takes a bit over 13hrs but if you add 30 minutes you'll only hit one of those areas. 
  - Driving East-West across Texas takes 12 hrs and you'll only go through 2 major cities. You are likely to see more tornadoes than cities and definitely more cows than people (I know from experience)
Most of the US population is in the East and West coasts. With far more in the east. Most of the US is just empty, but also the land is not nearly as nice as in Europe.

I don't think it is hard for Europeans to imagine individual state sizes, but likely won't imagine how empty it is. Hell, even Americans aren't good at that

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_and_population_of_Europea...

esalman•4mo ago
It looks like there's no such option on T-Mobile network settings. I'm on an OnePlus 12R and vanilla Oxygen OS.
hnuser123456•4mo ago
Not tmobile's fault, oxygenos' fault.
cookiengineer•4mo ago
Better way to protect yourself is to get rid of Android's Google Play services.

Install a mod like GrapheneOS or LineageOS and use F-droid to get your apps.

Install Molly, the FOSS Signal client.

Don't use WhatsApp, don't use Telegram, don't use Meta apps, don't use TikTok, don't use Snapchat.

Install EFFs Rayhunter App.

Install a Bluetooth beacon tracker protection app like AirGuard.

Use a firewall app like NetGuard to protect leaking traffic.

Always remember, a device has an IMEI associated with its modem, there is no point to switch SIM cards if they're tracking you. Phones with no removable battery are always on, even when they're off, and will react to Silent SMS (class 0) that are stealthy pings that can track you. Especially iOS devices are always trackable, even in Airplane mode or when they're turned "off".

Buy used hardware from eBay, check LineageOS wiki for compatibility.

Stay safe.

gdestus•4mo ago
Likely cataloging IMSIs and IMEIs which would not constitute a wiretap. I know from experience these circles are concerned about roving protestors and agitators.

These sort of metrics can also be used with commercially available RTB data if and when cases go to court. I'm about 90% certain they ARE NOT intercepting phone calls and I'm 80% certain they're not intercepting sms

scaramanga•4mo ago
yes, ICE strike me as deeply and sincerely concerned about both agitators and bringing robust cases to courts :)