IN LOS ANGELES, PEOPLE ARE POSTING “ICY ROADS” ON WAZE TO WARN OF ICE RAIDS
Pretty much everyone who drives uses some kind of map app these days. I use it for long drives, or when I want to find the fastest route. But driving apps these days now include all sorts of other info, most of it a warning for safety or to help you avoid getting a speeding ticket. Sometimes it seems to be too much depending on the app. But these days getting around can be pretty hazardous, especially for people who are in fear of arrest and deportation. Yet in a sign of solidarity, the users on the driving app Waze have been coding the warning of “icy roads” to let people know ICE is nearby in Los Angeles.
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“ICY ROADS” IS NOW A FUNCTIONAL POLITICAL STATEMENT IN A TIME OF TURMOIL
This might be weird for Los Angelenos at first, or downright strange for people visiting. After all, how often has Los Angeles been graced with icy roads in the last century? Not too often. But this year, it’s been “graced” all too frequently ICE agents variously harassing, arresting and even assaulting people, many of whom end up being deported with nebulous legal standing. It’s been happening so much that locals need a warning system so they know where to go, where not to go, and where to go protest or document the goings on. “Icy roads” is now a political statement, in Los Angeles so far.
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WAZE THE COMPANY ISN’T PLEASED AT USE OF “ICY ROADS” ACTIVISM, VOWS TO REMOVE
Elsewhere in the United States people have also been using Facebook and WhatsApp Groups to give people a heads up about ICE raids and operations. Waze the company isn’t happy with their app being used this way, and is removing “false and inaccurate reports” from the map as they are identified. But there’s currently no way for the company to stop users from placing the hazard warning of “icy roads” for now. But this situation just goes to show how people will mobilize in any way they can. “Icy roads” on Waze and other driving apps is only likely to spread beyond Los Angeles.
