Fear and Silence: ICE Pursues Gig Workers, Tech Giants Say Nothing

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Angry residents of a Washington high-rise apartment building gathered as federal agents, backed by Metropolitan Police Department officers, swooped in to encircle a delivery driver last week.

The armed agents with tactical vests arrived first. They were joined by District police officers and a truck brimming with the sorts of mopeds and scooters used by delivery drivers. Soon, the driver’s moped — representing another livelihood of a person at the bottom of Silicon Valley’s pecking order — was added to the pile.

Residents pleading for the driver’s release were ignored. As the police van drove away, one resident shouted at the driver, “Fuck you!” The officer lowered his window and spat in the resident’s direction.

Scenes like this have become common in a city under siege by President Donald Trump’s administration, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, and a federalized police force. The delivery drivers are only the latest targets of Trump’s attempt to turn the city into a test run for deploying troops and federal agents to cities that oppose his administration.

The delivery drivers’ whizzing motorcycles, mopeds, and electric bicycles filled city streets just a few weeks before, but now advocates say they’ve become a top ICE target. Hard numbers about the crackdown are hard to come by. In a statement, the police department linked the arrests of delivery drivers to an operation that dates back to last year — without acknowledging ICE’s new role. The targeting of delivery drivers appears to be widespread, however, and has led to a dramatic decline in the number of visible delivery drivers on the streets.

In stark contrast to Trump’s first term, when the major ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft both came out against the government’s Muslim ban, the big players in the food-delivery space have been quiet about the administration’s attack on their workforce.

Advocates for immigrants and low-wage workers told the companies owe it to their drivers to speak out.

“I would hope that every employer in the District is not only finding ways to protect their staff, but they are also speaking out and speaking to their elected folks about how unhappy they are,” said Michael Lukens, executive director of Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, which represents people facing deportation in the D.C. area. “Profit cannot be paramount over people.”