This Is The Texting Service Undocumented Immigrants Are Using To Avoid Police

*This isn’t new, in a sense. It’s an old idea that uses new technology. It used to be that the position of immigration checkpoints were broadcast through commercial radio call-ins.

By David Noriega, BuzzFeed

When Alfredo Rodriguez and his friends sit around a table drinking a beer, it’s not unusual for all of their phones to light up with the same message.

Possible checkpoint, the text messages read in Spanish, followed by the name of a street or an intersection. Have a friend without PaseLaVoz? Get him to call 832 810 1576.

Rodriguez is an undocumented immigrant in North Carolina, and PaseLaVoz — Spanish for “spread the word” — is a text-message-based peer-to-peer network that subscribers use to notify one another about the precise location of police checkpoints, allowing them to avoid encounters with law enforcement and possible deportation. The service works by gathering text reports from users, modifying them slightly for readability, and redistributing them out to people who sign up to receive messages within certain zip codes.

Click HERE to read the full story.

[Photo courtesy BuzzFeed]

 

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