My increasing conviction that Concepcion was showing signs of strain was reinforced upon hearing this unbelievable plan. Beyond contending with his typical psychological challenges, he now faced immense monetary strain: jobless, yet obligated to cover upwards of $3,000 monthly for AI subscriptions and hosting services. During one candid confession, he told me, “Last night I just collapsed in tears. I was like, fuck, this has been an arduous ordeal, this whole uncertainty about the future, not knowing where the next income is going to come from.”
Those acquainted with Concepcion recognize he is prone to allowing his noble impulses to overshadow his practical judgment. Curt Hedges, a director at a health supplements company who became friends with Concepcion years ago, once donated a substantial amount to Concepcion’s philanthropic endeavor to acquire equipment for a group of Laotian photographers. “He lacks a middle ground—it’s either complete dedication or total detachment,” Hedges states. Nevertheless, Hedges has witnessed how Concepcion’s zeal, however admirable, can lead to individual difficulties, including extensive credit-card debt. And when 3 am texts about DEICER started arriving from Concepcion, Hedges grew concerned. “I’ve been reluctant to bail him out, because when you rescue him it only prolongs his entanglement in that predicament for an additional half-year,” he confided. “It isn’t as constructive as it ought to be.”
When ICE descended upon Minneapolis this winter, its agents were furnished with a diverse range of advanced monitoring instruments. As initially reported by 404 Media, for instance, ICE was now utilizing an application called ELITE that leverages Medicaid and other sensitive health data to pinpoint prospective arrestees. Agents were also heightening their dependence on Webloc, software capable of tracking every cell phone within a several-block area.
However, the city’s vigorous opposition also possessed its own digital assets. In addition to Signal chats, many locals adopted People Over Papers, a collaborative geospatial application at IceOut.org that shares many similarities with DEICER. The site overflowed with numerous firsthand accounts about alleged ICE agents observing schools, conversing with municipal police officers, and dining in taquerias.
I contacted Concepcion in mid-January to solicit his perspective on the developments in Minneapolis and to inquire about his ongoing communication with Apple—knowing he was drafting his third petition regarding DEICER’s removal from the App Store. Yet, when we spoke, he indicated he had a much more urgent matter on his mind. On the morning of January 9, ICE had apprehended Gabriel’s father.
As stated by Concepcion, Gabriel’s father had been driving with his wife to the restaurant when their vehicle was intercepted. Concepcion recounted that the agents praised the couple for being compliant, then presented them with a tormenting dilemma: One of them would have to yield to detention, while the other could go free. Gabriel’s father chose to be apprehended and was subsequently conveyed to Batavia, the same holding facility where his son had endured a few dreadful weeks in April.
Concepcion abandoned all other tasks to again offer tangible support to Gabriel’s family. He scheduled a consultation with a lawyer, who observed that bail was highly improbable given the prevailing circumstances; instead, he advised submitting a habeas petition, a judicial strategy that could take many months to be adjudicated. (Since January 2025, more than 30,000 people in migratory custody have filed habeas petitions.) Concepcion also drove to Batavia to visit Gabriel’s father, who was in deteriorating health owing to the establishment’s conditions. Sections of the center are so insufficiently heated during winter that detainees have dubbed them Las Hieleras—the Iceboxes.
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