The creator of Coquí, a new mobile application that alerts immigrants in the United States with reports fed by the community, says in an interview with Efe that the idea arose from the fear he now sees among his immigrants.
The ‘app’ works with the ‘crowdsourcing’ model or mass collaboration, so users upload images and mark the places where there is ICE presence, exposes its inventor, who asks to identify only as Peter.
Available for two weeks after the first tests in February, the alert platform of the raids of the customs immigration and control service (ICE, in English) and the presence of other agents.
People can make these warnings, but also verify that the danger reported is real to avoid false alarms of people looking to create panic, explains the developer.
“Essentially, any user can place a point on the map where they see any suspicious activity if they find any control point, if they are seeing a raid or an arrest, and can instantly alert anyone who is using the ‘app’,” he says.
Users “can also send direct alerts to their friends, their family or anyone,” he adds.
For solidarity Americans
The idea of the application arose because Peter directs a refuge for animals in a rural community in the north of the state of New York, where they take care of horses, goats, rabbits, ducks and other species, with the help of immigrants who have become “in friends, in family, into colleagues.”
“And when this administration (from President Donald Trump) came and began to impose arrests and deportations, we essentially saw a complete change in our community, where everyone was living with fear, people were scared to leave their homes,” he says.
Therefore, Peter devised Coquí, which bears the name of a native frog of Puerto Rico, where he lived for a while, which symbolizes “unity and solidarity”, as an efficient way to warn of the fuss and operational.
But, although the application serves immigrants, it is also designed for solidarity Americans.
«This is for Americans who miss the way in which it was the United States and who do not want people to live in fear. This has been established, essentially, as a tool to keep everyone informed, ”he says.
The application is launched while the interim director of ICE, Todd Lyons, told the CBS channel that it could reach its goal of deporting 1 million people a year, in compliance with Trump’s promise to carry out the greatest mass deportations in history.
The ‘app’ does not ask for user information to protect them, but Peter is this Friday in Florida for the number of alerts that users have placed in the state, where Governor Ron Desantis presumes to lead the implementation of Trump’s policy.
“We decided to come to Miami because we started seeing a lot of activity happening of the users, a lot of points on the maps here in Miami, so I decided to come to support the activity of the users,” he says.
The program has allied with fast -response citizen networks, but remains independent of any organization because “it is a movement of the bases.”
