TikTok Influencers Leverage Power of Gossip to Thwart ICE Raids
Videos warn of law-enforcement raids, provide tips to avoid deportation.
ICE agents, along with other federal law enforcement agencies, meet ahead of a raid in Chicago on Jan. 26.
Photographer: Christopher Dilts/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Jackeline Vera built a loyal following of tens of thousands of followers on TikTok posting “chismes,” or gossip, about celebrities such as Bad Bunny and Rauw Alejandro.
That was until Donald Trump was elected president for a second time and promised the largest mass deportation in US history. It was only then that Vera, who makes her living as a content creator in Chicago under the handle @jaxxchismetalk, began posting about politics.