The People vs. ICE: Pushing Back on State-Sponsored Terror
Protecting our neighbors and communities from Trump's Goon Squad
In the face of a cruel and relentless deportation machine, communities across the nation are rising up. We are not powerless.
We are organized, resilient, and filled with a powerful hope that together, we can protect our neighbors and build a country where everyone is safe.
This is not a time for fear, but for action. This guide is your roadmap to joining the resistance to ICE, a movement of ordinary people doing extraordinary things to defend human dignity. We can and will push back.
Know Your Rights and Prepare Your Defense
The first and most critical step in community defense is to know your rights and help others learn theirs. Everyone in the United States, regardless of immigration status, has constitutional protections.
Do Not Open Your Door: You do not have to open your door to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or other federal agents unless they show you a warrant signed by a judge. Ask them to slide the warrant under the door so you can inspect it. An administrative warrant from ICE or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is not enough to grant them entry.
Exercise Your Right to Remain Silent: You do not have to answer questions about where you were born, your immigration status, or how you entered the country.
Do Not Lie or Show False Documents: Never lie to federal agents or provide fake documents.
Ask if You Are Free to Leave: If you are stopped by agents in public, ask “Am I free to go?”. If they say yes, walk away calmly.
Create a Family Preparedness Plan: Help at risk families create an emergency plan. This should include identifying a caretaker for children, making financial arrangements, and ensuring a trusted person has copies of important documents.
Share “Know Your Rights” Information: Distribute materials like the Immigrant Legal Resource Center’s “Red Cards,” which help people assert their rights in multiple languages.
Be a Community Defender: Observe, Record, Report
When you witness an enforcement action, you can play a crucial role as a community defender. Your presence and documentation can deter abuses and provide critical information for legal defense.
Observe and Bear Witness: You have a right to be present and observe the actions of law enforcement from a safe distance. Your role is to be a witness, not to interfere with an arrest.
Document Everything: Safely record video of the interaction and take detailed notes. Write down badge numbers, license plates, the number of officers, and which agencies are present (local police, ICE, Customs and Border Protection). Note the exact time and location.
Ask Questions Safely: If possible, ask agents why a person is being detained and where they are being taken.
Report the Raid Immediately: Call your local rapid response hotline to report the activity. This is the most important step, as it allows trained legal observers and community defenders to be dispatched to the scene.
Verify Before You Post: Spreading unconfirmed rumors of raids on social media can create unnecessary panic. Only share information that has been vetted by a trusted source, such as a local rapid response network.
Join the Front Lines: Rapid Response and Community Patrols
Organized, on the ground resistance is the backbone of community defense. These networks provide a powerful, real time countermeasure to federal enforcement operations.
Find Your Local Rapid Response Network: These networks operate 24/7 hotlines and dispatch trained volunteers to monitor ICE activity, ensure rights are respected, and provide legal support. Find your local hotline and get involved.
Volunteer as a Legal Observer or Dispatcher: Networks need volunteers to answer hotline calls and go to the scene of reported raids to legally observe and document the actions of federal agents.
Participate in Community Patrols: Inspired by the Black Panther Party, groups like Unión del Barrio organize community patrols to monitor neighborhoods for undercover ICE vehicles. They alert residents in real time through social media and group chats, empowering the community and providing a visible deterrent.
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Provide Critical Support and Aftercare
The work of solidarity continues long after a raid is over. When a community member is detained, their family is thrown into crisis.
Support Legal Defense: Donate to organizations that provide free or low cost legal services to immigrants facing deportation. Most people in immigration proceedings do not have a right to a government appointed lawyer.
Help Families Left Behind: The detention of a primary earner can be financially devastating. Support local efforts that provide for basic needs like rent, food, and utilities for affected families.
Show Up and Bear Witness: After an arrest, organize or attend vigils at the local ICE field office or detention center where people are being held. Public pressure is a powerful tool to advocate for their release on bail.
Offer Sanctuary: Faith communities have a long history of providing sanctuary to those in need. Encourage your congregation to become a sanctuary space for community members facing deportation.
Wield Your Political Power
While direct action is essential, we must also challenge the deportation machine at its source by applying political pressure.
Defund Hate: Call your congressional representatives and senators at (202) 224-3121. Demand they decrease funding for ICE and CBP and reject any budget that expands their power.
Demand Accountability: Urge Congress to conduct rigorous oversight of ICE and CBP to curb their abuses. Federal agents have been documented using excessive force against peaceful protesters, medics, and journalists.
End Local Collaboration: Research whether your local law enforcement collaborates with ICE through programs like 287(g). Advocate for local “sanctuary” policies that end this cooperation, which fuels racial profiling and erodes community trust.
Engage the Media and Candidates: Write letters to the editor and op-eds about why this issue is important to your community. During election season, ask all candidates where they stand on immigration and demand they commit to humane policies.
The work of resistance is built on countless small acts of courage and solidarity. By knowing your rights, showing up for your neighbors, and demanding change, you become part of a powerful movement that is holding the line against cruelty.
Hope is not passive; it is an action. Let’s get to work.