“No ICE, please!”
ICE acts like it can go anywhere and do anything. Public places can push back by posting private areas (like kitchens) as off-limits. This is legal notification to ICE that they may not pass without a judicial warrant. Spread resources to local businesses to help them join, and publicize and thank the businesses that do.
How to do it:
While anyone can generally enter public businesses, private spaces in those businesses are not open to the public. ICE utilizes ambiguity to break laws, so make it unambiguous: post private areas as off-limits. To enter these areas, ICE needs a judicial warrant. While ICE breaks many laws, some people have been released because it’s easier than fighting the case in court. This is sand in the gears: slowing them down saves people. Start with the state-specific packets below. Most only need the immigrant-rights group information adapted for new locations. (Tip: use address labels to update contact information.)
Oregon Organizing
Oregon passed laws to stop ICE, offering state sanctioned support like this violation hot-line. Oregon For All maintains a comprehensive list of resources from educational materials for citizens, immigrants, non-profits, businesses, health-care facilities to Oregon-branded signs you can print. Oregon’s example is worth emulating in other states.
Washington Templates
WA Neighborhood Defense (WAND) offers a comprehensive packet of materials to take you from “I want to do something” to pitching businesses. From a script for your approach to a sample judicial warrant to educate about fakes, this is a comprehensive activation packet. Direct links to print signs and a weekly training are available for those near Seattle, too. The materials include WA information like WAISN contact information but could be easily re-branded for other locations.
Charlotte Resistance
Siembra North Carolina was organizing long before ICE illegally invaded a city 70 miles outside the “100 mile corridor” they claim for enhanced border protection. When ICE arrived, citizens packed churches for training, students stayed home or walked out in solidarity, and patrols stopped ICE detentions in parking lots. Charlotte set a new standard for “not in our back yard” and ICE withdrew within one week.
To find a program up and running in your area, keep an eye out for posters, or contact one of these rapid response networks, or an immigration rights group local to you. For more ways to fight ICE, see our collection of related actions: ICE block.
