Since Donald Trump’ s inauguration, ICE has ramped up aggressive attempts to abduct and deport community members across the country. ICE’s tactics and strategies aren’t new. It’s important to remember that every president (yes, even Barack Obama & Joe Biden) and congress has increased ICE’s budget since its creation in 2003. ICE threatening more and more people has always been a logical conclusion of its existence. ICE must be abolished.

Trump’s current “Border Czar” Tom Homan (a West Carthage, New York native who began his career as a West Carthage Police Officer) was first appointed to an executive director position with ICE in 2013 by Obama. Obama gave Homan a Presidential Rank Award as a “Distinguished Executive” after Homan began arguing children should be separated from their parents in immigration custody. Now, Trump and feverish white nationalists in the Republican Party have prioritized taking ICE’s already despicable activity to new levels.

Trump’s new spending bill is expected to at least triple ICE’s annual budget from $10.4 billion in 2025 to more than $30 billion in 2026. That’s alongside billions of dollars to build more “detention centers” (they are concentration camps). The bill allocates at least $170 billion to policing the border. The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimated in March that it would cost just $9.6 billion a year to provide permanent housing to every person who has lived in a homeless shelter this year. In 2021, the U.N. World Food Programme Executive Director estimated that it would cost $40 billion a year to end world hunger by 2030. Elites choose to use our communal resources against us instead of to empower us. So it is our responsibility to resist, rebel, and win.

Without the political power to abolish ICE today, we must make every step ICE takes as difficult as possible. We must ensure ICE agents are pariahs when they attempt to work (and recruit) in our communities. Anyone who chooses to work for (or with) ICE has decided they want to tear families apart, separate children from their communities, and act without conscience. They are depraved losers. Antagonistically telling ICE agents what you think of their character and work is a protected first amendment right.

There are understandable fears about where ICE expansion could go next. We have already seen ICE mobilized to target legal residents, especially political dissidents advocating for Palestine. Trump has threatened the status of naturalized citizens as well. However, undocumented community members remain ICE’s primary focus and are still under the most direct threat.

Building an apparatus that protects the most vulnerable in our community is the best way to keep us safe. If we can keep ICE from abducting undocumented members of our community, we can protect anyone who becomes a target of the government.

Know Your Rights!

Whether you are personally at risk of deportation or not, understanding our rights can be imperative to protecting yourself and community members.

If ICE agents attempt to enter a private residence or office, ask to see a signed judicial warrant to let them in. Do not open the door to receive a piece of paper; insist they use a crack under the door or mail slot. Confirm the warrant is actually signed by a judge. If not, refuse to let them enter and say you will not speak to them or let them in without a signed judicial warrant.

It is important to know the distinction between judicial and administrative warrants. To enter and search private spaces (homes, non-public areas of business, etc.), ICE needs a judicial warrant issued by a court and signed by a judge. A judicial warrant will say Superior Court of New York or U.S. District Court at the top. Make sure the address is correct (it’s invalid if it’s not). Check the date and signature. An administrative arrest warrant or warrant of removal does NOT give ICE permission to enter or search a private premise.

If ICE agents illegally enter a private residence or business, reiterate, “I do not consent to you being here. Please leave,” and attempt to film the illegal search.

For businesses or other workplaces open to the public, ICE is not supposed to enter areas that are marked “Employees Only” without a signed judicial warrant. Marking more areas as explicitly employee only (ideally areas separated by a door) could prove critical to slowing down ICE.

If you’re at risk of deportation and approached by ICE agents who ask you to confirm your name, ask if you are free to go. If they say yes, tell them “I don’t want to answer your questions,” and walk away. If they say no, use your right to remain silent and representation by saying, “I invoke my right not to answer questions and want to speak to a lawyer.”

If ICE attempts to search you or your belongings, say, “I do not consent to a search.”

Remember that ICE, like any police force, consistently violates people’s rights and breaks laws. Recording these violations on video will strengthen challenges in court. However, there is no magic bullet. Knowing your rights can be critical for yourself and others, but we need to build strong organized groups to ensure complete protection for our communities.

Want to report ICE sightings? Use S.A.L.U.T.E.

One of the best ways to protect your community from ICE is by building neighborhood defense groups which can respond rapidly to ICE sightings and mobilize communities to stop ICE kidnappings in the neighborhood.

Anyone is able to build their own neighborhood defense group. There are many online resources like defendandrecruit.org with helpful guides if you would like to build your own. However, if you’re looking for an existing group, NYC ICE Watch has built out extensive rapid response networks across the city, including Crown Heights, and holds training to bring more people into these networks.

Regardless of who you’re reporting to or what networks you’re involved in, it’s critical to be able to provide helpful information as fast as possible. To do this, follow the acronym S.A.L.U.T.E to report your sightings.

Size/Strength: For example “5-6 armed agents”
Actions/Activity: “standing outside Duane Reade”
Location: “Church Ave and E 92nd St, Brooklyn”
Uniform/Clothes: “bulletproof vests, ballcaps”
Time: “6:48 AM July 18”
Equipment: “body armor and holstered guns”

Whenever you see suspected ICE activity, try to provide as many details as possible, and take photos and videos as well! This will allow rapid response networks to respond quickly and effectively. Direct message NYC ICE Watch (@nycicewatch) on Instagram with SALUTE information to report a sighting (you can also go to salute.kyr.digital to quickly generate a SALUTE message to share).

If you are a U.S. citizen and willing to risk arrest, confronting ICE agents can slow them down and help notify nearby folks of their presence. Be sure to record these interactions for your safety.

Our communities are more than capable of protecting us from ICE forces. There’s a great deal we can do to build resilient community infrastructure, but effectively identifying and communicating ICE sightings is the first step!

This article was originally published in the first edition of The People’s Torch. You can pick up a print copy for free at Another World, a community organizing space in Crown Heights, Brooklyn (629 Nostrand Ave.). Read the digital edition here and support Another World and The People’s Torch with a direct donation.

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This post was originally published on CounterPunch.org.