Grab ABOLISH ICE flyers, posters, and stickers in the Chaotic Good Trouble resource library!
The Jan. 7 murder of Renee Good in Minneapolis isn’t the first time agents from ICE — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — have shot and killed someone:
Federal officers have fatally shot at least three other people in the last five months, according to news reports reviewed by The Marshall Project. In September, Silverio Villegas González, a father originally from Mexico who worked as a cook, was killed while reportedly trying to flee from officers in a Chicago suburb, WBEZ reported. In December, a border patrol agent killed a 31-year-old Mexican citizen while trying to detain him in Rio Grande City, Texas. And on New Year’s Eve, an off-duty ICE agent used his service weapon to shoot a man in Los Angeles, California, according to CBS News. Authorities said the man had raised a rifle at the officer.
Not to be overlooked amid the gun violence is the ongoing terror campaign ICE agents have inflicted primarily upon nonwhite individuals and people with vaguely “ethnic” accents. The ramp-up in immigration enforcement is racist stop and frisk on steroids … on steroids. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh says this is fine. ICE is also targeting anyone who dares to clap back at this administration’s brutality, meaning hundreds of peaceful protesters are being detained, beaten, gassed, tased, pepper-balled, run over, slammed to the ground, and shot in the face. A U.S. appeals court says this is fine. None of this is fine.
Meanwhile, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem hides behind lace-draped lecterns (yes, we know it was mesh) wearing larger and larger cowboy hats to distract the public from her constant drone of shameless lies. Noem never misses a chance to defend and excuse these goons, a collection of chuds in combat fatigues and full face masks, cosplaying secret police, slave catchers, and brownshirts but with a $50,000 signing bonus.
In between providing the occasional laugh when slipping on ice or fumbling their guns like dipshits, these upstanding Christian men delight in being filmed rappelling down Chicago apartment buildings, battering down doors in the wee hours of the morning, and zip-tying children. It’s racist humiliation rituals and ethnic cleansing for content, pumped into a propaganda factory that shits out nonstop social media gruel consisting of chunky AI slop, recycled Nazi imagery, and Christofascist manifest destiny pablum.
Republicans in Congress refuse to do anything resembling holding this president or his administration accountable. The GOP loves ethnic cleansing and they definitely love covering up for child rapists! Democrats are failing to meet the moment as usual, as they can’t be bothered, as a caucus, to say “Abolish ICE.” They squeak like little meek mice to say ICE must be reformed — trained better and equipped with body cameras! — rather than be abolished. (Body cameras not only have not been shown to be effective in reducing police brutality, they also aren’t effective for keeping officers safe or making communities feel safer. Besides, just ask Jonathan Ross — who intentionally held up his phone to record himself as he executed Renee Good — whether being filmed from his own perspective was a deterrent to him shooting a protester in the face and calling her a “fucking bitch” as her corpose crashed into a nearby tree.) Then they vote to continue funding these atrocities. Disgusting.
We’re on our own; let’s get to work
The rapid intensification of brazenly unconstitutional ICE activity and intentional escalation by the Trump administration are putting the safety and security of every person in the United States — especially those in targeted racial and ethnic groups — in grave danger.
ICE agents are brazenly, recklessly trampling rights, disappearing people, and sending them to be abused, tortured, and trafficked. This administration wants us to believe that, not only should they be able to do this to us, they should be able to do so without any community input, oversight, visibility, or accountability. And they want us to shut up and quit complaining. Local and state law enforcement is not going to save us or intervene because they ultimately, due to their very nature, will collaborate with or be overtaken by fascists.
This is how a society smolders until it explodes. If you are feeling helpless and isolated in this moment, lean into your desire for justice by committing to being a small but important piece of a much larger movement that will shift because you are helping make it normal to resist this bullshit.
To protect one another, we must resist in creative, unexpected ways big and small. Every individual will have to figure out what that looks like for them and what risks they are willing to take. Everyone has different strengths, abilities, and circumstances. All can be tools for liberation. Be brave and others will stand up too.
Some flavors of resistance we’ve seen recently
- Local ICE watch groups educating about constitutional rights and alerting communities when ICE is in the area
- Protesters marching, demonstrating, and making noise outside hotels housing ICE agents so they can’t sleep
- People 3D printing whistles and making ICE whistle kits for neighborhood watch groups
- Groups dancing and mocking ICE agents outside detention centers, sometimes while wearing costumes
- Banner drops from overpasses and buildings where ICE does business
- School and workplace walk-outs
- Boycotts of companies contracting with ICE
- Disruption of a church service where the pastor was unmasked as an ICE agent
- Publishing a crowd-sourced wiki of ICE agents so communities can know who’s behind the masks
- Women are catfishing ICE agents on dating apps and then exposing them
- Signs for business windows and doors telling ICE they aren’t welcome (we have some in the works!)
There are many ways you can use your power, privilege, and influence to plug into this movement. Remember that there are lots of other forms of support you can offer in your community: Immigrant rights nonprofits, legal aid groups, food pantries, etc., are always in need of donations and volunteers so they can meet critical needs during this scary time.
As always, if you’re not a member of a race, nationality, or ethnicity being targeted by ICE, look to the people who are already on the ground and embedded in those communities for inspiration and guidance on what is needed.
Grab our printable flyers, posters, and stickers
One important way to push back against the brutality and hatefulness of this moment is through spreading messages that uplift targeted communities and mock/belittle the fascists who are terrorizing them. This is an important part of sustaining morale in what is going to be — and has already been — a long fight.
What we’re experiencing is in large part information warfare and the fascists are flooding the zone with terror. Dilute the terror with joy, love, inclusiveness, and courage.
If you’re not sure where to start, check out our resource library, where we’ve loaded up lots of anti-ICE designs for posters, flyers, and stickers. You can download and print on a pay-what-you-want basis.
Be loud with yard signs, shirts, and more
Ready to take your anti-ICE message beyond a printed flyer? We’ve got shirts, hats, face masks, yard signs, and so much more to say how you really feel. Merch sales help fund the time we put into our pay-what-you-can resource library as well as our ongoing (offline) direction action and mutual aid efforts.
P.S. Have you seen the “nastiest angle” TikTok trend? Check it out for a good laugh and/or inspiration!