Fighting Back: How Cities Can Resist Trump’s Fascist ICE Raids
Trump's Attacks on Immigrant Communities
Since taking office, Donald Trump has ramped up aggressive immigration enforcement across the United States. ICE agents are conducting more raids in neighborhoods, workplaces, and schools than we've seen in years. Federal authorities are detaining protesters at peaceful demonstrations, disappearing activists, and separating children from their parents.
These dangerous actions have caused serious fear among communities nationwide. Over 11 million undocumented immigrants live in the US, and many have been here for decades with deep community ties. Families are being torn apart, and entire neighborhoods are living in constant fear about when masked gun-bearers might come knocking.
The Trump administration has also weaponized military resources to assist with mass deportation efforts. When Americans protested his actions, he deployed 4,000 National Guard troops to taunt and assault civilians. This approach violates first amendment rights and treats immigration like a national security crisis rather than the foundation of modern-day American life.
But here's the good news — there's a lot we can do at the local level to fight back and protect our communities. Cities and local governments have way more power than most people realize when it comes to limiting cooperation with ICE.
Your city council, mayor, and local officials can create genuine safe spaces for everyone in your neighborhood, regardless of where they came from. Here’s how.
Learning from Sanctuary Cities Across America: Immigration Case Studies
Several cities have already figured out how to effectively implement sanctuary policies, and their success stories show us what's possible. Observing what they've done helps us better understand the tools available to protect our neighbors.
San Francisco has been leading the way on sanctuary city policies for over 30 years. The city’s government straight-up refuses to let its employees help ICE unless required by law. San Francisco cops can't hold people in jail just because ICE asks them to, and city workers can't ask about someone's immigration status when they request city services.
New York City takes a similar approach with some interesting distinctions. The city limits cooperation with ICE and actually pays for lawyers to help immigrants facing deportation. Activists are currently fighting to expand funding for this initiative. Furthermore, NYC created a municipal ID program that helps undocumented residents access city services and feel better connected to their community.
The city also ensures immigrants can report crimes and work with police without worrying about being handed over to federal authorities. This helps everyone: it means that fewer people are afraid to call for help for themselves or others when it's needed.
Los Angeles combines strong non-cooperation policies with real community support programs. Like San Francisco and New York, LA limits when police can work with ICE. But the city goes further by funding legal aid programs and creating rapid response networks that spring into action when ICE raids happen.
LA also trains city employees on how to deal with ICE agents and protect residents' rights. A third of LA County residents are foreign-born, so these policies impact a huge portion of the community.
Chicago is a useful case study of how localities are evolving their strategies amidst Trump’s fascist takeover. A hotline has been created to call in the illegal swapping or hiding of license plates, which ICE agents are doing on a daily basis. Activists have created social media pages and secure chats to keep neighbors informed of sightings and abductions, and they’ve activated mutual aid efforts to keep watch at schools during dropoff and pickup times. They’re fighting back by protecting each other.
Ultimately, all four cities share some basic ideas in their sanctuary policies. They don't waste tax dollars and city resources on immigration enforcement, they limit responses to ICE detention requests, and they don't let city agencies ask about immigration status. Yet each city has tweaked these ideas to work for their specific situation and legal requirements.
And the constitutional support for these policies is extremely solid. The Tenth Amendment says that powers not given to the federal government belong to states and local communities. Federal courts have backed this up again and again, ruling that the government can't force cities to support their immigration tactics.
Building Stronger Communities Through Political Action
Protecting our immigrant communities isn't just about speaking up when it’s politically convenient. It takes elected officials who will actually fight for these values and enact them into law. Cities need to focus on getting pro-immigration, anti-racist, progressive candidates to run for local office.
So don't sleep on local elections — they matter much more than people think. School board, city council, and mayoral races all have a huge impact on protecting vulnerable residents.
A recent study shows that around 200 cities and counties across the US have some form of sanctuary policy, but we need far more than that if we want to fully protect the people who hold this country together.
When we elect leaders who understand that immigrants have built America and made our communities stronger, we're making real progress. These officials can expand sanctuary policies, increase funding for legal aid programs, and make sure local cops focus on keeping everyone safe instead of enforcing Trump’s fascism.
America's whole story is about folks coming here from somewhere else and fighting to make it better. From the very beginning to this current moment, people from all over the world have contributed to our success.
Embracing this history and protecting immigrant communities today means our cities will continue to thrive tomorrow.
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