What to do if ice sweeps through your area

“It’s not a friendly situation for the officers there anymore,” Whitlock says. “This is not to make any excuse, but I can imagine that there is a mentality within ICE and CBP agents where they truly believe they are being attacked and threatened. And no one is above the law, but I think it’s important for people to understand that there will be limited forms of trying to hold these officers accountable in practice.”

On the scene

If you find yourself witnessing an immigration enforcement action, there are some things to keep in mind if you want to proceed.

“The goal is to be an observer and document what is happening,” says Nathan Pineau of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. “The goal is not to go and try to interfere with law enforcement actions.”

Training materials provided by Siembra NC, a North Carolina-based grassroots organization that works to defend its communities from exploitation, say the priority when ICE is present is to let agents know they are being monitored and remind people of their right to remain silent, while calming down whenever possible and promoting safety. The group advises that if ICE agents are conducting an arrest or traffic stop, responders should try to approach within their line of sight and identify themselves in the process.

Filming ICE’s behavior can let agents know they are being monitored, which may create some accountability for their actions, as well as a digital evidence trail for any issues or legal proceedings that may occur later. When interacting with federal agents as part of a team effort to respond to ICE, Siembra NC recommends identifying yourself as a volunteer, and asking agents who they are, what they do, and which agency they work for. Next, you can indicate that you will remain present to observe, while also recording any vehicle models, license plates, and personnel at the scene.

“We always advise people that if a law enforcement officer you’re photographing asks you to back up, you should back up and you should say it out loud — ‘I’m backing down, I’m backing down.’ That way, you’re recording that you’re complying with their orders,” says Nathan Pineau.

Multiple sources have confirmed that recording federal agents has a dual purpose, because if your behavior and the behavior of the people around you are appropriate for the situation, that will be recorded on your documents as well as any officer’s misconduct. However, the fact remains that depictions of peaceful interactions can be interpreted as aggressive or escalatory precisely because it is an accountability mechanism.

Proximity is one of the most important risks to assess when at the scene of an accident, says Xavier DeGannon, director of collective self-defense at the National Lawyers Guild. “The closer people are to federal agents or federal property, the more likely they are to be charged, handled or arrested,” he says.

Increasingly, federal prosecutors are seeking to bring criminal charges against people for allegedly assaulting federal officers, even if these cases In the end it doesn’t work It is later dropped. NLG recently published a guide On how protesters and observers assess risks related to the federal assault law.

Work from home

Even if you can’t venture out into the streets, there are other important ways to contribute to community safety efforts.

It was civil liberties groups Election campaigns Nationwide to ban real-time surveillance platforms and terminate lucrative contracts that feed information to ICE. You can contact your local officials’ offices and tell them to cancel surveillance contracts and stop information sharing and other law enforcement cooperation that fuels ICE operations.