Less than two months in office and the new Trump administration is calling for ethnic cleansing in Gaza and showing us many legitimate scare tactics to cause nationwide fear. One of the many attacks on already vulnerable populations, is the expansion of immigrant detentions and a mass deportation plan. Here are some ways to understand the situations better in order to keep each other safe and support organizations who have been doing the work of assisting community members at risk of forced detention and deportation. 

In the long colonial and racist history* of the United States, let us not forget that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E), is a very new entity. After 9/11, hate rhetoric (particularly towards Muslim identified immigrants) increased and we saw the formation of I.C.E in March of 2003, as a means of control at primarily the southern border with Mexico, trade, customs and immigration policies. Since 2003, the number of deaths in I.C.E. custody has been recorded by the Detention Watch Network to be 237 people. 

*For some more historical context, see CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT (1882), MEXICAN REPATRIATION (1929-1936), and EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066 (1942).

“I.C.E. now has more than 20,000 law enforcement and support personnel in more than 400 offices in the United States and around the world. The agency has an annual budget of approximately $8 billion, primarily devoted to three operational directorates – Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA). A fourth directorate – Management and Administration – supports the three operational branches to advance the I.C.E. mission.” (via I.C.E.) 

Where I reside in Tacoma, Washington, hidden in the industrial port a mile across the water from downtown, is home to one of I.C.E.’s renowned immigrant detention facilities, the Northwest I.C.E. Process Center or NWIPC (formerly named and still referred to by many as the Northwest Detention Center or NWDC). We know they are still processing people. La Resistencia, a grassroots organization led by undocumented immigrants and people of color that have been oppressed by the immigration enforcement system (from their website), has brought media attention to atrocities happening inside of NWDC such as recent deaths and outbreaks that otherwise the general public and elected officials would know nothing about due to their constant support and communication with people detained. In the last year, two people detained  died inside of NWDC due to mistreatment and medical neglect. Mr. Charles Leo Daniel, a 61-year old man from Trinidad & Tobago, was pronounced dead in solitary confinement on March 7, 2024. On October 27, 2024, Mr. José Manuel Sanchez-Castro, a 36-year-old man from Mexico, was also pronounced dead in medical isolation after enduring treatable withdrawal symptoms. Solitary confinement is a psychological form of torture and anyone subjected to such, even for a a couple days, experiences mental health impacts. In the case of Mr. Daniel, he was subjected to over four years of solitary confinement at NWDC, before passing away after already spending 13 years of his life in solitary, in many Washington State prisons. According to research at the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights, Mr. Daniel “served the second-longest stretch of solitary confinement of any person in I.C.E. custody since 2018, despite being identified by I.C.E. as having significant mental illness.” The top case of someone being detained in solitary the longest is still ongoing at NWDC today. 

After over ten years of supported efforts to stop people from being detained and deported, it is well known that these systems are created to gain profits for corporations that I.C.E. contracts with GeoGroup (who owns and maintains this facility in Tacoma.) When incidents like this occur, the common tactic is for I.C.E. and GeoGroup to point fingers at each other rather than take accountability for any harm they have ensued. This does not include the death upon arrival for many of those deported with dire health conditions that were not addressed while detained, lacking medical care like dialysis upon arrival, risk of further detention, or murder based on targeted identities that made them leave their home country in the first place. We know detention and deportation not only separate families but are also huge health risks. 

In the past few weeks alone at NWDC, La Resistencia reported an outbreak of Varicella (the virus that causes the Chicken Pox), and at least one known positive Covid case while over a 40 day continued hunger strike continues to the dire conditions inside. All through the height of the pandemic, NWDC has not stuck to strict safety precautions, putting people detained and workers at risk of disease. One I.C.E. officer who worked at NWDC even died of Covid. 

On February 2, 2025, La Resistencia reported an unusual flight of 110 people arriving handcuffed, in civilian clothing to the King County Airport. One volunteer on La Resistencia’s flight observation team said, “This is the largest group of people we’ve seen arrive for detention at the Northwest Detention Center since we began doing observations at King County Airport in May 2023.” Not only were their civilian clothing inadequate for the frigid temperatures and snowy weather, they were handcuffed at their hands and feet. 

La Resistencia reported that “Northwest Detention Center has the capacity to detain 1,975 people. Before the plane’s arrival, the number of detained individuals stood at 900. Now, the facility will feature more than one thousand people – the highest number of people detained at NWDC since the COVID-19 pandemic started – all being forced to face punitive conditions with no regards for hygiene or health.” 

The last few years have shown that not only detention facilities but also surveillance technology for I.C.E. is a way of the future. If not in cells, undocumented people are already being detained in the confines of their homes with ankle monitors or phone apps that can be tracked by I.C.E. at all times. None of these reformist strategies are the goal. We must continue to fight for total abolition of these harmful systems that profit off of undocumented people. With Clearview and facial recognition technology (FRT) in particular, we are going to see an increase of criminalization of immigrants and activists. And big tech companies are going to continue to monopolize and gather data. (Learn more at https://www.justfutureslaw.org/eyesontech) Companies such as LexisNexis profit off of their multimillion dollar data-sharing contracts with I.C.E. (You can find more information about the End the Contract campaign at https://endthecontract.wixsite.com/home) 

There are close to 40,000 people currently detained in the United States. In 2023, it was recorded that 273,220 people were detained, and 91% of people were detained in privately operated facilities, ( from Detention Watch Network.) Recently, there has been news coverage of the first people being brought from the U.S. and detained at Guantánamo Bay, in occupied Cuba. This prison has historically been known for initially detaining Haitians, Cubans and many muslims post 9/11. The reports of severe torture is all known too well and yet the Trump administration desires to fill Guantánamo Bay with 30,000 immigrants with their alleged crimes and a length of detention unknown. Many are naming this, a resurgence of a concentration camp. 

As of January 21, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security initiated “expedited removal” which puts more of our undocumented community members who have been in the U.S. for less than two years at risk of rapid deportation without any right to appear in front of an immigration judge or fight a legal case. “Expedited removal” was previously allowed by I.C.E. and Customs & Border Patrol (C.B.P.) within 100 miles of the border and within 14 days of their arrival to the United States. With this change, the U.S. government is enabling “expedited removal” of any undocumented person anywhere in the country who cannot prove they have been in the U.S. continuously for two years before the arrest. You always have the right to remain silent, not open your door to officers or answer any questions from I.C.E. and C.B.P. 

It is recommended by the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) to not carry any foreign identification such as a passport that could be used against you. (These are general guidelines and not legal advice. For legal assistance, please consult a lawyer.) It is important to carry copies of evidence that you have been in the U.S. for longer than two years. These could include postmarked and dated mail with your mailing address, a signed lease, and church or school records with your address. If you have evidence of lawful entry to the United States or have a pending asylum case or appeal, then carry a copy of that evidence with you. (You can find more recommendations from the National Immigration Law Center https://www.nilc.org/.) 

The people continue to rise up and resist this hateful regime with protests and workshops happening around the United States. From the Bay Area, to Chicago “A Day Without Immigrants” had vast participation of businesses, street vendors and students taking to the streets to declare their support for the immigrant community. Protests in Los Angeles gained a lot of media attention for shutting down a section of the 101 Freeway. 

This harm reduction work is not new. Detention and deportations will continue to happen as long as we do nothing. We will always find creative ways to keep each other safe. If you are looking for more resources on what to do and how to prepare if I.C.E. shows up at your house, place of work, neighborhood, classroom or place of worship,  below are some gleaned resources from Justseeds members and friends doing this work. By any means, this is not at all legal advice. Please seek legal advice from an immigration lawyer.:  

Milwaukee Turners offers a free, comprehensive training via a powerpoint on their website that includes history, resources for adoptees, mixed status families, what to do if ICE enters sensitive areas, knowing your rights, understanding judicial warrants, if you are fighting deportation, and more in English. They offer a lot of local resources for Wisconsin residents as well towards the end of the slide show. 

What to do when encountering ICE?: 

It is important to remember that I.C.E. does not play by their own rules. They operate above the law without oversight and often lie to obtain information, manipulate, and detain people. The Immigrant Defense Project shared, “It is common for I.C.E. agents to call and act like they are the local police, claim to be from a specific police precinct or unit, and ask where the person they are looking for is and ask to meet them.” They may claim they have found a lost ID or say someone is a suspect. Just remember you do not have to fall for any of I.C.E.’s lies as they try to lure someone outside or come inside a space where someone may be at risk of arrest and detainment. You have the right to leave your door closed, refuse to answer questions and remain silent. Immigrant Defense Project offers their own “Know Your Rights with I.C.E.” training at immigrantdefenseproject.org/kyr. 

If an ICE officer pulls you over, for example, and states they have a warrant, determine if the document is valid with a judge’s signature.

What happens if someone is detained?: 

You can search for someone through the I.C.E. locator. Note that you can only search for people 18 years older and above. Each person detained is given an “A number” that is searchable in I.C.E. ‘s database and is required in order to contact and mail funds to that individual. Though this process is unlikely to work as it stopped working during the first few years Trump was last in office. 

You must have the following information: 

• Person’s full name (first and last name)
• Person’s country of birth 
• Person’s birth (month, date and year)
• A person’s A-number issued upon detention (must be 9 digits long, otherwise add zeros to the beginning of the number so there are 9 total)

For Latino families, Georgia Latino Alliance For Human Rights (GLAHR) operates a hotline in the case that anyone is detained and mistreated. You can find more of their resources on their website.

Depending where someone is detained, there will most likely be an organization nearby supporting people detained. (See organizations to follow below, though it is not an exhaustive list of all the organizations and community groups that exist in the United States supporting immigrant populations.) 

What do we want?

In Tacoma, Washington, we continue to find ways to release people detained, stop deportations and pursue the shut down of NWDC. The greater pursuit is to end immigration detention here, heal the land and return the land to the Puyallup tribe, as the Tacoma tideflats at the Port of Tacoma were once a thriving estuary. We want to end this inhumane practice of detention as punishment everywhere. 

The Midwest Immigration Bond Fund recently shared a short statement about how “Abolition of Immigration Detention Means”:

1. Steadfast commitment to collective freedom and liberation through community organizing and mutual aid 
2. Dismantling our reliance on carceral systems by reducing the scale of detention and surveillance of communities 
3. Not creating new harms in the name of “alternatives” or by helping some people at the expense of others 
4. Providing meaningful support to people and communities who are/could be detained or under surveillance 

In a recent interview with Laura Flanders & Friends, Seattle based lawyer, writer, trans activist and professor Dean Spade said, “People are going to need to break a lot of rules and laws to survive this period, already we do. We’re going to need to hide people from the police and from immigration enforcement. We are going to need to disrupt the ecocidal industries and war industries that are destroying the planet and killing people. We’re going to need to get each other medicines and procedures that have become illegal under this new administration. I mean people already do this but we’re about to need so much more of it because there’s going to be more political repression, more criminalization of basic survival for people in our communities. We’re going to need to defend each other from eviction, we’re going to need to stand up to cops and stop them from sweeping areas where unhoused people are. I mean all of this stuff, we have to turn up a lot to survive and it requires trusting others and learning how to be trustworthy…”  

Ending detention and mass deportation is harm reduction. Ensuring immigrant communities have access to health, food, education and other necessary services are harm reduction. We are going to need to ABOLISH I.C.E.! CHINGA LA MIGRA! 

Free to download for noncommercial purposes: 

• Muslims for Just Futures free downloadable posters with how to report a raid and seek support with (additional Chicago specific resources) in English, Spanish, Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, Bangla, Nepali, Dari and Pashto. https://www.muslimsforjustfutures.org/blog/immigrationkyr
• Immigrant Legal Resource Center offers downloadable “Red Cards” that include a statement of rights for one to assert their rights if questioned by an ICE agent. The red cards can be found on their website (https://www.ilrc.org/red-cards-tarjetas-rojas) to download and print yourself in the following languages: Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Pashto, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigriniya, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. 
• Justseed Graphics by Pilar Emitxin, Madhuri Shukla, Kiim Dinh, Andrea Marcos, Kate Morales, Iván Arenas, Javier Maldonado O’farrill, Roger Peet, Gabriel Aleman, Justseeds Free Them All Collaboration graphics package, Melanie Cervantes, Jesus Barraza, Bec Young, Terry Forman, Claudio Martinez, Pete Railand, Sanya Hyland, Shaun Slifer, Christopher Cardinale, Kevin Caplicki, N.O. Bonzo, Christeen Francis & Kevin Caplicki, Paul Kjelland, Nicolas Lampert, Josh MacPhee, and Esther Forbyn. You can search for more downloadable graphics at https://justseeds.org/graphics/ 

Organizations to follow and support: 

• La Resistencia @laresistencianw
• Detention Watch Network @detentionwatch 
• Milwaukee Turners @milwaukeeturners
• Immigrant Defense Project @immdefense
• Midwest Immigration Bond Fund @mw_bondfund 
• Immigrant Legal Resource Center @the_ilrc 
• Georgia Latino Alliance For Human Rights (GLAHR) @glahr.ga  
• National Immigration Law Center @nilc 
• Just Futures Law @justfutureslaw 
• #NoTechForICE Campaign by Mijente @conmijente  
• PODER  @poder.sf 
• Arab Resource & Organizing Center @aroc_bayarea 
• Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN) @waisn_org
• International Migrants Alliance (IMA) @ima.us   
• Tsuru for Solidarity @tsuruforsolidarity  

Follow up readings: 

• “Unbuild Walls” by Silky Shah 
• “Let This Radicalize You” by Kelly Hayes & Mariame Kaba 
• “We Do This ‘Til We Free Us” by Mariame Kaba 
• “Mutual Aid” by Dean Spade 
• “Border Rule:Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism” by Harsha Walia 
• “Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival, and New Beginnings” by Reyna Grande and Sonia Guiñansaca
• “Abolition. Feminism. Now.” by Angela Y. Davis, Gina Dent, Erica R. Meiners, and Beth E. Richie 
• “Guantanamo: Why the Illegal US Base Should Be Returned to Cuba” by Fidel Castro 
• “Lessons in Liberation: An Abolitionist Toolkit for Educators” by Education for Liberation Network & Critical Resistance Editorial Collective 
• “US immigration is gaming Google to create a mirage of mass deportations” by Dara Kerr. (The Guardian; Updated: 01/24/2025)
• “Multiple ICE impersonation arrests made during nationwide immigration crackdown” by Artemis Moshtaghian, Gloria Pazmino and Nick Valencia (CNN; 02/5/2025)
• “What to Know About El Salvador’s Mega-Prison After Trump Deal to Send People There” by Marcos Aleman (abc NEWS 02/04/25)

Mil gracias to fellow Justseeds member Andrea Narno and La Resistencia’s founder, Maru Mora Villalpando, for looking over this blog post for edits and adding suggested links. Thank you to the many other Justseeds members and friends who contributed resources. Any other errors are Saiyare’s alone.