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ICE Breakers
Rebel Fagin
This article is published in partnership with the Peace Press Collective as a preview of an upcoming edition.*

       It’s no secret that ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has been busy enacting Trump’s racist policies. Some people are hiding. More are organizing and fighting back. Much of the fight locally is being organized by the North Bay Organizing Project’s Rapid Response Network. Knowledge is power.
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     ICE has jurisdiction at the border, and with people who have applied for admission. Under Trump, these applications for admission can go back 20 years or more. So far, over 600 courts have rejected his claims that these people are candidates for deportation. The government needs to justify arrests of individual suspects before a judge. If ICE were to act legally, they would have to give the suspect a hearing and then prove that the person is a danger to the community or a flight risk. Many of their detentions are illegal.

     Our county sheriff’s office is only aiding ICE at the barest minimum of cooperation—that which they are legally required to do. The sheriff does announce who is being released from jail. This is a legal requirement. ICE monitors this, then swoops down on immigrants being released. Folks arrested are often taken to Bakersfield or out of state. The goal is to intimidate people into giving up and going back to their country of origin. There are currently no ICE detention facilities in Sonoma County. ICE is also performing traffic stops, mostly illegally. ICE is using American-made cars of various makes and without obvious markings. They are stealth patrols.

There are things we can do.

     Community Defense Network and the Rapid Response Network ask folks to keep an eye peeled for ICE in the neighborhood. Get a whistle. If you see ICE, blow your whistle three times with short bursts. If you see ICE detaining someone, then give three long blows. Be loud. Draw a crowd. Intimidate the bullies into leaving without their suspect. There are rallies held regularly outside of the jail designed to shame ICE agents. VIDAS is getting state money to both defend suspects and help provide for the families left behind. Impact 100 is a group of women investors who raise money for local organizations. This year they are helping immigrants under attack. They have given $100,000 to VIDAS (Vital Immigrant Defense Advocacy and Services) to help it provide legal support.

     The Rapid Response Network has many ways you can help. First, get a whistle and keep your eyes open. If you see trouble, call (707) 800–4544. If you want to learn more about what the Rapid Response Network is doing, and perhaps volunteer, visit www.northbayop.org/rapidresponse.
Here you can volunteer to be on a legal observation team, an accompaniment team, or with immigrant legal defense. Only call if you see ICE in action.
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     If confronted by ICE, remain silent. Don’t offer information, like where you come from. If you say you’re from another country, they can detain you. If you are at home, demand to see a judicial warrant—one signed by a judge. If you are on the street, ask if you are being detained. If not, then you can walk away. If they say yes, ask for justification, like a warrant. If they begin to search you, say, “I don’t consent.” Learn your rights and use them to protect yourself from ICE terrorists. Most people do not support what ICE is doing. Learn your rights. Speak up. Organize. Resist.
Sources: radioresistance 20251207 & 20251123

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About the Author
Rebel Fagin is the host of the KBBF radio program, Radio Resistance; Co-president of the Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma County; and regular contributor to the Peace Press.

* Minor formatting and typographic adjustments have been made for web presentation; the content and meaning have not been altered.

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