Don’t Panic, ORGANIZE! - How we can fight back against I.C.E.

By: Abigayle Cragin

This article was originally supposed to be a tribute to Renee Good, a woman that was murdered at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) in early January. Since then, I.C.E. has put the blood of Alex Pretti on their hands as well—not to mention the detainees that have died in custody. Of course, the memory of these individuals is crucial; but as outsiders, this is not our loss to mourn; it’s our time to resist.

The Trump Administration has an agenda for authoritarianism, but that agenda is diametrically opposed to the fact that they are attempting to control the most heavily armed civilian population in the world. In fact, our number of civilian-owned firearms outnumbers our population, at about 120 firearms to every 100 people¹.

So, what are they to do if they wish to achieve their goals? Exactly what the Republican party has been doing for the better part of 60 years: fear-monger vulnerable people into believing their lies.

The issue of immigration and the use of force through I.C.E. was the perfect excuse to exploit a federal agency for agenda advancement. Donald Trump has been running his campaigns on the issue of illegal immigration since day one. Over and over again he has pushed the divisive narrative that immigrants are impure, inhuman, and pose a real, imminent threat to the American way of life.

It’s hard to forget when he went as far as to claim that in our state of Ohio, Haitian immigrants were, “[e]ating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”² Moreover, he states, “They’re rough people, in many cases from jails, prisons, from mental institutions, insane asylums.”³

That’s not all; he has claimed that they are “poisoning the blood of our country,” presumably a nod to Adolf Hitler who wrote about the mixing of races as “blood poisoning" in Mein Kampf⁴. Trump later complains, “The Democrats say, ‘Please don’t call them animals. They’re humans.’ I said, ‘No, they’re not humans, they’re not humans. They’re animals.’”⁵

After 8 years of spoon-feeding this rhetoric to his followers, by the time this year came around, they were more than willing to easily swallow the pill that any violence taken in the pursuit of cracking down on illegal immigration is warranted and justifiable. So it follows that these same people would also be willing to believe any non-immigrant that interferes with I.C.E. is un-American, or even further, a “domestic terrorist.” (Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, commenting on the murder of Renee Good⁶)

I cannot emphasize enough that our power is in the numbers, but don’t just take it from me. The CSU Democrats are doing amazing work on the front lines that is accessible for everyone to participate in, in one way or another. After speaking with President Cael Shaw, it has become apparent that we will need to jump into action here in Ohio very soon. Read the statement here:

TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS (TPS) FOR HAITIAN IMMIGRANTS IS SET TO EXPIRE ON FEB. 3

Springfield, OH (45 min West of Columbus) is home to 15–20k Haitian immigrants fleeing a rapidly deteriorating situation in Haiti, exacerbated by natural disasters and gang control of government assets.

A vengeful Trump administration is purposefully ignoring the unimproved situation in Haiti and claiming that those fleeing from unsafe conditions no longer qualify for the TPS.

Once the status runs out… ICE will be descending on the city, ripping thousands of community members from their jobs, their schools, their relationships, friends, sports teams, book clubs, churches, and more.

Gov. DeWine himself calls this enforcement by ICE a mistake. Haitians are a valuable asset to Ohio. For years, the government has funneled Haitians to Ohio as a safe place to live and grow up safe and happy. Now our federal government is prepared to turn their backs on the American dream for Haitians out of nothing but hate.

Their goal is to wear you down, to tire you out, and take all of your fight away so they can gain your complicity—stay informed and stand strong. Resources and ways to help below.

Ways to Help

• Calling representatives: 5calls.org

• Protest safety: ACLU Protesters' Rights

• ACLU text sign up: ACLU Action Texts

• Help Minnesota: Stand with Minnesota⁷