Truthout

12/29/2025

Grassroots organizations around the United States, with little to no support from local authorities, have spent much of the past year defending themselves against President Donald Trump’s deployments of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and the National Guard. While community defense efforts in large urban metropolises such as Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Portland have attracted the most media coverage, anti-ICE activity is also thriving in Republican-controlled states like Texas and North Carolina.

Many grassroots groups in conservative-leaning states are documenting their own work on Instagram, using social media accounts as hubs to update local communities on ICE activity, recruit volunteers, and announce trainings. They may face a more challenging terrain than those organizing in Democratic-controlled states, given the active collaboration of law enforcement agencies with ICE.

While red state anti-ICE organizing may be less likely to feature whistles, bullhorns, and other confrontational tactics seen in cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, common themes are emerging, consistent with organizing in liberal cities. The anti-ICE playbook in red states involves creating a hotline for residents to report ICE activity, “Know Your Rights” sessions that give people legal advice on what information they should withhold when confronted by ICE, and ICE-watch trainings for observers documenting arrests. Many groups are also ensuring that the families of those arrested and detained have legal and financial support.

Given the increasing number of U.S. citizens caught in ICE’s dragnet, organizers are warning that attacks on immigrants are just the beginning. Siembra NC’s Baena issued a challenge to those who want ICE out of their communities, saying, “How many of us would it take to put the focus on the attacks that will touch nearly every American, not simply those terrorizing immigrants?”

After a year of ICE violence, groups like hers are bracing themselves for increased staffing at the federal agency and a greater armed presence on city streets. The 2025 “Know Your Rights” sessions and trainings on anti-ICE defense offer a strong foundation for local communities to ramp up activism in many forms. “We are more ready than ever if ICE accomplishes its goal of hiring 600 percent more officers,” said Baena.