If every American did 3 of these 5 things, ICE would be stopped in its tracks.

We move TOGETHER and we move NOW. (Updated 2/4/26 at 7p PT.)

We’ve been watching our government slide towards fascism for the last year. It’s been consistently concerning, but also not quite concerning enough. It’s registered for many people on the level of “I should keep an eye on this” but below “I should put aside other priorities and focus on this”.

But this moment feels different.

Renee Nicole Good was shot by an ICE agent. It was caught on camera from many angles. We know her last words were, to the man that killed her or the one next to him, “I’m not mad at you.” And immediately our President paints Good as a domestic terrorist, and then promises all ICE agents absolute immunity.

And just two weeks later, Alex Pretti was pinned down by multiple ICE agents and shot at point blank range. All he did was help a woman they had just pepper sprayed. It was also caught on video from multiple angles.

For the record, I don’t care if he had a gun. I don’t care if he was struggling against the ICE agents. Their lives weren’t in danger, so they had NO REASON to shoot him. I can’t believe this needs to be said but: civilians are allowed to protest. We’re allowed to record and observe. We’re allowed to carry guns with permits. We’re allowed by be fucking confused and mad when we’re arrested for no reason. It’s literally written into our Constitution.

(To be clear, I’m not advocating that people carry guns. I’m just saying it’s a constitutionally protected right.)

It might seem obvious to some that the Constitution and common decency can’t help but win in this fight between American values and the new Gestapo, but I’m not so sure. I’m worried we’ll be scared into compliance, or exhausted by a never ending fight. I’m worried our response will be lukewarm, or from only a small percentage of the population, and this will get dragged out while we have time to second-guess and retreat.

So we move NOW, while the injustice is searing our hearts.

We ALL move now, while no one can ignore what’s happening.

We sacrifice some of our comfort, some of our time and money, and some of our other priorities to do what needs to be done.

Otherwise it will get much, much worse. And it will be much, much harder to stop.

Luckily, a domino is primed to fall:

• 65% of Americans say ICE has “gone too far” according to the latest NPR/PBS/Marist poll

• Renee Nicole Good, Alex Pretti, Minneapolis, and Abolish ICE have been trending on social media

• Minneapolis & St Paul shut down as hundreds of businesses closed and thousands protested, which is the first time a US city has had a general strike in 80 years

• Democrats in the Senate successfully blocked a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, and are currently negotiating to put more guardrails on ICE (more on that below)

• Liam Ramos, the five year old taken into custody by ICE, was released by order of a judge, who included in his ruling two lines from the bible, “Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,” and “Jesus wept.”

This is not the time to lean back and assume public opinion is finally turning against Trump and his thinly veiled plans for autocracy.

This is the time to lean in and fucking SHOVE.

So here’s the current game plan:

1. Call your representatives (cost: 2-5 min)

Do it now, because this specific action is only applicable until February 13th.

A landslide of calls to our lawmakers is proven to register on the Richter scale. Lawmakers bow to Trump when they think that’s the only way of keeping their power. But they can be reminded that the people’s ability to cost them their seat at the table is greater.

So we’re going to call them EVERY DAY UNTIL FEBRUARY 13TH. Jamming phone lines has been shown an effective way to get Congress and the Senate to pay attention. It worked just a week ago when the Senate refused to give DHS another dime. So the play worked, now let’s run it again.

Find the name and number of your congresspeople simply by going to 5calls.org and putting in your zip code.

Here’s your script (modified from 5calls.org):

Hi, my name is [NAME] and I’m a constituent from [CITY, ZIP]. I’m calling to ask [REP NAME] to oppose any DHS funding bill until ICE and Border Patrol are reined in. Specifically, I want to see:

• All agents required to show their faces and wear ID and body cameras at all times

• A ban on arrests and entering private property without judicial warrants

• Independent inspectors and oversight of all detention facilities

• An independent review board to hold agents accountable to the law

ICE and Border Patrol’s current actions violate everything our Constitution stands for. Please do everything in your power to rein them in. Thank you.

IF LEAVING A VOICEMAIL: Please leave your full street address to ensure your call is tallied.

IF INBOX IS FULL: That’s a good sign! Call back the next day.

2. Donate to legal funds that are supporting immigrants and ICE detainees (cost: whatever $ you can spare each month)

There are still lawyers and judges who aren’t in Trump’s pocket. Let’s make sure they’re well-funded enough to bury this administration in paperwork for at least the next three years.

Set up recurring donations when you can! Even if it’s $3/month. Considering we all spend at least $15/month on Netflix, that seems like a small price to pay for maintaining our democracy.

Here are some options:

• National Immigrant Justice Center – Provides direct legal representation in detention and deportation cases, litigates against abusive detention and due process violations, and does policy advocacy. They explicitly fight ICE detention expansion and mass arrests.​

• Immigrant Defense Project – New York–based but nationally influential organization fighting the criminalization of immigrants, challenging ICE–local police collaboration, and providing direct legal support to people facing deportation.

• Impact Fund (Immigrant Rights Portfolio) – A public interest litigation funding organization that makes grants to groups bringing class actions and impact cases on immigrant detention, due process, and civil rights; donating here supports multiple frontline legal teams via litigation support.

• Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee - A Minnesota-based immigrant rights mass-movement organization. MIRAC fights for legalization for all, an end to immigration raids and deportations, an end to all anti-immigrant laws, and full equality in all areas of life.

3. Divest from the companies that support ICE (cost: first-world convenience and comforts)

Publicly traded companies only have one god: profit. If numbers are going down, shareholders will buck and the board will pull rank to make any changes it needs to to reverse that trend.

Also, they feel pain quickly. They have those pesky earnings reports just every three months…

So we hit them FAST and we hit them HARD. That way, they don’t need to think twice about getting along so well with ICE and Trump.

According to Ice Out of My Wallet and the Save America Movement, these are the brands we should be boycotting:

1. Home Depot - They literally allow ICE agents to patrol their stores and parking lots without warrants. Luckily, Lowe’s and Ace have everything anyway, minus the fascist aftertaste.

2. Target - They’ve rolled over to Trump’s racist nonsense and have set a standard for corporations going along with the right-wing playbook. If you need new sheets, go to Marshalls.

3. Hilton Hotels - They house ICE agents, and punish their branches that don’t. No prob, there are a million cheaper hotels.

4. Amazon - Their web services (AWS) is the digital backbone of ICE’s machinery. Yes. It is time to cancel Prime. It’s been time to cancel Prime, but now it’s actually time.

5. Whole Foods - They’re part of Amazon so they’re dead to us. Just get a Thrive Market subscription instead, it’s got the same stuff for cheaper.

There are more, but for me personally, it’s easier to go all in on a few boycotts instead of half-assing many. And if we stop giving a cent to these companies right now, they’ll give in by April. Then we’ll be able to hit the next round in spring.

4. Prepare for ICE coming to your neighborhood (cost: 2-6 hours)

Having a strong network of local whistleblowers can quite literally save people from being detained and deported, keep families together, and potentially save lives.

On your own, or even better with friends and neighbors, work your way through these slides, provided by Minneapolis Area Synod.

A taste of their cheery and helpful slides.

You can also attend a live, online training, held by States at the Core. You can find a regularly updated list of upcoming trainings here:

Community Defense and ICE Watch

5. Do a lit drop (cost: $10-20 and 1-2 hours)

People are upset, afraid, and yet, still busy with everyday life. Bring easy action to them.

I’ve made a PDF version of this post. Print a 100 copies of it, and then:

• hand them out at your local grocery story

• put them on cars

• slip them under your neighbors’ doors.

• or just wear a sign like this, and people will be coming to you

(This version of the PDF requires less ink if you’re printing at home.)

Ok, now go do it.

If you can, do all five. If you’re a human living in late-stage capitalism with a packed schedule and bills and babies to feed, pick the three that make the most sense for your life and budget.

Leave a comment below, which ones are you doing?

Commit.

Not for me, not for yourself, but for a very uncertain future. For Alex Pretti, Renee Nicole Good, Keith Porter, and the dozens who have died in ICE custody. For future generations. For people who came here hoping to build a better life for their children.

And then send this to someone.

This is not the time to be shy about sharing your political opinions, nor urging others to take action.

It’s time to let the liberal urge to keep the peace, prioritize comfort, and refrain from ruffling feathers turn to ash.

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Beyond taking action, it’s really really important to take care of ourselves so we can continue taking action.

This fight, unfortunately, will probably not be fast or decisive. It’ll probably be exhausting, disheartening, and wildly dysregulating. Our sweet, innocent nervous systems are, after all, still trying to catch up with the industrial revolution and living in groups bigger than 150 people… while living with the 24-hour news cycle and ICE snuff videos popping up on social media in between cat videos.

These somatic practices, from the The Body Knows Podcast that I co-host, could be helpful to you:

• Shake it off: A shaking meditation for when you need to release pent-up energy so you can think clearly again.

  • This is great for when you’re in fight-or-flight, but you’re actually just reading the news.

• Slow down & remember everything is okay: A breathing meditation for when you need to ground in the safety of your body.

  • The name doesn’t totally feel true in this context… but still, being grounded is an important step to making wise decisions in this fight.

Take care of yourselves, friends.