Americans Are Learning War Zone Survival Tactics to Resist ICE

Nearly 1,000 people showed up for a single virtual training. That's how many turned out for an ACLU "Know Your Rights" session in Portland, Maine, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents began prowling American streets.

From Detroit's whistle kits alerting neighborhoods when immigration agents approach, to Minneapolis volunteers forming early warning networks with apps and whistles, to Portland volunteers delivering food to migrant families too scared to leave home—a pattern is emerging across America.

Oliver Kaplan, who has spent two decades studying nonviolent movements in war zones, recognizes these tactics. The communities he's researched—from Colombia to the Philippines to Syria—have been teaching lessons about surviving amid danger that Americans are now discovering instinctively.

Organization Comes First

In Colombia, Kaplan found that more organized communities with vibrant local councils were better able to protect themselves when caught between heavily armed insurgents, paramilitaries, and state forces. These organizations provide reassurance to the hesitant and encourage more people to join.

"The act of organizing itself is powerful," Kaplan explains. As a former Colombian insurgent told him, quoting Aristotle and Shakespeare: "A single swallow doesn't make a summer"—there's safety in numbers.

A mass of people can shift the calculus and behavior of those with weapons. That's why we're now seeing visuals of ICE agents leaving scenes when outnumbered by community members. America's strong civic culture and Minnesota's renowned social cohesion are meeting this moment.

Nonviolent Strategies Work

Organizing enables communities to adopt nonviolent methods for accountability and protection without escalating conflict. These strategies are less partisan—there's usually consensus around promoting safety, making it difficult for political figures to oppose.

While polling still shows partisan splits on presidential approval and immigration policy, ICE is widely unpopular, and a large majority opposes its aggressive tactics.

Americans have adopted many proven nonviolent strategies. They've established early warning networks just as communities did in the Democratic Republic of Congo to guard against attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army. Whether with whistles or WhatsApp, these networks of protectors share information to identify threats and come to each other's aid.

Creating Safe Zones

Communities in places like the Philippines have set up "peace zones" to publicize their desire to keep violence away from residents—similar to "sanctuary city" declarations in the US.

Communities can apply different kinds of pressure on armed aggressors. While protest is most visible, dialogue is also possible. Pressure can take the form of persuasion or shaming to make trigger-happy agents think twice and use restraint.

US protectors have shown remarkable creativity. Grandmas and priests serve as visible symbols with influence through their moral and spiritual status. Humor and farce—like protesters in frog suits—can help de-escalate tensions.

Reputations and accountability concerns matter, even to bullies. That's why ICE agents don't want to be seen enacting violence—hence the face masks, phone-snatching, and misleading official statements about violent encounters.

Finding Facts in the Fog

In the "fog of war," the powerful try to twist facts, mislead, and stigmatize communities to create pretexts for greater force.

In Colombia and Afghanistan, armed groups falsely accused individuals of being enemy collaborators. Communities addressed this by conducting their own investigations, after which community elders could vouch for the accused.

In the US, Americans are recording cellphone videos and collecting community evidence to counter official lies—like accusations of domestic terrorism—and for future accountability efforts.

Standing Up for Others

"Accompaniment" matters too. International humanitarian staff and volunteers have gone to communities in Colombia, Guatemala, and South Sudan to let armed groups know outsiders are watching—acting as unarmed bodyguards for human rights defenders.

In the US, volunteers, citizens, and religious leaders use their less vulnerable social status to stand up for noncitizens under threat, even positioning themselves between immigration agents and those at risk. People nationwide have sent messages and traveled in solidarity to cities where operations occur.

But there are consequences. An ICE agent shot a clergyman in the head with a pepper ball while he protested at a detention facility in Chicago. Two Americans, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, were killed by immigration agents in Minneapolis while participating in nonviolent resistance.

Civil society has power too. Many communities in war zones worldwide have outlasted their oppressors. Americans are learning what civilians have done for decades while writing their own story in the process.