The Tactics Used by Local Activists to Undermine ICE in Southern California

In a time when only large-scale protests organized by high profile activists or groups of activists make the news, small, decentralized groups of activists local to Southern California are resisting ICE not by organizing large-scale protests, but by using stealthy tactics to monitor and expose both individual ICE agents and ICE as an organization. 

One tactic used by local activists is the tactic of forming ICE-spotting patrols. Members of these patrols, which are inspired by the Black Panther Party’s community patrols, go outside early in the morning to search for ICE agents. If ICE agents are spotted by a member of an ICE-spotting patrol, the patroller will go live on social media and warn their community that ICE agents are nearby. Patrolling ICE agents has proven to be quite useful. In June of this year, organizers that were monitoring ICE activity made the discovery that Terminal Island in San Pedro was being used by ICE for early-morning staging and dispatching throughout LA county. Additionally, ICE-spotting patrols have allowed activists to discover that ICE agents sometimes switch the license plates on their vehicles, use incorrect license plates, or just drive vehicles with no license plates on them at all.

Another tactic used by local activists is the tactic of organizing pop-up protests. These protests, which are rather spontaneous, are often not covered by mainstream news organizations. Several pop-up protests occurred throughout June. The majority of them were “No Sleep for ICE” protests. On June 13th, small groups of activists heard that ICE agents had checked into two different hotels: The Resident Inn in Long Beach, California and the Holiday Inn near Long Beach airport. One group of activists, the ones who chose to protest the fact that ICE agents were sleeping in the Resident Inn, quietly protested the ICE presence inside the hotel. Another group of activists, the ones who chose to protest the fact that ICE agents were sleeping in the Holiday Inn, loudly protested the ICE presence inside the hotel by leading anti-ICE chants.

A third tactic that local activists have been using to resist ICE is the tactic of organizing Know-Your-Rights workshops or similar curricula. Unión del Barrio, an independent political organization that is committed to defending Mexican and Latin American communities, has developed a training program for schools. The curriculum is designed to help educators protect themselves, as well as students and their families, during encounters with ICE agents.

Although large-scale protests can be beneficial in their own way, they can only take a movement so far. Locals, whether they be activists or just everyday people, know best what they need to do to keep their community safe from dangers such as ICE. Thus, continuous small acts of defiance carried out by local activists and community members using stealthy tactics can be far more valuable to a community than a large-scale protest that only unites people for one day. If small communities everywhere stopped waiting for the government to do something to stop ICE and instead banded together to protest ICE using tactics that differed from the typical large-scale protest tactic all at once, for days, weeks, months, or even years on end, imagine what our future could look like. Long live direct action.

Sources:

Zacarias, Michelle. “In Southern California, Small Groups of Activists Quietly Undermine Ice Operations.” Truthout, Truthout, 1 Sept. 2025, truthout.org/articles/in-southern-california-small-groups-of-activists-quietly-undermine-ice-operations/.