Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

Ice

By Izzy McCabe

Burien, WA — On the night of October 26, in the City Council room of the Burien Library in the metropolitan area of Seattle, grassroots organizers and community members celebrated the passage of Ordinance 911 by unanimous vote of the Burien City Council, implementing a 6-month moratorium on detention centers. This is recognized as the first step to buy time for the council to formulate and pass a permanent ban through the city land-use code.

Read more...

By staff

A city council meeting.

Dallas, TX – On October 14, organizers with the Dallas chapter of the National Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression (NAARPR Dallas) spoke at Dallas City Hall to call for the city council to move forward a resolution denouncing the crimes of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and demanding for an independent investigation into ICE violence.

Read more...

By Daisy Baertschi

Bozeman, MT – On Thursday, October 15, the Bozeman chapter of Montana for Palestine (MT4P) learned that the newly-published agenda for the upcoming October 20 City Commission meeting contained a vote to approve a five-year, $2.4 million contract with Axon Enterprise Inc.

Despite Axon's collaboration with the terrorist Immigration and Customs Enforcement, they were selected to replace the Bozeman Police Department's aging body cameras, in-car camera systems, and tasers. Over the next five days, MT4P both reached out to commissioners, providing them with recommendations for alternatives and highlighting issues with Axon, and organized a public comment campaign against the item.

Read more...

By Ash P and Gio Araujo

Chicago, IL – On October 14, over 50 Chicagoans gathered at Casa Michoacan in the Pilsen neighborhood for a town hall meeting on the ongoing campaign to end collaborations between the Chicago Police Department and federal agents. This town hall, organized by the Immigrant Rights Working Committee of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (IRWC of CAARPR), served as both a celebration of the progress that has been made on the campaign and as an open discussion of how to move forward.

Read more...

By Omar Gil

Portland, OR – On the evening of October 19, 150 people attended an immigrant rights-centered town hall meeting with Portland City Council candidates. Candidates running for city council in Districts 3 and 4 were invited to participate and present their position on questions of immigration, the police, sanctuary policy, and the Macadam ICE facility in South Portland.

The candidates in attendance included incumbents Mitch Green, Tiffany Koyama Lane, Angelita Morillo, and new candidates such as Dr. Esther Leon, Tom Sollitt, Jamey Evanstar, Eli Arnold and Jeremy Beausoleil Smith.

Read more...

By Edgar Alvarez and Matthew Caras

Tacoma, WA – For over seven months, Felix Vladimir Ponce Alvarez has been detained at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC). Felix has lived in Seattle since 2002, where he started his business and raised his family. Pierce County Immigration Alliance (PCIA) is demanding his immediate release from the Northwest Detention Center and calling for an end to the horrific conditions that he is facing during his detention.

Read more...

By Edmund Han

Albert Lea, MN – Fourteen months. That is how long Eliud Jahdiel de la Luz Baéz, a 23-year-old Minnesotan, has been unjustly detained by ICE. On October 18, dozens of protesters organized a noise demonstration outside of the Freeborn County Detention Center to lift the spirits of the detained immigrants and demand the release of Eliud and the tens of thousands of other immigrant detainees from across the United States.

Organizers from the Minnesota Immigrants Movement (MIM) and the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) condemned the targeted violence from ICE and the Trump administration against immigrants and community members. During the demonstration, Eliud’s mother shared her nightmarish experiences over the last 14 months, stating, “All I want is Eliud’s freedom.”

Read more...

By Haze Leviathan and Talison Crosby

Tacoma, WA – On Wednesday, October 14, around 40 people gathered outside the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in support of immigrants in detention. Community members rallied for Kuya Desmon, whose final hearing was scheduled for later in the day. “Kuya” is a title of affectionate esteem used in the Philippines. Members of SEIU 6 also came out strong in support of two janitors who were detained on October 3.

“Immigrants rights are workers rights,” said Ceci Hooks, executive board member and security officer of SEIU 6. “When immigrants, workers and janitors and security officers and airport workers are under attack, we all suffer.”

Read more...

By Sage Joyce

Portland, OR – On Tuesday, October 13, organizers with Portland Contra Las Deportaciones (PDXCD) rallied to oppose the recent surge of ICE detentions in the Portland area and demand justice for Oscar Bergal, shot by ICE in New York just days prior.

Bergal is one of 39 or more people shot by immigration agents during the second Trump administration, including Portlanders Luis David Nino-Moncado and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, who Customs and Border Patrol targeted and shot in January of 2026.

Read more...

By staff

Atlanta, GA – On October 7, Georgia Tech Students for a Democratic Society led a march to demand Flock technology be removed from campus. About 40 students, holding signs against mass surveillance, gathered on Tech Green and marched to each gunshot detector and automated license plate reader camera on campus.

Speakers discussed Flock’s specific connections to Georgia Tech and the harms of mass surveillance in the U.S. as well as in Palestine. Chants at the march included “From Palestine to USA, mass surveillance go away!” and “What do we want? Flock off campus! When do we want it? Now!”

Read more...

By Bailey Heaton

Denver, CO – In the afternoon on October 6, more than 30 people, led by Denver Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the protest band Notes of Dissent, rallied and picketed outside the Tivoli Student Union building on Auraria Campus.

After over a year of campaigning for a sanctuary campus and a ban on ICE on campus, the Auraria Board of Directors still refuses to listen to the student body’s concerns about immigrant student safety if ICE were to come onto Auraria campus. While the Student Advisory Committee to the Auraria Board initially collaborated with Denver SDS on drafting a popular policy, Policy 7.7, to ban ICE from Auraria, they backpedaled and decided to no longer support the modified Policy 7.7, which would have banned ICE from being anywhere on campus.

Read more...

By Sophie Breen

Minneapolis, MN – On October 5, over 100 immigrant rights activists lined Lake Street in Minneapolis with signs demanding “ICE out!” and “Sanctuary state now!” Protesters chanted in support of immigrant rights as they lined a predominantly immigrant-owned business corridor of the city.

The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and Asamblea de los Derechos Civiles called the rally in response to the Department of Homeland Security’s message on X stating that “ICE has initiated a nationwide public safety surge in sanctuary cities where our brave officers will be targeting criminal illegal aliens.”

Read more...

By Rie Guerrero

Tacoma, WA – More than 250 community members attended a seven-hour protest on Sunday, October 4, on the east side of Tacoma, where heightened ICE presence has terrorized the immigrant community. Organizations including the Puyallup Tribe, the Brown Berets, and Pierce County Immigration Alliance came to support members of the community who had called for a vocal presence rejecting immigration terror and defending the neighborhood from surging ICE patrols.

Read more...

By Cass Cano

Portland, OR – On the evening of Friday, September 25, immigrant rights activists gathered outside Gateway Discovery Park to demand killer ICE off our streets and justice for victims of ICE. This rally was in response to Legalization for All's national call to action for the recent ICE shooting of Wilber Garces Perez in Austin, Texas.

Portland Contra las Deportaciones (PDXCD) organized the rally, and members of the immigrant rights organization held signs honoring lives lost by ICE. Local community members joined the mobilization and shared their anger with ICE terror. The demands “Killer ICE off our streets” and “Justice for Wilber” were echoed by those present.

Read more...

By Nolan Good

Seattle, WA – On September 26, around 20 Seattle and South King County residents gathered in the White Center neighborhood to protest the ICE shooting of Wilber Perez, and recent local abductions in the area. The group, organized by King County Immigrant Rights Alliance (KCIRA), marched through the town’s main street, stopping at each of the sites where locals were kidnapped by ICE.

The marching route was unexpectedly diverted when ICE kidnapped someone right around the corner from the demonstration. Marchers hurried to the site. They arrived mere minutes after a man named Ivan was stolen away, finding only his empty car and several locals who were gathered in the parking lot, shouting angrily about what they’d just witnessed.

Read more...

By Ángel Naranjos

Chicago, IL – On Wednesday, September 23, hundreds of people gathered at the Rafael Cintrón Ortiz Latino Cultural Center (LCC) at the University of Illinois at Chicago to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the cultural center. Founded on September 19, 1976, the LCC was the first cultural center at UIC and was named after a Puerto Rican professor, Rafael Cintrón Ortiz, who supported the just struggles of the student activists in the 1970s.

Read more...

By staff

Grand Rapids, MI – On the evening of Thursday, September 24, a group gathered for a vigil on Century Avenue at the site where Mario David Coronado Juarez lost his life in a fatal car crash just days before.

Moments before the crash, federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stopped Mario’s vehicle on the side of the road. Coronado Juarez sped away from the agents, which led to the crash that took his life. Mario’s death comes just two days after Wilber Rafael Garcés Perez was shot in the back by ICE agents in Austin, Texas.

Read more...

By Vicky Tong

Tampa, FL – On September 17, community members spoke at a Tampa City Council meeting to demand that Tampa city council pass an ordinance to end their city’s collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In February 2025, Tampa Police Department signed onto the 287(g) agreement which allows it to carry out the duties of ICE agents.

Read more...

By Sanele Stewart

Chicago IL – Over 150 students, faculty and community mobilized at the University of Illinois at Chicago Quad on Wednesday, September 23, to protest the UIC administration for inviting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to recruit at the Business Career Fair and to demand that UIC declare itself a sanctuary campus.

The protest, organized by Mexican Students de Aztlán (MeSA) with the support of multiple campus organizations, forced CBP to quietly withdraw from the event.

Read more...

By Alvin Sheng and Owen Lubozynski

Saint Paul, MN – Dozens gathered at the Minnesota State Capitol on Tuesday, September 22 to unveil the MN Stolen Neighbors Quilt. More than 150 people labored over six months to sew together 12,500 quilt squares – each square representing a Minnesota immigrant taken by ICE from the start of the second Trump term to the end of Operation Metro Surge.

The organizers behind the MN Stolen Neighbors Quilt Project were joined by Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and 50 community members in the capitol rotunda, where the quilt was unfurled. There was a moment of silence as the weight of the quilt and the lives it symbolized were impressed upon the crowd.

Read more...