twincities.fyi

The problem

ICE agents are horrible for schools. In my neighborhood, ICE agents will show up to recess why kids are out. They will drive around the school and shout to students that they are going to get them and their parents. When the students were planning a walkout, several people from the neighborhood had to plan for the possibility that ICE agents would use tear gas on them, which they had done before at a high school.

Even more sinister is they have been abducting students and sending them to detention centers out of state. Or kidnap parents and leave the kids behind.

One way forward

In Minneapolis, we are organizing neighborhood patrols to protect students and to create a feeling of safety for students and parents on their way to school. This usually looks like parents and volunteers from the neighborhood stationed at corners surrounding the school, as well as along any common thoroughfare that students use to get to school. These parents watch out for ICE and respond to threats when they happen.

Patrols

Patrols are 30 minutes to an hour, depending on what your school needs and how many people are available.

A patroller needs:

• a whistle
• a charged phone
• earbuds or headphones
• optionally, a mask that covers your face for ICE encounters

Patrollers stand on corners surrounding the school and keep an eye out for ICE activity.

The call

At the start of the shift, all the patrollers get on a Signal call to have audio communication. In addition to patrollers, two other important roles for the call are the dispatcher and the plate checker.

The dispatcher is the brain of the call. They join the call with a map in front of them and place everyone on the call on the map so they have a good idea of coverage and what areas need more people. As people join the call, they should check in with the dispatcher so the dispatcher can put them on their map.

The plate checker will check license plates. Ideally, your group has access to a spreadsheet with confirmed ICE license plates. The plate checker will have this spreadsheet open and check plates against known ICE license plates. Patrollers will ask for a plate check in the chat and say the plate using the NATO phonetic alphabet to avoid confusion. The plate checker will respond with a "negative" or confirm that the plate belongs to an ICE vehicle.

The communication

Communication should follow radio best practices. When joining the call, announce who you are. Generally, you want to wait for the recipient to acknowledge. So you might open with "Dispatch, this is Coco" and the dispatcher would respond with "Go for Dispatch." Keeping things concise is important because sometimes multiple ICE vehicles may be in play at once, and if communication is not efficient that leads to a more confusing and less organized response.

The schedule

We cover the hour up to the morning bell (with some overlap for late arrivals) and the hour after dismissal. We also have some ad hoc patrols if there are some after school events.

Responding to ICE

When you spot an ICE vehicle or ICE agents at your school, you should make noise to alert parents, students, and teachers. This may be blowing a whistle or honking your horn. You should also start recording their activity.

The goal with all of these actions is for ICE to leave. In my experience, their presence at the school is not part of a targeted action, but rather an attempt to intimidate the school community. I regularly see taunting parents and students and driving in circles around the school. I have also seen them abducting students who have legal status.

Their objective is cruelty.

Our objective is to scare them away from our community and to collect evidence for their future prosecution. With an organized group of patrollers, we can make our schools safer.

If you would like me to help you set up your school patrol, please get in touch.