Locals pack a No ICE Philly meetup at the Friends Center on January 21

I learned about No ICE Philly when I attended the January 8 City Hall vigil for Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old poet and mom of three fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on January 7 in Minneapolis while trying to steer her van (also carrying her partner and her dog) away from the officers.

Why I march

My January 6 editorial criticized Mayor Parker for her failure to stand up for Philly’s immigrant community in the face of ICE raids. The next day, I felt sick at the proof of ICE’s lawless violence, and fearful of what will happen when DHS announces a Philly operation like those in Chicago, Charlotte, and Minneapolis in the face of our mayor’s silence.

I’m a white US-born citizen. I have joined peaceful demonstrations against state violence under three US Presidents. I don’t fear ICE targeting me, unless they beat me, spray me with chemical agents, or shoot me for protesting. But it’s a different story for my loved ones, like an immigrant family member who brought a lawyer to their final citizenship interview because they feared foul play from the government; or my partner, born in the US to immigrant parents, who recently renewed his passport in case federal agents demand his papers in the street because he isn’t white. (If that scenario still sounds far-fetched to you, read this eyewitness account from members of the clergy in Minneapolis.)

“Together we are strong”

No ICE Philly organizers, who requested not to be named in the press, began the meeting with a communal song: “We will not underestimate our power any longer/We know that together we are strong.”

A printed booklet oriented arrivals to No ICE Philly. It’s an independent group who “check[s] in regularly” with immigrant-led orgs like Juntos, CAIR Philadelphia, Asian Americans United, the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition (PIC), and the New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia.

Organizers reviewed recent actions, such as their January 20 effort to block vehicles exiting a Center City garage used by ICE, interfaith prayer vigils, a weekly Monday morning (6:30-8am) noisemaking demonstration outside ICE’s Philly office on 8th Street, upcoming protests, and canvassing efforts. Find out more via the group’s Instagram account, @NoICEPhilly.

“A critical mass of people can slow down ICE deportations in Philly” with their bodies, prayers, and songs, an organizer told the crowd. They emphasized that activists are learning through on-the-ground trial and error what outreach is effective, and that repelling the power of DHS, now turbocharged on a massive new budget thanks to last summer’s budget reconciliation bill, will take a huge coalition: “All of our creativity, all of our passion, all of our ability to work together.”

Meeting leaders repeatedly noted that justice demands a variety of nonviolent tactics: rallies and marches, pressuring legislators, pamphlets, posters, and canvassing, civil disobedience, strikes, boycotts, art-making, and solidarity-building cultural events that hold space for grief and joy. This echoes the findings of Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan in their 2012 book, Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict. Successful nonviolent protest movements must enable mass participation of a diverse coalition that brings with it a diverse range of tactics.

“It will take thousands and tens of thousands of people across our city” to deter ICE, one meeting leader said. The huge turnout for Wednesday’s event was “proof of our theory that Philadelphians want to protect their neighbors.”

Taking the campaign to Governor Shapiro

The meeting concluded with several breakout sessions, including workshops on civil disobedience, talking to the media, expressing grief, and a rousing one-hour session from PIC executive director Jasmine Rivera (identified here with permission) on pressuring Governor Josh Shapiro to halt state-level collaboration with ICE.

With passion and ringing clarity, Rivera explained the many ways PA officials and agencies are actively collaborating with ICE’s efforts to track and detain people.

“The most notable ways in which this is happening is through the Department of Corrections who is data sharing, communicating with, and honoring detainers sent by ICE,” Rivera confirmed with me by email after the event. In addition, she says Governor Shapiro’s administration is giving ICE access to two state databases: the Pennsylvania Justice Network (JNET), which is operated by the governor’s office of administration, and the Commonwealth Law Enforcement Assistance Network (CLEAN), which is operated by the PA state police, and allows ICE access to all PennDOT records and facial recognition data.

“Instead of giving access to all Pennsylvanians’ information, the governor should require federal agencies to get a judicial warrant for a particular record, like any other law enforcement official would have to do,” Rivera said.

At the meeting, Rivera called on attendees to pressure Shapiro on several points, including:

• Stop ICE’s access to PennDOT and facial recognition data and remove ICE access to state databases.
• End collaboration between ICE and the Department of Corrections, including the enforcement of ICE detainers.
• Prevent ICE from arresting anyone in state buildings without a signed judicial warrant.
• Ensure state benefit programs collect only the info that is necessary and required by law, and protect that data from federal overreach.
• Make a public commitment that the Commonwealth will not lease or sell state property to ICE.

“Human rights do not have contingencies,” Rivera said on PIC’s commitment to all immigrants, regardless of their criminal record. She pointed out that ICE detainers ensure immigrants face additional arrests that would not otherwise happen under normal rules of the justice system. This means citizens are punished once for their crimes, while immigrants are punished twice.

No more warrants?

Mass action is needed on behalf of immigrants because “knowing your rights doesn’t help you if they’re going to kick down your door and drag you out anyway,” Rivera said at the Friends Center. Indeed, news broke this week, via whistleblowers within DHS, that new agents are being trained according to a secretive memo that denies the need for judicial warrants to enter private property—a blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment.

“Think of ICE as a hydra,” Rivera added, as it seeks sweeping access to hospitals, schools, and databases at the federal, state, county, and local level.

Advocates will continue to bring these issues directly to Shapiro with a rally on Saturday, January 24 at 2pm outside the Main Branch of the Free Library, where the governor is slated to kick off his book tour.

Shapiro’s future

This standoff will almost certainly have national implications, and not just for grassroots efforts to repel unconstitutional actions by ICE in cities across the country.

During a lively Q&A at the Friends Center, some participants discussed Shapiro’s presidential ambitions, and theorized his incentive to align with right-wing policy, given many mainstream Democrats’ conviction that their 2024 losses were due to the party moving too far to the left.

An October 2025 report dubbed “Deciding to Win” urges Democrats to “moderate” on immigration policy, and places “protecting the rights of undocumented immigrants” at the very bottom of the issues the report authors claim Americans want Democrats to prioritize. (The 82-year-old Clinton strategist James Carville gets top billing among those praising the study.)

But public perception moves fast, particularly in response to outrageous actions by the federal government. Multiple nationwide polls (including Quinnipiac and CNN surveys) conducted after Good’s murder show significant majorities of Americans (including, perhaps most notably, independent voters) disapprove of the Trump administration’s ICE campaign. Americans protesting for immigrant rights are in good company.

Perhaps Philadelphia protestors can help send a message to Governor Shapiro: collaborating with ICE is no way to win over essential grassroots support in his home state. Throughout Wednesday’s program, the governor’s name received boos and loud groans.

Take action now

I believe No ICE Philly organizers when they say anti-fascist action demands a diverse coalition, and this fight will take all of us. If you don’t know where to get started, head to the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition’s Take Action and ICE Resistance Resources pages. See you in the streets.