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The follow report details a collective community response to ICE raids in the Western North Carolina area.

Cover photo from Darren Botelho

Starting on April 14th ICE conducted a week of immigration raids throughout the mountain communities of Western North Carolina staking out trailer parks, kidnapping people in grocery store parking lots, and ultimately arresting over 20 people. As the operations seemed to wind down, community members caught wind that ICE was planning a picnic in a public park near Hendersonville, NC to celebrate their week of terrorizing immigrant families.

With less then 24 hours to plan, a group of 60-70 angry community members accompanied by a marching band converged on the park where ICE was holding its picnic. At first local police attempted to keep the protest relegated to a separate pavilion. Initially the group of protestors, perhaps feeling unsure of themselves, kept their distance from the gaggle of ICE agents sucking down potato salad and grilled chicken. But it didn’t take long for protestors to find their courage, ignoring the police orders and slowly surrounding the pavilion where ICE was. Soon enough people were banging on their picnic tables and chanting anti-ICE slogans in English and Spanish to the tunes of the marching band. After 15-20 minutes of this the ICE agents clearly had enough and began to quickly pack up and leave. On one live video feed an ICE agent could be heard yelling frantically, “let’s go, lets go! Time to get out of here!,” to the rest of his minions.

About 60 protesters including a brass band disrupted a picnic with ICE and Homeland Security agents as well as local law enforcement at Jackson Park in Hendersonville. pic.twitter.com/1Jz6ScLHVl — Matt Burkhartt (@MattBurkhartt) April 20, 2018

Many of the protestors jubilantly escorted the ICE agents out to their vehicles while others took the time to photograph their unmarked cars and license plates in order to identify them during future ICE activity. Seeing the ICE agents cut and run in the face of community opposition was a small but important victory after a week of terror and powerlessness at the hands of these very same thugs.

The community response during the week of ICE raids in and around the towns of Asheville and Hendersonville has been heartening. Within 4 or 5 hours of the first raids on April 14th a crowd of over 200 people mobilized in front of the federal building in Asheville for a support rally. A local migrant justice group that already had a cop watch type program in effect was on patrol in immigrant neighborhoods keeping track of undercover ICE vehicles and broadcasting their locations over social media. In at least a few cases the presence of volunteers with cameras was effective in getting undercover ICE agents to leave neighborhoods that they were staking out. There was also a hotline that people could call to report possible ICE activity as well as a team of volunteers to drive to those locations and verify whether the tips were accurate. This role was vital in tamping down unverified rumors of ICE activity which were constantly flying about.

A brass band performs a protest chant beside a picnic with ICE agents and loca law enforcement at Jackson park in Hendersonville pic.twitter.com/TlGfdunDP0 — Matt Burkhartt (@MattBurkhartt) April 20, 2018

As the raids continued word was getting out of numerous families being afraid to leave their homes for days and now running low on food, diapers and other essentials. In response a food distribution hub was quickly organized out of a local homeless center in Asheville. Soon enough cars were lining up to drop off donations of supplies. As a team of volunteers sorted through donations others coordinated deliveries to families unable to leave their homes across multiple counties in Western North Carolina. So far the food distro says they have delivered supplies to at least 1000 people. Meanwhile an online fundraiser as raised $50,000 to directly support those who were arrested and their families.

Dozens gathering at Jackson Park in Hendersonville to protest ICE agents at a picnic pic.twitter.com/e619WiN6RI — Matt Burkhartt (@MattBurkhartt) April 20, 2018

In the wake of the Trump presidency, we knew this moment would eventually come to Western North Carolina. In the days and weeks following his election, huge assemblies were held, working groups were formed, and countless conversations were had on what it means to be a community in resistance to his white nationalist agenda. At that frantic time it was hard to see where all those assemblies and conversations would lead us, if anywhere.

The months passed by and one could be forgiven for asking if it was all just talk. But when the shit went down, the community showed up. The outpouring of support and solidarity that manifested in response to the ICE raids was a direct result of the years of organizing that several long running migrant justice groups have put into their communities. And it was amplified by the relationships intentionally built and maintained among a variety of groups, from anarchist prison abolitionists to liberal Catholics, over the past year(s).

There is no doubt space to make those relationships stronger as well as room for improvement in how we show up, but what this past week has shown is that putting in the time to build relationships and trust among different communities and groups is essential to growing effective communities of resistance.