SHUT DOWN ICE VT
FAQ
You have thoughtful, meaningful questions. We have answers that we hope indicate the same level of intentionality from organizers.
If there’s something on your mind that isn’t addressed on this page, email us at info@shutdownicevt.org. We appreciate you taking the time to connect with us!
We’re moving through our list of sign ups as quickly as we can. Our team members are reaching out to everyone who filled out the sign up form one-to-one! Depending on the contact info you chose to share with us, you’ll hear via signal dm, regular text message, or email. The message will come from the personal account of one of our team members. If it’s been more than a week since you submitted your form, feel free to email us (info@shutdownicevt.org) to add an additional method of contact or to confirm we received your submission.
First, we think it is winnable and a win will have national implications. The targets are not ICE activity, but rather ICE AI data centers from which they power their surveillance (of social media, etc) of the entire country. Because northwestern VT leans progressive with deep activist and organizational cultures, this makes it favorable terrain for a fight. Second, nationally, struggles against ICE have taken a rapid response form—which has seen important victories, but also burn out as ICE has shifted away from direct confrontation. We seek to open up another front and to innovate new tactics which we hope will be generalizable.
This is such an important question. We are deeply committed to safe, effective actions. The form is not a sign-up form for a protest (we are not asking you to commit to doing any one particular thing); rather it is logistics form. Its only purpose is to give us a rough way of determining how many people might be present each day so we can coordinate and plan for spaces, food, housing, etc. for those present. You don’t have to give us your real name—please make a burner protonmail, send your signal handle, whatever. As well, if you do not want to fill out the form, you can email us. At the end of the day, if you just want to show up, that is fine too! Our number one priority is making sure people feel comfortable and that people come out for this critically important week of actions.
This is a week of action that is designed to bring together as broad a coalition of folks as possible (what is sometimes called a “multi-tendency” action). The state is not used to us working together and counts on us being divided. We hope this week we can learn together how to build a new level of collective power and also demonstrate to the state that, from here on forward, we are going to be fighting together and with common purpose. To this end, there will be programming, trainings and actions throughout the week for people with all kinds of backgrounds and experience. If you are new to politics but feel called to fight ICE and stand up for our communities, we need you and this week is for you. Likewise, if you have deep experience with diverse tactical approaches, we need you and this week is for you.
Another great question. We live in a time of serious and very real repression, which is forcing our movements, and particularly their more creative parts, underground. To make a multi-tendency action, a certain degree of visibility is necessary, so that there are a variety of entry points and the week of action can attract a broad base of individuals and groups. We also believe, based on the lessons of Minneapolis and Los Angeles and the many other places where people have confronted ICE successfully, that it is important to push back against the criminalization of protest and the attempts to reduce and constrain our political imaginations. However, we balance this with knowledge gained from prior multi-tendency struggles and with a strong commitment to security which means that we can limit our online presence to what only needs to be there.
So. Many. Things. First, there will be a huge emphasis on community-building. We will share space and meals together and learn from each other and from what has been working across ICE struggles nationally. There will be informal activities like yoga and meals where we can build relationships with each other. We will also have concrete skills trainings (e.g., jail support, de-escalation, art builds, and political education). And, of course, we will be taking action. Each day there will be at least one action (most days, more than one), with multiple entry points, depending on people’s prior experience and desires. If you can arrive the evening before your first action day, please do! We will have training and orientation each night. Please free to come for the days you can. We are excited to see old friends and to make new ones and each day is going to be amazing.
The supports will be robust. For actions, tactical leads are recruiting their own safety teams for the actions that they are organizing. We have a care team that will deploy medics, jail support, and legal observers to every action. That care team is also backed up by other experienced personnel that can be deployed based on circumstances. There is also a solidarity and space team that makes sure our programming aligns with our values. On food and housing, we are doing our best to meet everyone’s needs. If you have specific needs, please let us know on the signup form or contact us at info@shutdownicevt.org