How can I help stop ICE
Executive summary
A multi-pronged strategy combining organized public pressure, legislative action to cut or redirect funding, local resistance to detention infrastructure, legal and direct-service support for affected people, and electoral work offers the most immediate route for citizens seeking to stop ICE [1] [2] [3] [4]. The movement for abolition has surged in 2025–2026 amid high-profile killings and mass mobilizations, producing concrete tactics — protests, bills to abolish the agency, and calls for funding freezes — that can be amplified or contested in local and national arenas [5] [6] [7] [8].
1. Use budget leverage: push for freezes, line-item cuts, and reallocation
Targeting ICE’s funding is both strategic and practical: opinion pieces and advocacy groups have urged lawmakers to freeze or cut ICE funding as a pathway to dismantling the agency, and some leaders argue a shutdown over ICE funding could force structural change [2]. Legislative steps already exist — including introduced bills to abolish ICE in Congress — so pressuring senators and representatives to withhold DHS/ICE appropriations, support H.R.7123, or vote for amendments that defund specific ICE programs is a direct civic lever that aligns with demands from national organizers [7] [2].
2. Amplify and join mass actions: protests, strikes, and coordinated civil resistance
Street pressure matters: hundreds of anti-ICE protests and nationwide “ICE Out of Everywhere” demonstrations and strikes in late January 2026 mobilized communities across the country and sought to “stop funding ICE” through mass disruption and visibility [6] [1]. Joining organized protests, participating in strike days, and building sustained local campaigns against deportation flights, ICE field offices, and detention centers sustains media attention and raises political costs for defenders of the agency [1] [9].
3. Build local walls: block facilities, oppose detention warehouses, and use municipal power
Local resistance can choke ICE’s operational capacity: communities and local officials are already pushing back as ICE quietly scouts warehouses for mass detention sites, prompting legal and political campaigns to block those projects [3]. Municipalities can mobilize zoning, environmental review, and public pressure to make detention expansions costly or impossible, and organizers advise targeting airlines, local contractors, and landlords who enable ICE operations [3] [9].
4. Fund and fortify legal aid, rapid-response, and mutual aid networks
Stopping ICE on the ground requires immediate aid to those targeted: advocacy groups document large deportation numbers and harsh detention conditions and call for bolstering legal representation, family support, and rapid-response teams to observe raids and provide counsel [4] [10]. Donating to or volunteering with trusted legal nonprofits, bail funds, and sanctuary organizations scales resistance and reduces the agency’s capacity to deport people without due process [4] [10].
5. Win elections and change policy at the ballot box
Electoral power is decisive: public support for abolition rose sharply after recent incidents, and political campaigns now include abolitionist candidates as well as moderates who favor reform rather than dissolution, so electing officials committed to abolition or funding restraints is necessary for durable change [5] [11]. Voter registration, targeted turnout in swing districts, and holding incumbents publicly accountable on ICE funding and oversight convert popular outrage into legislative outcomes [5] [11].
6. Shape the story: document abuses, counter narratives, and demand accountability
Narrative control matters. Independent investigations, documentation of deaths and abuses, and persistent watchdog reporting have fueled the abolition movement and shifted public opinion; continuing to collect and publicize evidence—while pushing for civilian oversight, body cameras, and other reforms advocated by some who seek reform rather than abolition—keeps institutions accountable and clarifies public demands [11] [5] [3]. Where reporting gaps exist about specific practices or outcomes, organizers and journalists should be explicit about those limits rather than making unsupported claims [3].
Conclusion: combine pressure, relief, and political power
A realistic campaign to stop ICE blends immediate relief for targeted people, local infrastructure blocking, national funding fights, mass protest, and long-term electoral strategy; each element reinforces the others and has been used by organizers and lawmakers in recent months to escalate pressure on the agency [1] [3] [7]. Alternative viewpoints exist — many officials and some Democrats favor reform measures like body cameras and training rather than abolition — and those differences define the tactical debates that will shape whether ICE is reformed or dissolved [11].