With rising tensions between community members and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in areas across the United States, D.C. justice leaders are working to protect vulnerable communities from ICE and federal agent presence in the District.
The federal government launched “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota on Dec. 1, where ICE agents have targeted the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area and neighboring regions. Over the course of two months, ICE activities have included numerous arrests and the killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. The developing situation in Minneapolis has prompted many District community leaders to reflect and strategize.
“[We know] that every community is different and we’re seeing some similar strategies or approaches that the Trump administration has done in D.C. happening in other spaces, but again, escalating,” said Samantha Paige, founder of Black Swan Academy.
Paige, with greater civilian mobilization as one of her primary goals, is committed to organizing more campaigns, protests, rallies, boycotts and other solidarity initiatives. She said the District already has experience rallying against the administration’s interference, particularly after the Aug. 11 – Sept. 10, 2025 federal officers surge.
“D.C. was one of the cities that got hit first, so, in many ways, we are trying to be in solidarity with folks like Minneapolis, with Chicago and others,” she said, “by creating spaces and engaging in conversations about tactics, about lessons learned, about things to look out for.”
As local advocates supported the recent nationwide shutdown in response to Minneapolis events, many feel further determined to reduce the authority of ICE and allied federal agents within the District.
“One of our biggest priorities is breaking the ties between the federal agents that have been terrorizing community members, and our local [Metropolitan Police Department] (MPD),” said Keya Chatterjee, executive director of Free DC.
Over the past few months, Chatterjee and other leaders have criticized MPD for, what they call, collaborating with federal agencies, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), ICE, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
To combat this collusion of federal forces, Chatterjee and other community representatives will participate in the D.C. Council’s Feb. 25 Judiciary Public Safety Oversight Hearing, where advocates will offer testimonies and calls to action.
“The council really needs to see and hear and feel how extreme this has gotten,” Chatterjee said. “[White house officials and Donald Trump are] going after every single right that we have.”
Councilmember Janeese Lewis George Weighs In on the Fight Against ICE
For months, Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George (D) has been speaking on the mishandlings conducted by ICE and federal agents throughout the District, including how residents continue to “report arrests, intimidation, and surveillance that disproportionately target communities of color.”
“The horrific violence we have seen in Minneapolis is a stark warning and should enrage every one of us,” she told The Informer in a statement. “It underscores why D.C. must do everything possible to protect our immigrant communities and all residents from unchecked federal enforcement that puts lives at risk.”
George, a D.C. mayoral candidate, proposed the Safe Community Places and Policing Amendment Act of 2025 on Dec. 15, outlining the illegality of local law enforcement participating in immigration enforcement affairs without a court order or judicial warrant.
Introduced alongside Councilmembers Brianne Nadeau, Robert White, Charles Allen, and Zachary Parker, the legislation would additionally prevent critical service sites, including shelters and schools, from being subject to federal immigration enforcement measures without the legal exception.
“At a moment when community trust is already fragile, it is essential that District resources are not used to facilitate federal enforcement actions that terrorize communities,” George said, “and make us less safe.”
The ‘Power’ of Grassroots Efforts: Partnerships, Teach-Ins, and More
DC Latino Caucus, an organization dedicated to protecting, serving and advocating for the political representation of the Latino community, is implementing a more support-oriented approach to address the ICE situation.
“Our group is not trying to create a new wheel. We’re supporting a lot of efforts done by leading groups already like Families not Feds DC, Free DC, partnering with them in attending protests [and rallies],” said Vanessa Lopez, the organization’s president.
Kai Conway, an organizer for DC Alliance Against Racial & Political Repression (DCAARPR), said that events in Minneapolis have not shifted but rather increased the organization’s endeavors to achieve its main goal of community control of the police and overall public safety.
These efforts consist of numerous teach-ins, including one that recently covered federal cooperation with ICE, along with calls to action in future oversight hearings.
“The teach-ins are partially educational material for the community on what’s going on right now, and also how we aim to serve and help and fight back,” Conway said.
He also highlighted DCAARP’s increased solidarity, and how the organization works closely with students and other groups with aligned causes. Additionally, the organization shares the goal of separating the partnership between federal agents and MPD.
“One of our biggest asks for [the] D.C. Council has been [to have] a public hearing specifically on the collaboration, and to put in more policies to prevent the collaboration between MPD and ICE and feds, and also to hold these police accountable for their continued collaboration,” Conway continued.
Moreover, Conway asserts that every community can be affected by ICE, regardless of race and ethnicity, referencing Good and Pretti as examples.
“The reason that they’re targeting people, the reason that they’re killing people is because they serve Trump,” he told The Informer. “They serve this regime that aims to push people out of their communities, to push people further into poverty.”
As part of their continued work to encourage unity among area residents, DCAARP is hosting upcoming events in honor of Black History Month and Philippine Solidarity Month.
Another organization, the Party for Socialism and Liberation DC (PSLDC), has also been organizing anti-ICE initiatives, including raising awareness about and criticizing immigration enforcement’s goal to, allegedly, establish a new headquarters in Southeast D.C.
PSLDC member Cam White says the party is also involved in another effort to expose collaboration with ICE at the local level in areas outside the District Waterfront, emphasizing the significant impact of grassroots-led, nationwide shutdowns in demanding change.
“We feel,” White told The Informer, “there’s probably no more powerful tool that the people have right now than the general strike, which has the power to really defeat this oppressive Trump agenda that we’re dealing with.”