Nila Kartika Wati
As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations intensified in early 2026, a series of coordinated community responses emerged across the United States, signaling a sophisticated level of organization that caught many federal observers by surprise. In cities ranging from Minneapolis to Miami, networks of care materialized to provide immediate sanctuary and legal support to those targeted by raids. While these efforts appeared to be spontaneous reactions to a heightened crisis, they are actually the latest manifestation of a decades-old infrastructure of mutual aid and collective care. This community-driven safety net, built primarily by marginalized groups, has become the primary defense for vulnerable populations as public support for ICE continues to decline. According to an Economist/YouGov poll conducted in March 2026, as many as 50 percent of U.S. adult citizens now support the total abolition of ICE, a significant shift in public sentiment that has moved from the fringes of the immigrant rights movement into the American mainstream.
The Evolution of Community-Based Safety Networks
The infrastructure currently sustaining anti-ICE movements is not a modern invention but a refined system with a lineage dating back to the mid-20th century. While the "Abolish ICE" slogan gained national prominence in 2018 and surged during the 2020 social justice uprisings, the tools utilized by these movements—such as pod-mapping, bond funds, and rapid response networks—were developed over generations. These systems were born of necessity; Black, Indigenous, and Latine feminists, queer individuals, and sex workers created them because existing state structures were often the sources of their harm rather than their protection.
Pod-mapping, a technique used to identify a person’s immediate support network for crisis intervention, and emergency safety planning have their roots in the domestic violence survivor movements of the 1960s and 70s. These tools allow communities to bypass the need for police intervention, which for many undocumented individuals or people of color, can escalate into deportation or incarceration. Similarly, the use of healing circles and restorative justice practices provides a framework for addressing conflict and trauma without relying on the punitive measures of the state. These practices represent a vision of abolition that seeks to move beyond punishment and toward a model of community-held accountability and wellness.
A Chronology of Resistance and Care
To understand the current effectiveness of mutual aid, one must look at the historical milestones that built this alternative infrastructure. The lineage is long and intersectional, drawing from various liberation struggles across the United States.
- The 1960s and 70s: The Foundations of Survival Programs. The Black Panther Party’s Free Breakfast for Children Program and the Young Lords’ free health clinics in Chicago and New York established the concept of "survival programs pending revolution." These initiatives demonstrated that community care was a political act. Simultaneously, the American Indian Movement (AIM) began community safety patrols to protect Indigenous people from police harassment.
- The 1970s: Feminist Safe House Networks. In Boston, Black feminist organizers, including members of the Combahee River Collective, responded to a wave of unsolved murders and sexual assaults by creating safe house networks. They used the "green porch light" as a signal of sanctuary, a precursor to the modern sanctuary movement for immigrants.
- The Late 20th Century: Mutualistas and Legal Aid. Mexican American sociedades mutualistas (mutual aid societies) provided a blueprint for communal insurance and legal defense, which has evolved into the modern immigration bond funds that help families secure the release of detained loved ones.
- 2000-2015: The Rise of INCITE! and Healing Justice. Organizations like INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence began articulating the frameworks of transformative justice, moving the conversation away from state-centric solutions. The term "healing justice" emerged from Southern Black feminists who recognized that movement work required the sustainment of the activists’ physical and emotional well-being.
- 2018-2026: The Mainstreaming of Abolition. The call to abolish ICE transitioned from a radical demand to a policy platform debated in Congress. The 2020 uprisings further solidified the link between police abolition and ICE abolition, leading to the sophisticated, tech-integrated rapid response networks seen today.
The Symbiotic Relationship Between ICE and Local Policing
A critical component of the modern abolitionist analysis is the recognition that ICE and local law enforcement operate in a symbiotic relationship. This collaboration, often facilitated through 287(g) agreements and shared databases, means that an encounter with a local police officer can serve as the "front door" to the federal deportation system.
In major metropolitan areas, this entanglement has led to a cycle of hyper-policing. In Chicago, for instance, anti-ICE mobilizations on the South and West Sides have frequently been met with increased police presence. Data suggests that these officers are often redirected into Black and Latine neighborhoods after protests, leading to higher arrest rates for unrelated minor offenses among young people and sex workers. In Washington, D.C., increased ICE activity has coincided with the implementation of youth curfews, creating an atmosphere where "public safety" measures are perceived by residents as tools for social control and criminalization.
Because of this overlap, the infrastructure of care must address both federal and local threats. When immigrant justice movements track enforcement vehicles or share ICE sighting locations via encrypted apps, they are utilizing tactics originally developed by Black communities to monitor "jump-out" squads and stop-and-frisk activities.
Regional Case Studies in Collective Care
The practical application of these historical tools is visible in several states where community members have stepped in to fill the vacuum left by state neglect or hostility.
Florida: Restorative Justice and Neighborhood Circles
In Florida, where state legislation has historically been aggressive toward immigrant populations, Black and Latine migrant communities have turned inward to build resilience. Neighborhood circles have become a staple of community life, weaving together spiritual practices with restorative justice. These circles allow residents to resolve internal disputes and provide mental health support without involving law enforcement, thereby reducing the risk of attracting state attention to undocumented neighbors.
Chicago: Accompaniment and Physical Safety
In Chicago, the "accompaniment" model has seen a resurgence. Community members organize "walking school buses" to escort children to and from school. This practice protects children whose parents are unable to leave their homes due to the threat of ICE checkpoints or neighborhood raids. This form of direct action ensures that the basic right to education is maintained despite the climate of fear.
Maryland: Essential Service Delivery
In Maryland, mutual aid networks have focused on the delivery of food and medicine. For families who have lost a primary breadwinner to deportation or for those who do not feel safe enough to visit a grocery store, these networks provide a lifeline. These efforts are funded through community-led bond funds and grassroots donations, bypassing the bureaucratic hurdles of traditional non-profits.
Implications for the Philanthropic Sector
The current surge in collective care presents a challenge to the traditional philanthropic model. Historically, philanthropy follows a "crisis-response" arc: funding spikes during a high-profile event—such as the 2020 uprisings or the overturning of Roe v. Wade—and then evaporates once the news cycle shifts. This "boom and bust" cycle leaves grassroots organizations, often led by women of color and trans individuals, to carry the long-term burden of the work without sustainable resources.
For philanthropy to be effective in this moment, experts argue that a shift in perspective is required. Collective care should not be viewed as an emergency intervention but as essential infrastructure. Supporting this work requires:
- Long-term, Flexible Funding: Move away from project-based grants toward general operating support that allows organizers to adapt to shifting political climates.
- Investment in Architects, Not Just Visible Leaders: Funding often flows to the most visible organizations, but the true architects of these systems are often small, under-resourced formations.
- Sustaining the Caregivers: Recognizing that movement work is exhausting, funding should include resources for the mental health and physical well-being of the organizers themselves.
Analysis of Broader Impacts
The shift toward community-led safety has profound implications for the future of American governance. As 50 percent of the population begins to question the necessity of agencies like ICE, the legitimacy of the entire punitive state apparatus is called into question. The success of mutual aid networks suggests that safety is not something that can be imposed from the top down through policing and incarceration, but something that is built from the bottom up through stable housing, food security, and strong social bonds.
The erasure of the history behind these tools—the feminist and racialized lineage of abolition—risks recreating the very exclusions the movements seek to end. By acknowledging that modern resistance is built on the labor of Black, Indigenous, and Latine feminists, the movement ensures that power and funding flow back to the communities that have been the vanguard of safety for over half a century.
As the United States navigates the complexities of immigration and policing in 2026, the networks of collective care stand as a testament to political imagination. They are not merely reactive measures but are "evidence of a different future," where community safety is defined by how well neighbors care for one another rather than how effectively the state can punish them. The question remains whether the broader society and its financial institutions will recognize this infrastructure for what it is: the bedrock of a more resilient and equitable nation.
