We the People Say No: Resisting ICE Is a Constitutional Duty
The Founders didn’t write the Constitution for compliance. They wrote it for moments like this, when government turns against the governed.
This Fourth of July, while the country toasted freedom, the people of Alvarado, Texas, had other ideas. Under the cover of fireworks, a group of armed individuals launched a tactical ambush on an ICE facility, tagging its walls with graffiti and opening fire on agents. Just days later, ICE and DHS agents swarmed two California cannabis farms in a military-style raid that left one man dead, nearly 400 arrested, children in custody, and tear gas in the air.
This wasn’t law enforcement. It was a battlefield.
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And increasingly, Americans are saying enough.
They’ve seen ICE raid churches, rip workers from job sites, and detain teenagers in secretive tents. They’ve seen federal agents act with impunity — no warrants, no accountability, no regard for due process. And they’ve seen what happens when the state puts boots on the ground without a conscience behind the badge.
The resistance isn’t fringe anymore. It’s rural and urban, white and brown, armed and unarmed. From human chains to protest blockades to armed defiance, the people are not just fighting ICE — they’re fighting for the Constitution itself.
The government calls it criminal. But there’s another name for it: American.
America Was Born from Resistance
Before there was a Constitution, there was rebellion.
The United States was born not in quiet obedience but in defiant lawbreaking. Smuggling tea. Tar-and-feathering tax collectors. Destroying British property. Harboring fugitives. These weren’t just acts of desperation; they were acts of principle, carried out by people who believed the law had become a weapon, and liberty demanded defiance.
The Declaration of Independence didn’t tiptoe around it:
"Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it..."
The Founders understood that government is not inherently good. It must be accountable to the people, and when it’s not, the people are empowered to resist.
Alexander Hamilton, writing in Federalist No. 28, made the point even clearer:
"If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no resource left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense..."
Thomas Jefferson called resistance not just a right, but a necessity:
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
These weren’t radicals. These were the architects of America. And they built into our national DNA the idea that resisting unjust power is not rebellion but rather patriotism.
But the Founders didn’t just speak in theory. They gave us the tools in writing.
The Constitutional Framework for Resistance
For all the hand-wringing in Washington over “law and order,” the Constitution was never designed to be a tool of submission. It’s a blueprint for resistance against tyranny, woven with explicit protections for dissent, due process, and defiance of the state. These aren’t loopholes. They’re safeguards. And ICE tramples nearly all of them.
First Amendment: The Right to Dissent
The right to speak out, assemble, protest, and petition the government is enshrined in the very first line of the Bill of Rights. ICE's intimidation tactics, from retaliatory deportations of activists to surveillance of immigrant communities, are deliberate attempts to chill lawful protest. But the First Amendment says: resistance is not a crime. It is a cornerstone.
Fourth Amendment: Protection Against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures
ICE is notorious for warrantless raids. They often rely on administrative documents, not judicial warrants, to enter homes and workplaces. Agents bang on doors, lie about who they are, and detain people without probable cause.
That’s not just abusive. It’s unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court affirmed in Mapp v. Ohio (1961) that evidence obtained through illegal searches is inadmissible, reinforcing the Fourth Amendment’s central role in defending liberty. Every time ICE kicks in a door without a warrant, it desecrates that protection.
Fifth & Fourteenth Amendments: Due Process for All
The Constitution doesn’t say “citizens” have due process rights. It says “no person” shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.
That includes the undocumented, asylum seekers, and the people ICE wrongly detains and deports every single day.
In Zadvydas v. Davis (2001), the Supreme Court ruled that indefinite detention of immigrants violates due process. Yet ICE continues to hold people in legal limbo with no trial, no lawyer, no recourse. That’s not law enforcement. That’s authoritarianism.
Tenth Amendment: The States Strike Back
The federal government only has the powers granted to it in the Constitution. Everything else belongs to the states and to the people.
That’s why states like California, Illinois, and New York have the right to refuse cooperation with ICE. It’s not nullification; it’s constitutional balance. Sanctuary policies aren’t radical. They’re federally protected shields against authoritarian overreach.
The Supreme Court affirmed this dynamic in Arizona v. United States (2012), striking down parts of a state immigration law that clashed with federal authority while also affirming the limits of federal power when it infringes on civil liberties.
Posse Comitatus: No Military Force on Civilians
While ICE is technically a civilian agency, its tactics often mirror military operations, including raids at dawn, tactical gear, armored vehicles, and surveillance drones. The Posse Comitatus Act was designed to keep federal power from being used as a domestic occupying force. ICE’s militarization tests the very edge of that boundary and increasingly crosses it.
When you look at what ICE does through a constitutional lens, the picture is clear: it is not a lawful agency performing its duties. It is a repeat offender against the very document it claims to uphold.
And the Constitution doesn’t just give us rights. It gives us responsibilities.
Modern Acts of Resistance to ICE
The resistance isn’t hypothetical. It’s already here — on the streets, in courtrooms, inside churches, and at kitchen tables across the country. While ICE operates in the shadows, the American people are shining a spotlight, and increasingly, they’re stepping between ICE and its targets, literally.
Sanctuary Cities and States
Across the country, local governments have drawn a constitutional line in the sand.
California, New York, Illinois, and dozens of other states and cities refuse to honor ICE detainer requests without a judicial warrant.
Local jails often refuse to hold individuals past their scheduled release dates.
Police departments bar ICE from accessing real-time license plate databases or gang databases.
This is not “lawlessness.” It’s constitutional federalism in action, and it’s saving lives.
The Sanctuary Church Movement
Faith communities have emerged as some of the fiercest protectors of immigrant rights, echoing the Underground Railroad and the resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act.
Churches like First Unitarian in Denver and St. Paul’s in Louisville have harbored immigrants facing deportation for months, even years.
ICE policy once avoided raiding “sensitive locations” like schools and churches, so pastors, rabbis, and imams turned houses of worship into human shields.
But that protection is eroding.
ICE Raids at “Sensitive” Locations: Schools & Churches No Longer Off-Limits
In early 2025, the Trump administration rescinded longstanding federal guidance that had shielded churches, schools, and courthouses from immigration enforcement actions. The results have been chilling:
In Montclair and Highland, California, ICE agents arrested parishioners during Mass and reportedly chased immigrants into church parking lots.
In Nashville and San Bernardino, Catholic dioceses began issuing Mass dispensations, permitting undocumented worshippers to skip services due to the real risk of arrest on church grounds.
In Los Angeles, ICE's presence near schools and even graduation ceremonies has caused families to pull their children out of class and avoid public education spaces altogether.
This is more than an escalation in enforcement. It’s a violation of the civic contract, a betrayal of sacred spaces that once offered refuge, not fear.
See our recent reporting regarding churches and dispensations here:
Direct Action: Blocking ICE in the Streets
Sometimes, resistance is legal. Sometimes it’s necessary.
In Portland, Brooklyn, and Los Angeles, protesters have physically surrounded ICE vans to stop arrests.
In Nashville, neighbors formed a human chain around a father and son to prevent ICE agents from taking them.
Activists from Mijente, #AbolishICE, Not1More, and dozens of grassroots groups coordinate text-alert systems to mobilize instantly when raids begin.
These are not isolated radicals. These are teachers, grandmothers, nurses, veterans — Americans who refuse to stand by while ICE disappears their neighbors.
Legal Resistance: Defense Funds and Courtroom Support
Immigration court is deliberately stacked against the accused:
There’s no guaranteed right to an attorney.
Dockets are backlogged for years.
Judges are appointed by the executive branch, not independent courts.
In response, resistance has gone legal:
Organizations like RAICES, NILC, and the Immigrant Justice Corps provide free legal defense to those targeted by ICE.
Activists pack courtrooms to show public scrutiny.
Communities raise funds through crowdfunding to free individuals from ICE detention.
Resistance isn’t just protest signs and sit-ins. It’s legal muscle.
Public Opinion Is Shifting
A 2024 Pew Research Center poll found that 66% of Americans believe ICE should focus solely on violent criminals, not on immigration status.
And among voters under 40, support for abolishing or radically reforming ICE has surged past 50%. The #AbolishICE hashtag isn’t a meme; it’s a movement.
From churches to courthouses, subway stops to farmland, Americans are standing up, and in some cases, standing in the way. The resistance is moral, legal, and local.
Because in this country, “I was just following orders” isn’t a defense; it’s an indictment.
When ICE Becomes Indistinguishable from Criminals
There’s a second threat operating in ICE’s shadow, and sometimes, it wears the same uniform: impersonators.
Across the country, men posing as ICE agents have used the fear of federal enforcement to rob, assault, and exploit vulnerable people.
In Florida, two men impersonated ICE officers to kidnap and extort money from undocumented immigrants.
In New York, a fake agent demanded sexual favors from a woman in exchange for “letting her go.”
In California, imposters have raided immigrant homes, stealing cash and documents.
The victims don’t always report. Why would they? Whether real or fake, the ICE badge represents danger.
This is the collapse of legitimacy.
When a government agency becomes indistinguishable from its impersonators — when fear, not law, defines its presence — it ceases to function as part of a democratic society.
Impersonation is a crime, but ICE’s real agents often behave in ways that mirror the frauds:
Lying about warrants.
Failing to identify themselves.
Detaining people outside of any legal process.
There’s a word for this: terror.
ICE doesn't just violate constitutional norms. It attracts those who thrive in their absence. The agency has become a magnet for abuse, and the communities it targets are left to guess: Is this real ICE, or another predator with a badge and no rules?
Either way, the harm is real. The trauma is lasting. The Constitution is nowhere in sight.
And once a government loses its moral authority, the people are not only justified in resisting; they are constitutionally obligated to do so.
However, the collapse of legitimacy doesn’t just erode trust; it also causes harm to people.
We reported on this hypocrisy recently. See that here:
When Resistance Becomes Self-Defense
You can debate policy. You can argue tactics. But you can’t argue with broken bones, body bags, and bleeding children.
ICE has become a source of real, measurable, and repeated physical harm.
In 2023, Jaime Alanís, a father of three in Texas, was shot in the leg while fleeing a botched ICE raid that had the wrong address.
In Arizona, a woman suffered a miscarriage after being zip-tied in extreme heat for over three hours during a workplace raid.
In Georgia, an 18-year-old was tackled and suffered a fractured spine after ICE confused him with a different person with a similar name.
These are not outliers. They are the cost of unchecked power.
When the state becomes a source of violence, the right to resist becomes the right to survive.
The Constitution not only grants the right to speak out; it also protects the right to defend oneself when one's government attacks without cause.
As Hamilton noted in Federalist No. 28, when government becomes a threat to the governed, “resistance is the only remedy.”
That resistance is already underway.
And when ICE breaks laws, breaks homes, and breaks bodies, resistance is no longer civil disobedience. It’s self-defense.
The Real Constitutional Crisis Is ICE Itself
When an agency functions outside the guardrails of the law, that agency isn’t broken. It’s rogue.
ICE was born out of fear. Created in the aftermath of 9/11, it was handed broad, ill-defined powers with minimal oversight and a mission more rooted in political theater than actual security.
Today, ICE operates as a de facto secret police for immigration enforcement. It acts with:
No meaningful judicial oversight
No effective civilian review board
No consistent accountability for misconduct
The Office of Inspector General has repeatedly flagged ICE for excessive force, racial profiling, and mismanagement. Yet nothing changes.
Why?
Because ICE doesn’t exist to uphold the Constitution. It exists to bypass it.
When local police departments commit abuse, there are recourse options, including lawsuits, investigations, and reforms. When ICE does it, victims often vanish before they can speak.
ICE undermines not only the rule of law but also the very legitimacy of the government. A nation cannot claim to be ruled by law while empowering an agency that obeys none of it.
The Founders warned of exactly this. A standing power with no check. A federal force used for political aims. A government willing to terrorize its own to maintain the illusion of control.
The Constitution is not being broken by ICE; it’s being buried by it.
Resistance as Civic Duty
Resistance isn’t just a right. It’s a responsibility.
The Founders built this country on the idea that power must answer to the people, not the other way around. When that power becomes abusive, resistance becomes not only moral but necessary.
The abolitionists didn’t wait for permission.
The Civil Rights Movement didn’t ask for an invitation.
And today’s resistance to ICE — in the courts, in the streets, in the churches — stands firmly in that same American tradition.
This isn’t about immigration anymore. It’s about what kind of country we are.
Do we allow a rogue agency to violate our founding principles in the name of security?
Or do we remember that security without liberty is just another name for control?
We don’t swear an oath to ICE.
We swear an oath to the Constitution.
And when that Constitution is under threat, it’s not just our right to resist. It’s our duty.
The Constitution Lives in the People
The Constitution isn’t self-enforcing. It doesn’t protect itself. It only lives when people fight to keep it alive.
ICE is a symptom of what happens when fear is allowed to write policy, when cruelty is rebranded as patriotism, and when power operates without principle.
This is not a political moment. This is a constitutional one.
And the people — not politicians, not judges, not agents—are the true stewards of liberty.
The Founders didn’t build this country on submission. They built it on resistance.
Call to Organize: This Is How We Fight Back
The time for watching is over.
ICE is breaking bodies, laws, and lives, and silence is complicity.
This isn’t about politics anymore. This is about who we are and what we’re willing to do when our government becomes the thing our Constitution was written to stop.
This is not just resistance. It’s self-defense. It’s a moral obligation. It’s America’s last line of defense, and that line is you.
Protect Your Community
Text ALERT to 50501 for Mijente updates
Form ICE Watch Teams in your neighborhood
Support Legal Resistance
Disrupt Locally
Demand local non-cooperation
Call the Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
Vote. Organize. Show Up.
History is watching. The Constitution is calling.
Be louder than fear. Be braver than silence. Be the resistance they never saw coming.
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Bibliography:
"Houston man allegedly posed as ICE agent to rob man during fake traffic stop." FOX 26 Houston, June 26, 2025.
Ferguson, John Wayne. "Houston man pretended to be ICE agent to rob driver, charging docs allege." Houston Chronicle, June 26, 2025.
"Suspect arrested after allegedly posing as ICE agent during robbery in west Houston, police say." ABC13, June 26, 2025.
Barr, Luke, and Julia Reinstein. "Trump authorizes ICE to target courthouses, schools and churches." ABC News, January 22, 2025.
"Trump says immigration authorities can arrest people at churches and schools." The Guardian, January 22, 2025.
"Trump administration throws out policies limiting migrant arrests at sensitive spots like churches." Associated Press, January 2025.
Pew Research Center. Americans’ Views of Deportations and Immigration Enforcement, March 26, 2025.
Our Revolution is calling! Make our grandfather and grandmother patriots proud!
It would be nice, in my view, if the Chronicle were to create a list of doable things that the readers can do, and connect links to the orgs that may provide assistance. This way would enable America to have a better impact on what is going on. Ask Marvin Gay about that.