New York City socialists are mobilizing more than 4,000 anti-ICE activists, assembling so-called 'rapid response' squads aimed at disrupting federal authorities as an aggressive crackdown on illegal migrants looms over the Big Apple.
Mayor Mamdani’s allies in the DSA laid out their plans Thursday during a monthly meeting of the Immigrant Justice Working Group, held at the upscale Midtown headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party–linked People’s Forum—where portraits of communist icons Fidel Castro and Che Guevara loom over the room.
"As we’ve seen in other cities, we still do anticipate a big wave of federal immigration enforcement," said a DSA leader who identified herself only as Marina, addressing a crowd of more than 100 members.
Thursday’s meeting took place at the Midtown offices of the China-linked People’s Forum, a venue that has drawn scrutiny for its foreign ties. New York Post
“It can be confusing, it can be scary, it can be kind of uncertain what’s happening in New York right now. . . . But we want to be on our front foot if and when it does.”
The NYC chapter is gearing up to train 2,000 DSA members and another 2,000 nonmembers, while mobilizing 50 additional trainers to expand the effort.
The group is also ramping up staffing for its ICE hotline, expanding operations to run around the clock, seven days a week.
“If you speak Pular, if you speak Creole, if you speak Fulani – come find us,” urged a leader. “We really want you on the team.”
Inside the People’s Forum on West 37th Street, the walls are lined with images of communist icons such as Fidel Castro, creating a striking and controversial backdrop. New York Post
The group didn’t disclose the total cost of these efforts, but the member-funded organization repeatedly called for donations during the nearly two-hour meeting—at one point, a leader even walked around the room wearing a red beanie, collecting cash in what felt like a socialist version of a collection plate.
Most of the largely white, Gen Z crowd said they were first‑timers, drawn into activism by the shock and outrage after 37‑year‑old Minneapolis mother Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent earlier this month — a tragedy that ignited protests and headlines nationwide.
The anti‑ICE group Good had been part of wasn’t just protesting — they were trained to actively “resist” federal immigration crackdowns, and now activists are trying to bring the same combative Minnesota tactics that surged after Renee Good’s death to the streets of Gotham.
“ICE is a violent organization and has been emboldened to respond to a lot of the work that many of you participated in,” lambasted a leader.
Since the recent ICE operation in Minneapolis that captured national attention after a 37‑year‑old mother was fatally shot by a federal agent, many New York City DSA members said this was their first time attending the Immigrant Justice group — drawn in by outrage and a desire to act. James Keivom
"The immigrant crisis is part of the US imperialist project, and yet we treat immigrants to the experience of ICE," complained Landry, a tenant organizer from Crown Heights and DSA member, drawing murmurs from the crowd.
The NYC DSA’s plan calls for activists to show up en masse to verify ICE sightings and, in some cases, to swarm immigration agents during raids—tactics modeled on confrontations in Minneapolis that have sparked nationwide outrage after an ICE agent fatally shot a woman during a recent enforcement operation.
“This has been in the past in New York specifically enough to deter ICE detentions,” said Marina, an elusive Queens based musical artist who only goes by “Marina F” in her synth-pop two-person band The Observation Room, and who specializes in “sleazy, neon and queer sounds.”
The meeting stretched just shy of two hours, packed with heated discussion, strategy talks, and repeated calls for donations. New York Post
The anti‑ICE tactic she shared with the group — dubbed “form a crowd, stay loud” — even calls for protesters to blow rape whistles to draw attention and disrupt enforcement actions.
“If you’re interested in doing this kind of work, we can hook you up with whistles,” she said.
“We do have a lot of whistles,” assured Leemah Nasrati, another leader, who works as a pro bono refugee lawyer and hosts the Q&A portion of the DSA’s “Know Your Rights” trainings, which the group puts at least once a month to tell people “what the deal is with ICE.”
Nasrati pointed out that the group “has plenty of whistles” at its disposal for the so-called ‘rapid response’ teams, a key tool in their protest tactics. leemahperu/Instagram
Members were told that by using different whistle codes, the piercing sound would echo through the neighborhood to alert locals the moment ICE agents were nearby.
“The whistles carry far and wide,” Marina promised.
The DSA has been actively patrolling and canvassing immigrant-heavy neighborhoods like Chinatown, Bushwick, and Jackson Heights, on the lookout for new recruits to join their ranks.
“There are more of us than them,” Nasrati told the crowd, urging members to join a tightly controlled Signal chat — where DSA participants face an additional round of vetting — to take part in the group’s so-called ‘rapid response’ operations.
Protesters in New York City have been confronting ICE agents in the streets near Canal Street, clashing with federal officers as tensions over immigration enforcement boil over. Derek French/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
ICE has more than doubled its headcount over the past year, pouring agents into large‑scale operations to arrest migrants convicted of crimes or living in the U.S. without legal status — and, according to reports, a senior White House source has indicated that after Minnesota, California and New York could be next in line for enforcement sweeps.
In a recent nationwide enforcement sweep, ICE rounded up a number of criminal immigrants with violent histories — including convictions for forcible rape, aggravated sexual assault of a child, and strangulation — the agency said in December.
“ICE law enforcement officers are sending criminal illegal aliens where they should have been all along – HOME for the holidays,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said at the time.
Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security unveiled plans to open a new ICE detention facility in Chester, just over an hour north of New York City, poised to house up to 1,500 immigrants as part of a broader federal expansion of enforcement infrastructure.
The new facility would more than double detention capacity in the region — right now, the only ICE center near New York City is a 1,000‑bed complex in Newark that was reopened last year under the Trump administration.
That boost in detention capacity is widely expected to go hand in hand with a surge in ICE enforcement across the New York City area, raising tensions in immigrant communities and drawing sharp criticism from local leaders.
