The Formerly Incarcerated, Convicted People and Families Movement (FICPFM) condemns the nationwide escalation of ICE raids and National Guard deployments under the false banner of crime reduction. These coordinated crackdowns are terrorizing families across Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Portland, destabilizing communities, and eroding public safety.
In Chicago, residents have reported nighttime raids involving flashbangs, helicopters, and forced entries into family homes. Children have been unnecessarily detained and separated from their parents. These operations have left neighborhoods traumatized and distrustful, not protected.
In Washington, D.C., the federal government declared a state of emergency, activating the National Guard and deploying federal agents into the streets. Hundreds were detained, but prosecutors have already dropped more than one in five of those cases, wasting resources and abusing a power that should never have been granted to them.
In Portland and other cities, local leaders’ opposition to federal intervention has been ignored, as ICE and militarized agents flood communities and erode local control. These deployments have turned American neighborhoods into occupied conflict zones.
This is not public safety. This is punishment without process.
FICPFM rejects the use of armed military force as a domestic policing force.
We call for:
An immediate end to raids that separate families, detain citizens, or lack individualized probable cause.
An end to the use of the National Guard and other military-style forces against civilians.
The restoration of due process
Reunification and resources for impacted families, including legal aid and mental-health support.
“They may deploy troops to our streets, but we will keep deploying truth, love, and organized power until our people are free,” said David Ayala, Executive Director of FICPFM.
FICPFM stands with our partners in Chicago and across our national network, who confront this violence every day.
“The deployment of ICE agents and National Guard troops in Illinois is a deliberate attempt to deepen the divide between Black and Brown workers and to punish Illinois residents who envision a state rooted in racial equity,” said Richard Wallace, Executive Director of Equity and Transformation (E.A.T.). “Our response is to stand firmly in our commitment to racial equity, actualize Black and Brown solidarity, and create conditions of belonging for every Illinois resident.”
The federal government’s escalating raids and military presence in our neighborhoods are a direct attack on democracy and human dignity. Communities do not need soldiers. We need housing, healthcare, employment, and investment in real safety.
FICPFM and our partners will continue to speak out, organize, and demand a future where safety is built through care, not control.