Unveiling the Anti-ICE Movement: Analyzing Its Evolution from Protest to Insurgency

On Saturday, the Democratic Socialists of America proudly announced reaching a milestone of 100,000 members. Coinciding with this achievement, their influence in organizing events against ICE continues to expand.

However, these gatherings go beyond mere protests. They resemble organized obstruction efforts, taking cues from revolutionary strategies inspired by historical uprisings.

The California Post recently highlighted how militant left-wing activists from California are sharing their knowledge with counterparts in New York on tactics aimed at disrupting federal immigration activities.

These efforts are not about expressing dissent. They are about creating obstacles.

The strategies employed are intended to physically hamper Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while generating emotionally charged content that can be circulated on social media and covered by sympathetic media outlets. The goal is to stir public outrage, undermine the legitimacy of deportation processes, and demoralize federal law enforcement agencies.

One familiar tactic is the strategic placement of women at the front of confrontations. When these activists block agents on foot or with vehicles, cameras start recording. Clips of screaming women being arrested are quickly circulated with false narratives claiming innocent women are being “snatched” off the streets arbitrarily.

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I witnessed this tactic in 2020 in Portland, when the “Wall of Moms” stood at the front of the mob seeking to burn down a federal courthouse in downtown during the George Floyd riots. Behind the “moms”? Masked Antifa militants in black bloc outfits, hurling rocks, frozen water bottles and explosive devices.

The California Post reported that Caleb Soto, an attorney from Los Angeles working with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, a group partnered to the DSA, had advised a meeting in Midtown Manhattan hosted by the Chinese Communist Party-linked People’s Forum.

Soto instructed his comrades to infiltrate local businesses that might employ illegal migrant workers, in anticipation of possible ICE raids.

The plan was explicit: confront federal agents and ensure cameras are ready.

These tactics have already fueled online threats and real-world violence against federal officials. They helped spark deadly unrest in Minneapolis and drove an international media frenzy built on lies.

For these extremists, the potential cost in human life is worth it, because of the potential political payoff. They are not shy about looking to Hamas propaganda tactics for inspiration.

Today, Democrats across the country openly campaign on “abolish ICE” platforms, made politically viable by scenes deliberately engineered by trained militants interfering with law enforcement.

Again, these are not protests. They are tactical operations meant to normalize insurgent behavior on the left. In Minneapolis, city leaders and police have tolerated masked activists establishing checkpoints, forcing drivers to slow or stop while license plates are logged into their databases.

This isn’t new, but it is improved. Similar tactics were deployed during the 2020 BLM-Antifa riots. What we’re seeing now is simply the refined version: lessons learned, strategies improved.

This is not a “protest” movement. It stays — sometimes — within the definition of non-violence, but only for the purpose of provoking and inciting violence.

Earlier this week, a Minneapolis Antifa activist named Kyle Wagner was charged by federal authorities after posting multiple social media videos urging his comrades to acquire firearms to kill federal agents.

The tactics the militants are using — and their ties to foreign funders, based in China — raise serious national security questions.

Americans are told this is a heated debate over immigration policy. In reality, the crisis has been engineered by hostile interests and advanced by domestic seditionists who see chaos as a tool toward revolution.

Andy Ngo is the author of the New York Times bestseller, “Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy.”