As the Big Beautiful Bill has officially been signed into law, we now know the budget for ICE is expanding from $2B a year to $40B a year. That budget is bigger than the military budget of over 200 different countries around the world so, strap in. We’ve got work to do.
As the Big Beautiful Bill has officially been signed into law, we now know the budget for ICE is expanding from $2B a year to $40B a year. That budget is bigger than the military budget of over 200 different countries around the world so, strap in. We’ve got work to do.
Our boycott on AMPM & BP took off fast. On Instagram alone we saw over 3 million views and 200k+ shares in only a few weeks time. We’ve been excited about the momentum but quickly realized our efforts are going to have to expand to keep up with ICE and its long term plans.
We’ve decided to focus on two campaigns to really hit em where it hurts.
1.MORE BOYCOTTS — As we continue to boycott AMPM and their parent company BP because of their $550M contract with the DLA, we are also expanding this campaign to include corporations like Hilton, Marriott, U.S. Bank, Chevron, and our next biggest target: Home Depot.
Home Depot has been ground zero for dozens of brutal ICE raids targeting some of the most vulnerable in the community. As rapid response networks continue to fight on the front lines, the rest of us need to supplement these efforts by cutting off the money flow that enables and facilitates these efforts.
2. UNPLUG THE ICE MACHINE — We have been looking closely into the massive data sharing pipeline that flows through Fusion Centers around the country and, specifically in Southern California, the JRIC(Joint Research Intelligence Center).
We know for a fact that Stephen Miller has given over 9,000 ICE agents access to this intelligence hub. We know our elected officials oversee the agreements that allow this data to flow from over 1,500 entities in SoCal straight into the JRIC. And as we see migrants being detained in the same types of businesses and institutions that cooperate with the JRIC it becomes clear that ICE is relying on this data to track and ultimately detain migrants on a daily basis.
We MUST hold elected officials accountable for either being ignorant of this predictable outcome or for being complicit in aiding the surveillance state in its authoritarian pursuits.
In order to make these two goals effective this is what we need you to do —
1. Show up at our first picket — Wednesday, July 23rd, we will be shutting down Arco AMPM on 4th & Pico St in Santa Monica. We’ll be there from 5pm-7pm so bring signs, a drink and some snacks. The goal is to make our presence felt, to exercise our power as a community, and to discourage people from shopping at AMPM or Arco. We will be rotating businesses and locations on a weekly basis as our numbers grow.
2.Make your own boycott videos — Social media is a great tool for spreading awareness. The more of you that make your own videos the better. No matter the amount of views, shares, likes, the mere existence of dozens and eventually hundreds of individual videos encouraging everyone’s own following to boycott the corporations supporting ICE will lead to a significant impact on their sales.
The goal here is to force them to choose between losing significant swaths of their consumer base, or, their contracts with DHS. Considering how much the average American spends a year on gas for example, it would only require 10% of LA to boycott for a few months for the amount of sales lost to compete with the size of these contracts.
- Help us do research — We need more details regarding these fusion center contracts and which politicians are signing off on them. We’re putting together research teams in as many of the 80 fusion center regions as we can, and we need your help connecting the dots. Send us an email at research@icebreakers.info if you’re interested.
- Apply pressure — Show up at city council meetings, board of supervisors meetings, etc and let them know their silence and complicity in these ICE raids is unacceptable. Let them know that we know about the JRIC contracts. Any incumbent that plans on seeking reelection next year will need to prove loyalty to the community over the authoritarian profiteering of the current administration
Together we can make an impact but we need all hands on deck. In times like this there is a role for any and everyone. Hope to see you Wednesday at 5pm and Chinga la migra.
