I didn’t get this from @sovietpostcards but I have an extremely vague recollection of them posting it at some point. No matter, it’s a fine blog that you should follow
was searching through my old saved drawpile files trying to find something unrelated, and came across this very tiny buny in a similarly tiny fisher-price car which i apparently never posted, so enjoy
Citizens of Illinois and Chicago particularly, as an Angelino let me first extend my solidarity with the bullshit from our dictatorial federal government, and secondly offer my thoughts on what worked best for us in the face of our turn with this Eye of Sauron ass administration:
Look out for your neighbors and if you see something, film it. If you’re feeling bold yell at them about it, although, from the bottom of my heart, stay safe out there.
If you can, people who could normally go out and do it themselves might need groceries and other things like that, see if you can do that for someone or find a group in your neighborhood doing it and give them your time or money.
Program the number for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights (855-435-7693) into your phone and let them know when you see ICE, but be sure about it before you do, false reports are dangerous and actively unhelpful, the SALUTE method of reporting (Size, Action, Location, Unit, Time, Equipment) is a good way of remembering the key details that are most helpful to include.
Your state has helpfully put together an online immigrant information hub which includes Know Your Rights information as well as forms to fill out for if your loved one is detained, and another reference to that same refugee rights hotline which is once again 855-435-7693, or 855-HELP-MY-FAMILY, as they have it, although technically because of how phone numbers work, the only important part is 855-HELP-MY-F, and depending on who you are as a person, one of those may be easier to memorize so you can use whichever one that is.
Finally, know that because these motherfuckers can only do 29 day deployments without both having to pay National Guardsmen that they deploy full benefits and without having to get bogged down in certain court battles they can’t win and can’t spare the focus on, this too shall pass. There remain guardsmen and ICE in LA but the Marines are gone and the guard is down to 15% of the original deployment with even greater constraints of action than they originally were subject to.
They can’t win this but they want to project fear, so while it is important to be cautious and smart, it is worthwhile to not be afraid, these bastards won’t outlast us. I love you, stay safe and take care of each other, after all: we keep us safe.
