Yesterday, ICE announced - with great pride - 2000 arrests of people it wants to deport. It's significant ... and also a distraction. They want media, activists, and immigrant communities to focus on these arrests, the proverbial knock on the door. They're not the main attack. 1/
In 2018, only about 1 in 5 deportations from inside the U.S. started with a direct arrest by ICE. The vast, vast majority (apprx 80%) begin with a largely hidden system by which local police hand people over to ICE. (Excerpt from The Battle to Stay in America.) 2/ 
The data comes rom @TRACReports. As their report shows, there is good reason to think that local communities can reduce the chances of their neighbors being deported by limiting cooperation with ICE. 3/ trac.syr.edu/immigration/re…
Reducing local police cooperation with ICE doesn't stop ICE from directly arresting people, and then announcing the arrests and raids in the media, generating attention and fear. But it does limit the bigger, more efficient part of the deportation pipeline. 4/
It's good for ICE if people spend more energy fearing ICE raids. ICE has said it wants to make people afraid. It also means that people are not focusing on the main engine of deportation inside American communities. (Excerpt also from The Battle to Stay in America.) 5/end
