Indivisible Brooklyn members rallied exterior Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Park Slope house Jan. 20, urging the Senate Democratic chief to oppose extra funding for ICE and to restrict the company’s operations in U.S. cities.
Picture by Gabriele Holtermann
About 25 members of Indivisible Brooklyn, an all-volunteer grassroots group that organizes actions and occasions to advertise justice and maintain elected officers accountable, braved freezing temperatures on Jan. 20 to rally exterior Sen. Chuck Schumer’s house in Park Slope.
The group is looking on Schumer to make use of his leverage as Senate minority chief to oppose any appropriations invoice that features elevated funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Border Patrol when the Senate returns to session on Jan. 26.
The rally was a part of a weeklong, each day protest exterior Schumer’s house and workplace urging him to make use of the upcoming funding deadline to rein in ICE. It comes amid a surge in warrantless raids and arrests of undocumented immigrants and U.S. residents, in addition to the deadly taking pictures of 37-year-old Renee Good on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis by ICE agent Jonathan Ross as Good was trying to drive away from a protest.
Protesters maintain indicators studying “Will Chuck Fight?” and “No ICE” throughout a Jan. 20 demonstration exterior Sen. Chuck Schumer’s house in Park Slope.Picture by Gabriele Holtermann 
Demonstrators courageous chilly climate on Prospect Park West, urgent Schumer to make use of his affect as Senate minority chief on immigration enforcement.Picture by Gabriele Holtermann
Good’s demise sparked mass anti-ICE demonstrations in Minnesota and throughout the nation. The protests have usually been met with what organizers describe as extreme pressure by ICE brokers, together with the usage of pepper spray and arrests. Almost 3,000 ICE brokers are presently deployed to the Minneapolis area, and on Jan. 19, the Pentagon introduced that 1,500 troops had been getting ready for a doable deployment to Minnesota.
An appropriations invoice to proceed funding the Division of Homeland Safety is due Jan. 30. Protesters held indicators studying “Will Chuck Fight?” and “No ICE,” demanding that Schumer use his energy as Senate Democratic caucus chief to finish what they described as reckless immigration raids and withhold votes from any invoice that will add to ICE’s already huge finances.
Protesters additionally referred to as on Schumer and Senate Democrats to oppose any DHS funding invoice except it strengthens restrictions on ICE and Border Patrol’s capability to conduct dragnet arrest operations and goal folks based mostly on race, language or accent, place of employment or location on the time of apprehension; ends Border Patrol deployment to U.S. cities and rejects its increasing mandate in immigration enforcement; and limits DHS’ capability to shift funds inside its finances.
Members of Indivisible Brooklyn collect on Jan. 20 urging Democratic lawmakers to withhold votes on any spending invoice that expands ICE’s finances.Picture by Gabriele Holtermann 
Activists lined Prospect Park West with banners and chants as a part of a weeklong sequence of protests focusing on ICE coverage and finances priorities.Picture by Gabriele Holtermann 
Demonstrators collect in entrance of Schumer’s house.Picture by Gabriele Holtermann
Indivisible Brooklyn organizer Lisa Raymond Tolan stated Schumer should use his place to whip his caucus and block additional ICE funding.
“They need Democratic votes in order to pass this budget. So he has leverage; he needs to use it,” Raymond Tolan stated. “So we’re out here cold, early, and pretty much every day this week to tell him to fight, not fold.”
She described the scenario in Minnesota as “astonishing and horrifying.”
“Trump is unleashing his own Gestapo against American citizens and American Immigrants,” Raymond Tolan stated. “I’m hopeful that it’s a watershed moment for those people who are not involved to see that this is in our backyard and happening to our neighbors, and it is not limited to just Minnesota.”
Fellow Indivisible Brooklyn activist Bryony Romer stated the protest was pushed by what she referred to as a “national emergency.”
“ICE and Customs and Border Patrol have taken over Minneapolis. They’re rounding people up; they’re silencing protesters; they’re tear-gassing babies, and they’re murdering people,” Romer stated. “We have a moral obligation to stand out here and speak directly to one of the people who has the power to change the situation.”
Romer stated she has not seen the same sense of urgency from political leaders and expressed concern that Democrats had been targeted on regaining the Home within the upcoming midterm elections.
“I don’t think they understand [that] what’s happening is part of an authoritarian playbook, the combination of which is not having free and fair elections,” Romer stated. “Those of us who are out here protesting see that. We see the parallels to what has happened in other places that have become authoritarian countries that have lost their democracies, and we can’t sit around and wait with them in the hopes that things just get better.”
Members of Indivisible Brooklyn collect on Jan. 20 urging Democratic lawmakers to withhold votes on any spending invoice that expands ICE’s finances.Picture by Gabriele Holtermann 
Demonstrators courageous chilly climate on Prospect Park West, urgent Schumer to make use of his affect as Senate minority chief on immigration enforcement.Picture by Gabriele Holtermann
Park Slope resident Wendy Sacks stated she by no means imagined she would witness warrantless arrests of undocumented immigrants and U.S. residents.
“Everything this administration is doing is against our Constitution. They are arresting people without due process. They are killing people. They’re disappearing our neighbors,” Sacks stated. “I’m concerned about both undocumented people here who are not getting due process, as well as citizens. This is something I have never seen before. I believe the Democrats have the power right now to stop this, not to give one more penny to ICE. ICE should be abolished, and we should have a system that’s fair and that follows the Constitution.”
In an announcement, Schumer stated it was crucial to proceed demanding solutions and holding ICE accountable.
“What Trump’s ICE is doing in our cities is despicable, and I have told him directly he should pull back this unwarranted and reckless operation,” Schumer stated. “Terrorizing communities and targeting law-abiding immigrants doesn’t make any of us safer — quite the opposite. The Trump administration doesn’t have the credibility to answer questions about what is happening in Minnesota and beyond — I know it, and the public knows it. We won’t rest until we get a full and impartial investigation into the killing of Renee Good and until this reckless operation is rolled back.”
