Why Targeting ICE’s Support Network Beats Direct Confrontation

ICE’s brutal immigration raids are designed to intimidate. Masked agents smash through doors, drag people from their homes, and load them into unmarked vans, projecting an image of unstoppable force. But frontline resistance, while courageous, often falls short because much of ICE’s work happens behind closed doors.

The key to undermining ICE lies beyond direct confrontation. Activists have discovered that the agency depends on a sprawling network of companies for everything from surveillance software to transportation and lodging. Targeting these corporate enablers can cripple ICE’s ability to function.

Take Palantir, the data analytics giant providing ICE with surveillance tools. Activists have campaigned against it, exposing its role in tracking immigrants. Airlines like Avelo have been pressured to drop deportation contracts. Retailers such as Home Depot and Hilton Hotels have faced boycotts for facilitating ICE operations.

This strategy draws on the power analysis approach pioneered by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). After years of fruitless protests against tomato growers, CIW discovered that the growers had no power to raise wages—the true leverage lay with the buyers, the fast food chains with public brands to protect. By targeting Taco Bell and other major buyers, CIW forced companies to pay more, directly benefiting workers.

Power analysis involves mapping the web of relationships and dependencies that sustain an opponent’s power. Rather than attacking the most visible target, activists identify the pillars holding that power up and focus pressure there. This method reveals vulnerabilities that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Lauren Jacobs of PowerSwitch Action explains that campaigns often get stuck targeting immediate opponents like city councils, but the real power may lie elsewhere. Molly Gott of LittleSis emphasizes the value of researching all powerful players involved to find the most effective pressure points.

For those fighting ICE’s expansion or abuses, power analysis offers a roadmap to disrupt the system from within. It moves resistance from reactive to strategic, leveraging corporate accountability and public pressure to chip away at ICE’s machinery.

In an era when authoritarian tactics threaten immigrant communities, understanding and dismantling the networks that sustain those tactics is the frontline of resistance. The lessons from farmworkers and grassroots organizers show that power is never absolute—it depends on connections that can be exposed and broken.