Groups like ICE Watch say they want to ensure people who witness Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests are reporting the agency's activity safely and effectively after an ICE agent fatally shot a Minneapolis woman.
Columbus residents reported Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in droves on social media when the agency reported arresting more than 200 people during its "Operation Buckeye" in December. A lot of what ICE was doing in Columbus was unknown at the time, but posts online reported masked federal agents in unarmed vehicles pulling over cars and arresting people in the streets.
Minnesota Public Radio reports Renee Good, the woman killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis last week, was at the scene of ICE activity with her wife protesting the agency during an operation.
Following the shooting, Vice President JD Vance condemned people who organize against ICE, saying Good was "part of a broader left-wing network to attack, to dox, to assault and to make it impossible for our ICE officers to do their job."
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Good's actions amounted to "an act of domestic terrorism."
Columbus educator Izetta Thomas helps train people with ICE Watch, mostly immigrants and families who are interested in protecting themselves. ICE Watch is a national grassroots organization that works with local organizers like Thomas to track and report ICE arrests as they happen.
Thomas said Vance and other federal officials are lying and trying to spread fear.
"ICE Watch isn't about violence. It is not about interference. And what JD Vance is talking about with these ICE agents is not law enforcement. It's a campaign of terror and violence," Thomas said.
During these trainings, Thomas said ICE Watch informs people of what their rights are, having a plan if someone is detained by ICE and how community members should respond to ICE raids happening in their communities.
"I am your neighbor and neighbors should be able to call on one another when there is a threat to our neighborhoods when you need support," Thomas said.
Thomas explained that one of the best practices she teaches to people who witness an ICE arrest is not to interfere with federal agents. Instead, Thomas said people follow an acronym called "SALUTE" to report on ICE activity.
"SALUTE" stands for size, actions, location, uniform, time and equipment. Thomas said these are the key details people should take note of if they witness ICE activity.
"It is a tactic of observation and response that folks are using in other cities as well, not just Columbus, but it's also a way of making sure that folks stay calm and that we actually, are responding and not reacting," Thomas said.
Besides taking notes, she said people should record videos and take photos. After that, she said the activity should be reported to the National Lawyers Guild or even local immigration organizations.
Thomas compares what ICE Watch is doing to a neighbor keeping track of what is going on in their own neighborhood. She said if an ambulance shows up on her street, she notes who is in trouble, what do people need and how she can assist.
Thomas said she disagrees with what ICE and the federal government are doing under President Donald Trump. She said ICE is "forcibly kidnapping" people off the streets.
"It's not about crime at all. It's truly about stealing rights and freedom and democracy from the working people and it's clearly about advancing this authoritarian control," Thomas said.
Thomas also organizes with her organization, the Columbus Education Justice Coalition. As a CCS faculty member, Thomas said she is worried about ICE operating in schools. She said pick-up and drop-off times are a vulnerable time for parents and students.
Thomas said she hasn't heard of any ICE raids at CCS, but there was one reported in Dublin at Dublin-Scioto High School, prompting students to walk out in protest last week.
Thomas said what happened to Good in Minneapolis is tragic, but it isn't deterring her from pushing back against ICE. She likened organizing against ICE to how she is trained as a teacher to protect students from outside threats like school shootings.
"Nobody should have to think about their job and losing their life on their job when they just work at a grocery store or work in an elementary or a middle school, but we do," Thomas said. "This doesn't make me want to do the work less, it makes me want to fight harder."
Thomas said she expects ICE may return to Columbus for another operation in the future.
ICE did not respond to WOSU's request for comment.
