Richmond residents on the lookout for ICE: ‘Being out on patrol … that’s something I can do’

It’s 7 a.m. on a Friday morning and Carolina Avelar is behind the wheel of her Chevy Volt, squinting through the glare of early light.

Avelar, 27, is on lookout in Richmond’s busiest commercial streets for signs of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. She’s done the weekday morning shift for months. 

Driving down 23rd Street, Avelar sees a handful of street vendors selling food. There are day laborers huddling on a corner, their breath visible in the chilly autumn air. She looks for vehicles that seem out of place and might hold immigration agents staking out targets. 

“Is this van typically there?” she asks herself. “Have I seen it parked here before?”

Avelar says when the ICE raids hit Los Angeles in June, she spent hours doom-scrolling through videos about violent arrests and wondered, “What can I do?” And then it hit her.

“Being out on patrol in the mornings is something I can do, Taking an hour and a half before work to do this — that’s something I can do.”

Community vigilance efforts like these are emerging in cities across the nation in response to the Trump administration’s immigration raids. In Los Angeles and Chicago, volunteers organized community patrols and that idea has spread. In Sonoma County, an “adopt-a-corner” initiative allows volunteers to monitor public spaces where day laborers congregate. In Richmond, activist groups like Reimagine Richmond and the Multicultural Institute are organizing community patrols with citizens like Avelar. 

Reimagine Richmond advocates for community safety. It started in 2020 in response to the Black Lives Matter movement and focused initially on police brutality. But when the administration ramped up immigration raids in Los Angeles, it was clear that the organization had to pivot, said Marisol Cantú, a community advocate with Reimagine Richmond.

Cantú said the organization has been fielding more calls from the immigrant community asking for information and help. She says people are afraid to visit shops and send their children to school.

“Our residents weren’t sure if ICE was present or not,” Cantú said“Reimagine Richmond quickly realized there was a gap that needed to be filled.” 

Legal observers keep watch

Reimagine Richmond set up a 24-hour hotline and chat groups where residents can get information in real time. It also launched a community watch in June. Volunteers are trained to be “legal observers” who can verify ICE vehicles and spread the word quickly. They are told not to interfere with immigration activity but to record it. 

Since June, Reimagine Richmond has trained 25 responders for community patrols. All are trained in de-escalation, digital security, legal rights and legal observation. 

Cantú says the undocumented community has become increasingly suspicious of people they don’t know. That makes getting information to and from the community challenging. Community watch is one way to establish trust, she said.

A familiar face

Back on Macdonald Street, everything looks normal – no signs of ICE – but Avelar notices fewer people are out compared to a typical Friday. Avelar says part of her job is to be a familiar face, someone residents know is watching out for them. 

“The most important part, we want our community to be able to live their lives,” Avelar said. “If we weren’t doing this work, then people might feel more uncertain to go outside.” 

Avelar is stopped at a crosswalk when a woman pulls her child toward a bus stop and waves. Avelar waves back and gives a big smile. 

An engineer, Avelar moved to Richmond a couple of years ago. She says the patrols have made her feel more in tune with the daily rhythms of the city. She knows where the aunties and grandmothers gather to do their morning Zumba and enjoys seeing kids walking to school with their oversized backpacks. 

“Being able to see all these small moments I usually missed has definitely made me fall more in love with Richmond,” Avelar said. 

Protecting day laborers

Rudy Lara, a senior program director at the Multicultural Institute, has been advocating for day laborers at the Home Depot in El Cerrito for about 10 years. The Multicultural Institute advocates for economic development for immigrant communities in the Richmond area. But the nonprofit also has shifted its focus to immigration anxiety. 

For the better part of a decade, Lara helped laborers with wage theft cases, even taking employers to small claims court when they refused to pay. But as ICE activity increased, Lara expanded his efforts to offer immigration information to the workers.

An immigrant from Mexico, Lara said he feels a direct connection to the day laborers. When he left Mexico, he promised his father he would keep that connection to the community.

“I think, when he was alive, he was proud of me.” Lara says. “It’s something personal for myself, to help my community.” 

Before heading to work most mornings, Lara stops by Home Depot. He weaves between taco stands and coffee carts on San Pablo Avenue with his wagon in tow. He greets everyone with the ease of a relative, giving hugs and handshakes. Lara grabs snacks and “know your rights” cards from his wagon to pass out. 

“They think they don’t have rights,” Lara says, as he passes out cards on a recent Monday, “especially because most don’t have documentation.”

‘We’re not alone’

On this day, the streets are noticeably emptier. One man anxiously asks what to do if ICE comes to Home Depot. Lara pulls out a whistle he keeps on a lanyard and holds it up for everyone to see. If ICE shows up, he’ll blow the whistle — a signal to run that can be heard along the entire strip on San Pablo Avenue. Lara says he got the idea from Chicago.

Recently, Lara coordinated with Reimagine Richmond for volunteers to patrol the Home Depot site when he can’t be there. The Multicultural Institute is also starting an adopt-a-corner program and is calling on volunteers to help patrol neighborhoods. 

“It makes the laborers feel safer,” Lara said.

Lara lingers a little longer to listen and answer questions. One laborer, an undocumented gardener, walks up to Lara with a smile and pulls him in for a hug. He gestures at the near-empty lot and shakes his head.

“Many people are scared because of Mr. Trump’s policies, but we have to keep working,” the worker says through a translation app.

Smiling at Lara, he adds, “We have support from him, not just with immigration problems, but in other ways too. We feel like we’re not alone.”

(Top photo of 23rd Street by Grace McCarty)

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