By Staff Reporter |

Activist organizations are promoting online “neighborhood defense” trainings that teach participants how to canvass communities and prepare local businesses for potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, according to event listings and organizing materials circulated in Arizona and California-linked activist networks.

The trainings, promoted under the title “WOB Neighborhood Defense Team Training,” are scheduled as recurring virtual sessions and described as instruction on how to “canvass your community to prepare people in case of an ICE raid.” A May 14 event listing states that ICE raids are “intensifying across the country” and that worksites and businesses are being targeted.

One Reddit post, circulated through the Arizona-focused “AZAdvocacyHub” community, advertised the training as an online event hosted by Organized Power in Numbers, encouraging users to register even if they could not attend live to receive “the recording of the training and the materials.”

According to the event description, the trainings take place monthly on the second Thursday of each month over Zoom. An additional event listing published by Indivisible Roseville in California described the sessions as “Neighborhood Defense Team Training” events designed to prepare communities and businesses for ICE enforcement activity.

Organized Power in Numbers describes itself as an organization that combines organizing, digital infrastructure, and data strategy to “build worker power in the South and Southwest.” The organization’s website lists campaigns including “Workers Over Billionaires” and “Power Up AZ.”

The organization’s resource pages include downloadable “Know Your Rights” materials and workplace guidance concerning immigration enforcement encounters. One document distributed through the group advises businesses that ICE officers may not enter “private areas” of a workplace without permission or a judicial warrant signed by a judge.

Organized Power in Numbers has also promoted what it calls an “Emergency Worker Defense Fund,” launched in partnership with the Los Angeles Worker Center Network, to support workers affected by ICE enforcement operations in Los Angeles and the Southwest.

The trainings and organizing efforts come amid continuing national debate over immigration enforcement policy and workplace raids.

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, worksite enforcement investigations are intended to reduce illegal employment practices, hold employers accountable for unlawful hiring practices, and protect lawful employment opportunities. ICE states that Homeland Security Investigations conducts worksite enforcement operations targeting employers suspected of knowingly employing unauthorized workers or engaging in labor exploitation and related crimes.

Immigration enforcement operations have increasingly become flashpoints in states such as California, where state and local officials have enacted sanctuary policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

California officials have also expanded worker notification requirements related to immigration enforcement activity. Earlier this year, the California Department of Industrial Relations announced implementation guidance for a state law requiring annual workplace notices informing employees of their rights during immigration enforcement encounters, regardless of immigration status.

Supporters of the “neighborhood defense” trainings characterize the efforts as legal-rights education and community preparedness intended to ensure that workers and residents understand constitutional protections during enforcement encounters.

Critics, however, argue that activist-organized ‘community defense’ infrastructure risks crossing the line from legal education into organized interference with federal immigration enforcement operations.

Immigration attorneys and advocacy organizations, however, commonly advise employers and workers regarding distinctions between public and private workplace areas during enforcement encounters.

The issue has gained renewed attention as federal immigration enforcement priorities continue to expand under the Trump administration. Reuters reported earlier this year that the administration was planning broader immigration crackdowns and increased workplace enforcement efforts. The Department of Justice has also challenged sanctuary policies in several jurisdictions, including Los Angeles.

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