From bake sales to boycotts, anti-ICE sentiment sweeps the U.S.

One famously liberal Maryland suburb held a sidewalk bake sale last weekend with proceeds going to what organizers said were “local families impacted by ICE.”

It’s a small gesture, but part of a growing trend of immigrant rights advocates finding an outlet for the unprecedented level of anti-ICE sentiment sweeping the country.

In California, activists swarmed a Home Depot store on Saturday, gumming up sales lines by buying — then immediately queuing up to return — cheap ice scrapers. The point was to protest what they argue is the company’s refusal to block U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from swooping through its parking lots searching for deportation targets.

Activists are also taking aim at AT&T, urging consumers to forgo new or upgraded plans with the phone company until it cancels contracts with ICE.

And activists are going after airports and flight services that have been tied to ICE’s deportation flight operations, known as ICE Air.

The latest came from April Verrett, the international president of the Service Employees International Union, a major backer of immigrant rights, who fired off letters to four air services companies telling them to ditch ICE.

“As an executive, you have the power to cut ties with ICE Air and stand with working people and families,” she wrote.

The message from the activists is that it’s time to take sides.

“Silence is complicity,” Erika Andiola, political director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, told supporters in an email last week. “Every gesture matters, and every voice counts.”

Days later, NDLON led the ice scraper protest at Home Depot in Monrovia, California, choosing a location where a migrant in August was struck and killed by a vehicle as he was running away from immigration officers.

Video of the Home Depot protest went viral and convinced NDLON to expand the operation. It held a training session on Tuesday to encourage copycat protests nationwide.

Ms. Andiola told supporters Home Depot is a target because it’s a “passive partner” with ICE. She wants the company to publicly condemn ICE and to block the federal agency from entering its parking lots.

Home Depot said the sentiment was misdirected.

“We aren’t notified that immigration enforcement activities are going to happen, and we aren’t involved in the operations,” said Evelyn Fornes, a senior manager for public affairs at the company. “We aren’t coordinating with ICE or Border Patrol. We’re required to follow all federal and local rules and regulations in every market where we operate.”

Polls show there is fertile ground for the anti-ICE fervor.

A Daily Mail/JL Partners survey released this week found 45% of those surveyed disapproved of ICE, compared to just 34% who approved.

At the same time, though, support for deportations remains high. A Harvard CAPS-Harris survey this month found 54% back deporting “all immigrants who are here illegally,” and when asked specifically about booting those who “have committed crimes,” support jumps to 79%.

Rosemary Jenks, policy studies director at the Immigration Accountability Project, said anti-ICE activists’ anger is misguided.

“I just wish that people cared as much about the victims of illegal aliens or victims of identity theft,” she said. “Illegal immigration is not a victimless crime, and why all these people think they need to protect lawbreakers, rather than serving the poor, serving veterans — it seems like there are better options.”

She said it remains to be seen how effective the boycotts are. Ms. Jenks said companies are making calculations about their bottom line and what sort of businesses they stand to gain or lose based on how they play it.

For the four air services companies that dominate ICE deportation flight contracts, that means weighing the value of that business versus the hassle of losing space at some local airports.

Much of that anger has been aimed at Avelo Airlines, which activists say holds a $150 million contract to operate deportation flights. The Coalition to Stop Avelo is planning to protest this weekend at 10 airports where Avelo operates.

“Our coalition will not stop until Avelo cancels its ICE contract — or we put Avelo out of business,” organizers vowed.

Avelo, in a statement, walked a line between the protesters and ICE.

“We recognize the right of individuals to peacefully assemble. Avelo’s main priority continues to be maintaining the safety and timeliness of our operation that over 8.3 million customers across the country continue to enjoy,” the business said. “We have not noticed any major decline in passenger traffic this year, we’re seeing more bookings come in as travelers appreciate the product they are offered — nonstop, convenient, and affordable air travel.”

Fueling the anger at ICE are incendiary allegations.

In Takoma Park, the Maryland community that held the anti-ICE bake sale, signs dot the community proclaiming spots where activists say a migrant was “kidnapped” by immigration agents.

The coalition protesting Avelo calls deportation flights “cruel,” “inhumane” and “a direct violation of our Constitution.”

The Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to an inquiry for this story.

But it has previously criticized the level of vitriol against ICE, saying it’s a disservice to the agents and officers who are carrying out law enforcement duties amid unprecedented resistance and pushback.

Homeland Security officials this week said ICE personnel have faced 238 reported assaults from Jan. 21 to Nov. 21. That’s up from just 19 reported during the same time in 2024 — a 1,150% increase.