From a Providence General Assembly (PGA) press release:
The Providence General Assembly, a local grassroots organizing space, will host a “Rally and Speak-Out against ICE on Providence City Property and ICE Terror and Brutality” outside Providence City Hall on Thursday, January 22, at 5 pm.
In the wake of ICE brutally murdering Renee Good in Minneapolis, the membership of the Providence General Assembly and other local groups, including People’s Defense Rhode Island, Providence Organization of Workers and Renters, Providence Worker’s Defense, Providence Industrial Workers of The World, and Rhode Island Democratic Socialists of America will present four demands of the Providence City Council related to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE):
No ICE on City Property!
We demand that the City prohibit ICE, or other “immigration enforcement agents, from using any City property, including properties the City has leased out, as a staging area, processing location, or operations base for immigration enforcement.
No City Collaboration with ICE!
We demand that the City reiterate and ENFORCE the written policy of City agencies collaborating with ICE, or other “immigration enforcement” agents, in any way. This includes the Providence Police Department (PPD), Providence Public Schools, libraries, etc. The PPD and the City have blatantly violated this directive in the past.
Act Now!
We demand that the City create and implement a plan to enforce this policy. City Departments and Agencies should collaborate to identify all City-owned properties and post signage prohibiting ICE or other “immigration enforcement” agents from using them.
ICE OUT of Our Communities!
We demand that the City design and print standardized signage that private landowners and leaseholders can display to delineate the non-public areas of their property where they wish to restrict activities related to ICE and other civil immigration enforcement.
The above demands were modeled after Chicago Executive Order No. 2025-8, signed on October 6, 2025, in response to increased ICE activity in that city. We are coming together at a time when the political climate is unstable and hostile to call on the Providence City Council to take immediate action to protect our neighbors and families. The property of the City of Providence belongs to the People of Providence, and we demand that our land be off-limits to ICE and other “immigration enforcement” agents or entities.
Join the Providence General Assembly outside the Providence City Hall on Thursday, January 22, at 5 pm to make your voice heard and demand that the Providence City Council take steps to limit ICE’s brutality. Anything less than full acceptance of these demands is tantamount to complicity with the Trump administration’s campaign of terror in our communities.
The Providence General Assembly is an open, democratic movement space that meets regularly, where all antifascist and truly progressive forces can coordinate and strategize to fight back and build a better world. We will collectively decide how to coordinate with anyone willing to help defend immigrants or LGBTQ people from attack, to find ways to help bolster solidarity efforts with Palestine, to organize with workers and tenants, or to coordinate with mutual aid and emergency preparation. General Assembly mass meetings are held every other Saturday at 12 pm at 134 Mathewson St., Providence. The next General Assembly after the rally will take place on January 31, 2026. Learn more here.
