海角大神

One of the country鈥檚 largest immigrant detention centers blends into a bland industrial landscape on the tide flats of the Port of Tacoma. The warehouses and storage hangars of metal, plastics, and recycling companies surround the facility鈥檚 long, low buildings, where on any given day the federal government houses almost 1,600 men and women.

Only the presence of a protest camp outside the Northwest Detention Center disrupts the gray tableau, exposing an enterprise distinct in its function and political dimensions. Activists first showed up in June in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) separating more than 2,500 children from their parents at the US-Mexico border under President Trump鈥檚 鈥渮ero-tolerance鈥� policy on illegal crossings.

An 鈥淥ccupy ICE鈥� camp with tents and canopies soon sprouted on a block-long strip of matted yellow grass near the center鈥檚 front gate. Protesters hung handmade signs on a chain-link fence 鈥� 鈥淣o Human Is Illegal,鈥� 鈥淎bolish ICE,鈥� 鈥淢ake America Care Again鈥� 鈥� and began staging nightly 鈥渘oise rallies,鈥� banging on pots, pans, and drums as a signal of solidarity with the immigrants inside the facility.

On a recent afternoon, as employees trickled into the center and families arrived to visit detainees, a handful of young men and women chatted beneath a canopy in the camp as one played a guitar. Chico Martinez, a tech worker who lives in Tacoma, described the protest as an attempt to pressure city officials to cut ties with the facility鈥檚 owner, Geo Group, Inc., the largest operator of private for-profit prisons in the country.

鈥淎 step toward abolishing ICE is driving private prisons out of business,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he city should stop taking the blood money.鈥�

An activist proposing any measure other than the federal agency鈥檚 outright dissolution might surprise those who, based on the 鈥淎bolish ICE鈥� slogan alone, assume the crusade has a defined purpose.

In reality, as similar protests percolate across the country, the movement and its intentions remain ambiguous. Even as many involved in the effort favor dismantling ICE, supporters recognize that, as a more practical matter, the motto serves as a strategic gambit and a rallying cry to motivate voters. In that broader view, the campaign can provoke change irrespective of the agency鈥檚 survival or demise, explains Hemanth Gundavaram, co-director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic at Northeastern University in Boston.

鈥淎 political debate is a negotiation, and in any negotiation, you start from your strongest position,鈥� he says. 鈥淪o abolishing ICE has to be on the table in order to come to a middle ground where reforms can happen.鈥�

鈥極ccupy Wall Street鈥� redux?

The federal government created ICE two years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to carry out immigration enforcement and assist with national security. Critics assert the agency has conflated that dual mission and, under President Trump, intensified its targeting of immigrants who lack legal status to advance his political agenda.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, (D) of Washington, has accused the president of turning ICE into a 鈥渕ass-deportation force.鈥� A progressive in her first term whose district includes most of Seattle, she has co-sponsored a bill that would eliminate ICE within a year of Congress creating a new immigration enforcement system.

The push to jettison the agency has divided prominent Democrats. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts back the idea, along with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive who upset incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in New York鈥檚 Democratic primary in June. Those advocating less drastic action include House minority leader Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Maxine Waters, both of California, who support overhauling the agency.

The caution of some party leaders aligns with a national poll that found a majority of Americans oppose scrapping ICE. As Republicans portray 鈥淎bolish ICE鈥� as a radical scheme to end immigration enforcement and open the country鈥檚 borders, Democrats intend to emphasize a broad definition of the slogan, seeking to harness the movement鈥檚 energy while building consensus for reform. Their strategy appears informed by the 鈥渞epeal Obamacare鈥� pratfall of Republicans, who benefited at the polls for years by vowing to kill the Affordable Care Act, then failed to deliver in 2017 even with control of the House, Senate, and White House.

鈥淭his debate is about more than this singular piece of legislation or just the notion of abolishing ICE,鈥� says Vedant Patel, a spokesman for Representative Jayapal. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about reforming and changing an agency that has not been doing its job. It鈥檚 about changing our immigration enforcement to something more humane and fair.鈥�

Immigration advocates believe 鈥淎bolish ICE鈥� 鈥� despite its uncertain direction 鈥� stands a better chance of influencing national politics and policy than the recent 鈥淥ccupy Wall Street鈥� protests that railed against income inequality.

Their optimism derives, in part, from the campaign taking aim at a clearly defined antagonist in Trump rather than faceless financial institutions.听Tim Warden-Hertz, a directing attorney with the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, a nonprofit legal services group with offices throughout Washington, casts the nationwide protests as proof of a growing aversion to Trump鈥檚 zero-tolerance approach.

鈥淲hat 鈥楢bolish ICE鈥� has done is helped make it clear that elections matter and voting matters,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here may not be agreement right now on how to change the system, but the organizing and activism that鈥檚 happening across the country is encouraging.鈥�

The sight of protesters outside the Northwest Detention Center heartened Maria Alvarado and Salvador Meza. The married couple had gathered up their five young children and driven a battered white minivan some 230 miles from Pasco, Wash., to visit Mr. Meza鈥檚 father. ICE detained the unauthorized field worker in November, two decades after he arrived in the US from Mexico.

鈥淲e wish we didn鈥檛 have to be here,鈥� Mrs. Alvarado says. 鈥淏ut protests like this give us a little hope. It tells us that people like my father-in-law haven鈥檛 been forgotten.鈥�

The power of 鈥楰eep Families Together鈥�

A primary distinction between 鈥淎bolish ICE鈥� and the original 鈥淥ccupy鈥� campaign is the new crusade鈥檚 connection to a parallel cause, one with a less combative theme than eliminating a public institution.

The outcry over Mr. Trump鈥檚 policy that separated parents from children inspired 鈥淜eep Families Together鈥� marches and Senate legislation by the same name. The bill authored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, (D) of California, has received unanimous support from her Democratic colleagues.

The administration, after rescinding its policy, appeared to fall short of complying with a court-ordered deadline to reunite families by last Thursday, with federal officials ruling more than 700 children ineligible to return to parental custody. Hiroshi Motomura, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, suggests that the strong opposition to ICE taking children from parents presents an opportunity for Democrats in November.

He contends that, on its own, 鈥淎bolish ICE鈥� leaves Democrats vulnerable to inflated charges of promoting open borders and gutting immigration policy. But linking the slogan to the demand that children remain with their parents could unify Democrats while luring independent voters and moderate Republicans.

鈥淭he center of gravity of the 鈥楢bolish ICE鈥� movement is 鈥榢eep families together,鈥� 鈥� says Mr. Motomura, the author of several books on immigration. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a deeply resonant message, and I think there鈥檚 tremendous potential to get voters who call themselves centrists and even conservatives to say the administration has gone too far.鈥�

Trump鈥檚 hard line on immigration has elicited criticism from disparate interest groups, including the US Chamber of Commerce, the American Medical Association, Silicon Valley, and higher education leaders. In light of that wide-ranging disapproval, Mr. Gundavaram, who teaches immigration law at Northeastern, predicts the president himself will sustain the anti-ICE campaign more than any other factor.

鈥淎dvocates know they can count on the administration to do more harm to more people because its policies are so incendiary,鈥� he says. 鈥淪o I think the momentum for change will continue to increase.鈥�

Protesters who set up the camp by the Northwest Detention Center drew inspiration from activists in Portland, Ore., who forced the brief closure of the ICE office there in late June. Police cleared out that city鈥檚 remaining demonstrators last week, yet, within 24 hours, some of them had relocated to the Tacoma camp, and a new protest took root outside the ICE office in Sacramento, Calif.

A handmade sign on the chain-link fence bordering the detention center reads, 鈥淔amilies Belong Together Not In Cages.鈥� The sentiment cuts to the heart for Alvarado and Meza, who estimate they have spent $10,000 in legal fees trying to free Meza鈥檚 father. Before visiting him at the facility, they had last seen him on his birthday in October.

鈥淭he president鈥檚 new policies are just so cruel,鈥� Alvarado says. 鈥淲hat I want to know is, who is helped by hurting families?鈥�