Rapid Response Network Volunteers Protect Their Neighbors,
Stand Up for Immigrants
If they weren’t morning people before, they are now. They wake up in the dark of morning, pull on warm clothes, and slip into comfortable shoes. They climb into cold cars and drive over to meet up in spots known only to those on encrypted messaging channels. There, they huddle together and sip coffee or nibble pastries before dispersing in pairs to take to the streets for their morning patrols.
They’re the watchers, volunteers who drive the streets every morning to patrol their own communities for potential U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence in neighborhoods all across the Central Coast — particularly in areas targeted by federal immigration enforcement, with high populations of working-class Latino residents…