When ICE Shows Up: Finding “Safe Enough” Actions

It was early on Thursday when ICE showed up in our parking lot in four unmarked cars, planning to use the space to stage an operation in the neighborhood. For context, my office is centered in the middle of a neighborhood with a high immigrant population, and is within walking distance of at least three schools.

Their presence was a sign that our neighborhood community members were in danger.

And so, seeing them pull up, our head of HR (one of the only people in the building that morning) quickly convened with two colleagues and called in a local immigration lawyer. Along with reporting ICE’s presence to the immigration hotline, they were dedicated to getting them off the property.

She was scared, but focused.

Together, they marched out and confronted the ICE agents and, after clearly articulating they were not welcome to use the space, ICE hopped back in their cars and drove off.

We don’t know where their operation was planned; we don’t know where they went next. Our full assumption is that harm was still committed.

But in that moment, she did what she knew she was able to do.

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As we face everyday harm and the rise of authoritarianism in the United States, we all have a question to grapple with: what is safe enough for me to do right now?

Not what is safe…but what is safe enough.

On Thursday, the head of HR at our nonprofit assessed the situation, checked with herself internally, gathered power in numbers, and did what was safe enough for her to do.

When actions are “safe”…

We are maintaining our sense of comfort; these actions don't challenge our status quo; they are almost entirely risk-free for us, at least in this moment. Often, but not always, these are performative actions without much influence or impact. (In many cases, not taking action fits into this category as a "safe" action.)

It’s important to note: our bodies tend to know when we’re staying too safe for too long. We can feel a sense of guilt or restlessness that we’re not doing enough, as if we’re complacent, or even complicit. While I invite us to hold ourselves gently in this, I also believe these feelings are clear flags for us, waving us (inviting us) toward a different way of acting and living.

When actions are “not safe, currently”…

These actions threaten us in ways we are not willing to subscribe to in this current moment. As things change, these actions might filter into another sphere, but for now, these are the actions on our “I’m not going to do that” or “I just can’t get myself to do that” lists.

It takes a lot of support to do these – and if we do, we will very possibly find ourselves outside our window of tolerance, experiencing intense body responses, such as muscular tension, freeze, or extreme sweating, or interacting with trauma responses based on our life’s experiences.

When actions are “safe enough”…

These are the actions to hone in on: the actions available to us that are just a bit uncomfortable, that invite a bit of risk for us, that are difficult and require learning or experiencing something new, but are doable. These are the ones that stretch us, challenge us to grow, and push us into becoming someone new, even if it’s ever-so-slightly at first.

Communal and societal change happens when a critical mass of folks lean into taking “safe enough” action in the face of injustice and harm.

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One action to take: Find Your Safe-Enoughs

Obviously, each person’s “safe enough” actions are going to be different; we all have varying risk tolerances, life experiences, understandings of power and agency, and so on. We’re all different people – and yet the invitation to find our “safe enough” actions is the same.

While some actions only become available to us in the pressure of the moment (something we refer to as doing our “living reps” in the ​Gentle Change Collective​), I invite you to take five minutes and consider what might be “safe,” “safe enough,” and “not safe, currently” for you.

Here’s a quick practice that can help with this:

1. Create three columns on a piece of paper or your phone’s note app and label them: “Safe”, “Safe Enough,” and “Not Safe, Currently”

2. Pick a conflict or issue you have passion for (it could be interpersonal, communal, or societal)

3. Brainstorm actions that might fit into each column.

   Consider: (these questions are incomplete, but I hope they can serve as a good starting place.)

   1. What actions would you be willing to take?

   2. What actions are you definitely not willing to take?

   3. What actions feel too small, too easy, or too quick?

   4. What actions would be risky, but potentially doable?

   5. What actions are already happening that you could support with?

   If helpful, here is a small list of actions to stoke your brainstorming:

   1. Having a political conversation with someone who disagrees with you

   2. Attending a local government meeting to speak during public comment

   3. Organizing a group at your workplace around the issue

   4. Participating in a protest or demonstration

   5. Confronting someone in your personal life about harmful language or behavior

   6. Making a “safe enough” financial contribution to a cause (whatever that means for your budget)

   7. Volunteering for a political campaign or advocacy organization

   8. Writing a public letter or op-ed to your local paper about a controversial issue

   9. Engaging in civil disobedience where arrest is a possibility

   10. Switching a major life choice (job, bank, living situation) based on your values