BY SCOTT STIFFLER | With a December 15 Town Hall and ongoing community canvassing, the newly formed Chelsea Neighbors United (CNU) is empowering local residents and business owners with preventative tips and real-time protocols, should they find themselves in the midst of an immigration raid.

Mindful of nationwide actions conducted by masked government agents arriving in camouflaged vehicles and departing with individuals both targeted and opportunistic, CNU was formed when, spokesperson Trudy Rudnick recalled, the nonviolent resistance group Hands Off NYC “asked us to help pull together a coalition…We’d seen, over the last several months, how ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] has invaded different cities–and we saw that the biggest response came from neighborhood groups.”

And so, CNU was launched in early November by an organizing committee that included members of the direct action group Rise and Resist, residents of the sprawling Chelsea co-op Penn South, and locals who’d been active supporters of Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign.

Noted Rudnick of the group’s formative activities, “There were two things: We participated in November 15’s Day of Community Action that was called by Hands Off NYC. It was a day to show that communities were very concerned about the possibility of increased federal intervention in New York City. Because Trump has been warning of that, and also because they had, at that point, started raiding communities.” Then, for November 22’s Preparing for ICE event, “We helped to organize the canvassing of local area businesses. That was really successful; 103 people registered. We did training for the first half hour, and then people went out [distributing material to Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen businesses].”

Rudnick cited a November 29 action in the Chinatown area as “an effective example of places that are mobilizing people to stop them [ICE].” Poised to conduct another enforcement activity following similar sweeps that took Canal Street vendors into custody, “Demonstrators blocked the exit of ICE vehicles from a parking lot using garbage bags and metal barriers,” noted this report from The Guardian. “There was so many people there, that they couldn’t do it [exit], and that was a big success,” said Rudnick.

Since then, notes Rudnick, “We’ve grown in numbers and interest, leading up to the Town Hall.” Asked about the December 15 event’s brick-and-mortar nature (sans an online component), Rudnick said, “As we’ve been talking to people, we’ve realized that they want to be in a situation where they can meet more of their neighbors who are doing this…They also want more training: What are your rights, in terms of videotaping and taking pictures, to really announce to their neighbors that ICE is there?”

As such, the December 15 Town Hall, notes its press material, “will be a chance to meet each other and to grow our community of Chelsea neighbors who believe in values like compassion and inclusion. The more united we are the better prepared we will be for whatever Trump and his minions throw at us.”

The preparatory training, conducted by the New York City Immigration Coalition, will include “concrete steps we can all take to resist ICE and the deportation machine. Learn the rapid response protocols for immigration raids; how to visit local businesses with information on protecting their employees; and protect the caregivers/domestic workers who come to our homes.”

That last group of individuals vulnerable to ICE activity, says Rudnick, is of particular interest to “a lot of people in Penn South, where I live, who are older and have health aides and domestic workers–people who come into our homes. In fact, we have a woman here who was summoned to Federal Plaza for a check-in. She was going to go by herself, and we sent people with her. Fortunately, they did not deport her, but they put an ankle bracelet on her. It’s so cruel to do this to a grown woman who works several jobs and she has to walk around with an ankle monitor until her hearing comes up…These people are our people. And that’s how we feel about it.”

In addition to training, notes Rudnick, the other half of December 15’s meeting “will be people forming into groups that are interested in different topics…Because we want people to participate who are going to be active and help build the support that we want for our immigrant neighbors in Chelsea.” To that end, interested attendees are asked to preregister here bit.ly/4ptOFYc “and indicate what your interests and skills are. This will help us plan for the future.”

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Said Hands Off NYC co-founder Hannah Stauss in a December 8 email to this publication, “Fighting back against Trump’s attacks and ICE’s incursion into our city starts by growing neighborhood networks that are ready to stand up and protect one another. Chelsea Neighbors United, alongside nearly two dozen Hands Off neighborhood groups, is doing exactly that: canvassing businesses with know your rights information, tabling in parks, and distributing whistles…New Yorkers won’t back down in the face of Trump’s power grabs and masked agents attempting to unleash terror in our communities. We will show up, together, to defend one another.”

RESOURCES via the Village Independent Democrats:

The New York State Attorney General Federal Action Reporting Form | This form allows you to report federal government activity in New York that may violate residents’ rights. Such activity includes ICE actions, workplace raids, and detentions. “Submitting a report,” the New York State Attorney General’s Office notes, “does not initiate a lawsuit or individual representation, but it allows the Attorney General’s office to track and investigate patterns of federal overreach.” Click here to access the Reporting Form.

The Ark Immigration Clinic | This asylum and work authorization clinic helps “LGBTQ+ asylum seekers and others start new lives in NYC.” For info, click here.

Add the NYC Report ICE Hotline to Your Phone: 229-304-8720 | Open daily from 6am to 6 pm, available in English and Spanis). Follow SALUTE when reporting activity.

The Village Independent Democrats are holding canvassing opportunities to help local businesses and workers prepare to respond to ICE raids on Saturday, December 13 and 20. Sign up by clicking here. Questions? Contact president@villagedemocrats.org.

Empire State Indivisible is holding ongoing canvassing events in the Union Square area. To RSVP, click here.

The Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs is a source of free resources for all New Yorkers–including a Legal Support Hotline (1-800-354-0365). Click here to visit the Office online and learn about NYC’s Sanctuary City laws, what to do if you or a family member is detained, and how to, via the Rapid Response Legal Collaborative, access legal assistance if detained or at imminent risk of detention and deportation. The Office also provides immigrants with “free and confidential immigration legal help in their preferred language.”

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  Chelsea, Chelsea Neighbors United, Hands Off NYC, ICE, resist, Town Hall