The Immigrant Rights Collective (IRC) has confirmed more than 115 observed detentions in Anne Arundel, Baltimore City, Baltimore, Howard, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George’s Counties during the first two weeks of August.
The pattern is not localized. Across Maryland and Virginia, our communities are witnessing ICE/ERO vehicles stalking neighbors near elementary schools, high-speed vehicle chases, multiple tasing, and agents pointing guns at community members. We have seen mothers taken from school bus stops and workers taken away, leaving behind unopened lunches and tool belts. We have seen car windows smashed while occupied, with shattered glass left on the ground, and parents taken from their vehicles while their children’s toys remain behind—a stark reminder of families torn apart.
These actions are not “making for much safer communities,” as the Department of Homeland Security claims. They endanger neighborhoods and community streets, dehumanize immigrants and bystanders, and raise serious questions about DHS’s characterization of these operations as “targeted.”
DHS recently announced that ICE detained more than 1,300 people in early August as part of its so-called “Operation Safe Community – Washington, D.C.” ICE may characterize the operation as quiet, but there has been nothing quiet about the fear and disruption experienced by our communities.
A mother whose family has been impacted by ICE detentions in Montgomery County described the experience this way: “The actions we are experiencing from ICE have ceased to feel like simple detentions related to immigration proceedings. For many families, these actions are experienced as acts of kidnapping, carried out with a profound sense of impunity, creating a constant atmosphere of fear and uncertainty.”
She described the toll on families and children, who now face the daily fear that they may return from school to find a parent gone: “No child should have to face this uncertainty or bear the fear that their family could be separated from them at any moment.”
That fear was visible on Tuesday morning, August 25, when hundreds of parents walked their children to the first day of school at Thomas Stone Elementary School in Brentwood, Maryland. Five ICE vehicles were spotted just blocks away. As an observer photographed the vehicles, an agent rolled down his window and taunted, “Spread the good word!”
Neighbors immediately rallied. The Prince George’s County Immigrant Rights Collective mobilized volunteers to provide rides home for unnerved parents, while others alerted pedestrians of the ICE vehicles. Trained community responders encouraged residents not to engage with agents and monitored the area until the federal vehicles left. Volunteers returned for school dismissal to help families get home safely and together.
No child should spend their first day of school wondering whether their family will still be there when they get home. That day, our neighbors made sure that instead of facing ICE agents in bulletproof vests, children and parents were met on the sidewalks by friendly faces, helping hands, and voices of encouragement.
For families facing detention, that community support can be transformative.
One mother shared: “In the midst of this painful situation, the IRC has been a beacon of light during one of the darkest times we have experienced as a family. … Their support has represented security, dignity, hope, and the certainty that we are not alone.”
Another mother, whose husband was deported last September, shared her gratitude for the support her family has received: “I have four children, and my seven-year-old son has Down syndrome and autism. He needs special care. I am so grateful for everything. … Thank you so much, everything is a great help and a blessing.”
The Immigrant Rights Collective is a grassroots network of volunteers formed to protect and empower immigrant communities across the DMV and beyond. Founded in January 2025, IRC serves as a hub for Know Your Rights information and community-based mutual aid, including weekly grocery deliveries and fundraisers for families affected by detention, helping offset lost income and legal costs.
There are currently several active IRC groups across the region. Since August 2025, IRC’s Community Care team—spanning Anne Arundel, Baltimore City, Baltimore, Howard, Frederick, Washington, Montgomery, and Prince George’s Counties, as well as Northern Virginia—has provided support to more than 590 families impacted by ICE.
What we are witnessing is not simply an immigration enforcement operation. It is an assault on the safety, dignity, and stability of our communities.
Every detention leaves behind children, parents, loved ones, coworkers, neighbors, and entire communities forced to pick up the pieces.
A mother of two young girls whose partner was detained in July shared, “Since then, we have been on our own without his help, as he used to cover all the expenses. I don’t know what to do with so much responsibility. My girls are suffering a lot from not being able to be with him or even go out for an ice cream, because our budget doesn’t stretch to cover anything. It is very sad and painful.”
Our communities are not standing by quietly. Across Maryland and Virginia, ordinary people are organizing, bringing food to families, providing rides, documenting abuses, protecting children on their way to school, and reminding one another that no one has to face this alone.
The Immigrant Rights Collective exists because our communities deserve safety rooted in dignity and solidarity—not fear, surveillance, and violence.
We will continue to stand together, document what is happening, care for those impacted, and demand accountability.
Our communities are watching. Our communities are organizing. And we will not allow ICE violence to become normalized in our neighborhoods.
CONTACT:
EMAIL:
WEB:
www.immigrantrightscollective.org
INSTAGRAM:
Carroll County IRC: @carroll_irc
Central MD IRC: @cm_irc
Montgomery County IRC : @moco_irc
Prince George’s County IRC : @pg_irc
Western MD IRC: @wmd_irc
Wicomico IRC: @wico_irc
Northern VA IRC: @nova_irc
**ADDITIONAL TRANSLATIONS COMING SOON
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