This is the fourth post in our series of personal accounts by individuals who’ve responded to the sight of immigration vans. See stories 1 and 2 and 3 here. This report was submitted anonymously on 21/8/17.

I was cycling around in South London when I caught sight of those garish immigration arrest vans heading down the road. I was on my bike with some time to spare so took up position a few vehicles behind them and started following to see if they were going on a raid. Of course they were and it didn’t take very long for them to come to a stop on Copeland Road in Peckham and pile out.

Still on my bike while they were on foot, I knew I could get to whatever place they wanted to raid before them, but I had to wait to see where they were going. There were about eight of them, and a few started to try and film me on their personal phones. I stuck close until it was obvious they were going to a hand car wash, so I went up ahead. While I began speaking with the guys there about their rights (primarily that they didn’t have to speak with them at all and could ask them to leave), the immigration officers hurried up and tried to interrupt our conversation. None of the workers spoke with them and just carried on with their work, so the officers asked around for a manager. A man walked over and I was able to get next to him when the two immigration cops who looked like they were in charge of things started to make demands of him. While they were talking I kept repeating that he could ask them to leave and didn’t have to answer these questions. Other immigration officers attempted to distract me by making all sorts of threats of arrests to me and the workers.

However, at this point the man from the car wash told the officers that he would not be engaging with them and that they could basically pack up and be on their way. Apparently one of them (the juvenile who we can see in the photo is fresh back from acting like a human at Boom Town Festival) didn’t quite get this and reached into his stack of papers to produce a consent form. His boss told him that in fact they had not received consent, but his first reaction shows how these raids typically go. These officers show up, force their way in, boss people around and then, regardless of what people say, shove a consent form in their face to sign before beginning their arrests.

They seemed a bit flabbergasted by being told to leave and again returned to chin wagging in order to intimidate or otherwise socially engineer their way in. We kept repeating clearly that we weren’t speaking with them and that their only job at that point was to disappear.

It was really nice when I went back to the car wash later and got another chance to speak with the man about what had happened. He thanked me for being there and for telling him that he did not have to answer any questions and could ask them to leave, as he hadn’t known that before. He said if I hadn’t been there he probably would have let them make their checks because none of his workers had any problems, but then that also wasn’t really the point. I thanked him for trusting me in that moment when facing quite a stressful situation. He said that he could also tell the immigration officers were nervous about me being there, and that sensing their fear of the confrontation also gave him the courage to tell them to leave. He said he’d told the story to his friends also working and owning businesses in Peckham who couldn’t believe it. They didn’t know that immigration officers couldn’t come in to a business without the owner’s consent or some paperwork, and that it was possible for them to be sent packing just like that. I left some information leaflets with him and he said he’d distribute them around and share his success story. We’ll for sure be in touch in the weeks to come, and I imagine it will be more difficult for them to “get consent” for their raids in Peckham in the future.

Anyways, back to the day of the attempted raid and when they got back in their vans. I let them know I’d be on them for the rest of the day and that they could expect similar results from any other raid they may have planned. They seemed happy enough with this and told me they were going to Wembley, goading me to join them. Cycling after them at this point was when it first started sinking in that we’d already stopped one raid and potential arrests and imprisonments from happening. I made the decision then and there that I would not leave those vans until I could no longer ride my bike, or I saw them going back into their base.

The whole thing for the next hour or so was quite childish really. They stopped on Camberwell Road for a “fake raid” or something where they basically went en masse to buy chocolate and snacks in a corner shop. On the way out, one of them (the same guy who did not understand the word ‘no’ before and tried to get his consent form signed anyway) told me a residential post code over in Wembley where they were going. I don’t know if he was trying to scare me with the prospect of a long cycle, but I thought he was really dumb to say where they were heading next and I was able to pass on that information. In fact, the whole day this guy was acting like a joker. While in traffic he was hanging his head out of the window trying to offer me some snacks and make some comments about my condition. Anyway, after their snack break they then tried to work me out by taking me on a tour of South London’s hills at the public’s expense. I wasn’t bothered at all as I cycle miles back and forth to work everyday, and I really enjoyed the chance to stretch my legs on the weekend. Plus, as any cyclist knows, in London cars can only get about 200 yards before some red light or traffic stops them, so it was actually very easy to stay with them. The whole time I was thrilled to know that while they were busy trying to get rid of me they were not going to be able to try and lock up someone else. I knew I had gotten in their heads.

In the end they seemed to tire of going nowhere in traffic all because of some pesky guy on a bike, and they started to take a more definitive route north to London Bridge. This is when I first started to allow myself to think that, after intervening in their first raid, I’d be able to send them back home without being able to make another one. The closer we got to London Bridge the happier I felt.

Towards the end, around Elephant and Castle and Borough, they started driving really erratically and recklessly. They tried pushing me into the curb, cutting me off on corners, and tried to overtake me on dangerously small roads. I knew though that these were the death rattles of their day’s work and that I’d already won. They were pissed off and frustrated. They’d tried to lose me, they’d tried winding me up, but just a bit of persistance and a leisurely cycle ride on a beautiful London day is all it actually took to stop the massive machinery of imprisonment and deportation from working for a few hours.

I was joined by another friend on their bike for the last bit of the trip (many more people were on the way down) and when the vans pulled back into their base we all got to have words. They seemed awfully proud of the fact that they had been paid for the past couple hours of trying to tire me out and make their escape. They further demonstrated their ignorance of the concept of institutional racism (as one might expect). In general, it turned a bit school yard and they got hustled inside by one of their colleagues before any of them brought Her Majesty’s Government into further disrepute. In my final words to them I let them know we’d always be there to ruin their day again.

The point though is that on Saturday a lot of people were out there with me on the bike and standing alongside those workers at the car wash. What we were able to do, in turning away and chasing back to their lair two vans full of well-resourced state agents used to getting their way, was only possible because of everything that has happened before. All the interventions people have been making, large and small, and all the non-cooperation which has been taking place. Remember they were shouted out of Peckham before, and they are always scared of another East Street. Our personal strength comes from each other, as well as the threat of our power, and it’s all of our responsibilities to maintain this level of confrontation and disruption even if we can’t see or don’t know one another.

Tips for those catching sight of these vans while out and about:

• Always, always, always follow the vans if you can! We know what they are up to and we know we can stop it!
• Don’t let them know they are being followed until you want to be noticed. We decide when we want to reveal our hand, and there is power in that which should not be given up lightly. Of course, different levels of visibility are important for different tactics but have a think about that stuff beforehand.
• It’s best if you can get to their target before they do and warn people there; however, even if that’s not possible always do what you can. We don’t know how our presence will effect these things, but we know that the immigration cops scare easily.
• Don’t get overwhelmed by trying to remember all the different things you could or should do. In the actual moment prioritize speaking to those getting targetted, then film, and then share what’s happening with friends and people around you.
• When they are going around on the roads, relay their positions and directions of travel as often as possible so that the others mobilizing have accurate information to work from.
• Don’t worry about chatting with them or telling them what particular variety of pond life they are if that’s not your thing. Your presence is already enough, plus all of your friends on the way down might be better at it. Just like cops though it’s often better to say nothing and remember or write down everything they say.
• Remember to stay stafe and protect yourself! This includes in the street as well as in the virtual world. Use anonymous and encrypted messaging whenever possible, and delete information on your devices when it’s no longer needed.

Written by some people active in the Anti Raids stall in Deptford

Despite regular resistance to Immigration Enforcement on Deptford High Street over the past couple of years, the raids have continued. Inevitably, officers have changed their tactics – acting more quickly, coming in plain clothes, or using unmarked vehicles so as not to attract attention – yet the raids went on. It seems that although opposition is having an impact, there would need to be a larger response on the scale seen in Peckham or on East Street Market to make the message crystal clear – that Immigration Enforcement are not welcome in our area.

Fed up with continued assaults on the community, 25 shopkeepers from the High St and several people active in the local Anti Raids group recently met up to discuss greater coordination and communication.

After some introductions, people shared their experiences of being raided. What was most common was the brutality, harassment and blatant abuse of power exercised by Immigration Officers. Two testimonies by British citizens of Asian origin explain how they had been working on the high street for decades and yet still get targeted.

Yet despite this, people have clearly fought back. Anecdotes were shared, with one local describing how they once shouted down the High Street to alert people of their presence, forcing the officers to leave Deptford furious that they hadn’t managed to snatch anyone.

Anti Raids provided some legal information and practical tips on what could be done when officers eek entry to shops. Unless they have the person’s consent to enter, come with a warrant, or have a letter from a Home Office assistant director, they cannot legally enter business for a standard immigration raid. During the most recent raids, the Home Office entered premises only to make the people they arrested sign retrospective consent for entry. In short, they should not be allowed entry without the paperwork.

We offered to link people up with solicitors. The abuse of power exercised by Immigration Officers, such as getting consent under duress, is also of interest to barristers committed to bringing claims against Immigration Officers. This will require witness statements and benefit from video recordings.

However, we all agreed on the limitations of simply knowing your rights, given the common disregard for procedures and the law in general exercised by officers. We also emphasised that it was ultimately the shopkeepers and workers – those being directly hit by these raids – who could defend themselves, and advised against looking to local politicians or groups like us to lead on this.

Other solidarity strategies were discussed, but these are only possible if people gain confidence, which will only happen when they support one another. We agreed to continue building our relationships and improve our communication. In the words of local worker, “No-one wants to be the first voice, but we all need to be out there and be the first voice!”.

This meeting didn’t come out of nowhere. It’s taken 2 years of local outreach, of weekly stalls on Deptford High Street, of frequent shop-to-shop leafleting and chats to start building relationships and getting to know people. Everyone left on a high. It was a beautiful feeling to meet on the street with people from such diverse backgrounds, in an open discussion with no leaders, and leaving with a commitment to stand up for each other when a place gets attacked.

No Pasaran! Until the last Immigration Enforcement goons are kicked out of Deptford!

(For tips on what to do if you see an immigration raid, see here)

We are a loose network and believe that resistance best comes from the grassroots. We also think that the most effective resistance to immigration raids can take place locally, as we usually don’t know in advance where raids will take place. We’re not looking to “bring people in” to us, to become another mass organisation. Instead we’d like to see lots of autonomous groups forming and feeling empowered and confident to take action themselves. We aim to provide materials, advice and information to support this.

There are currently an average 12 of immigration raids per day across London, leading to unknown number of individuals being snatched from their homes or places of work and bundled off to detention centres where they await deportation. Raids, however, can be made unworkable through combined efforts and different tactics. Here we list possible initiatives and ideas based around different interests or skillsets which we would love to see people taking on and developing.

Many of these things are already happening – we just need a lot more of them! Others are long-running ideas that have yet to come to fruition. Feel free to get in touch if you would like any advice or information to support your initiative.

COMMUNICATIONS

We feel it’s essential to develop communications tools to support resistance among people who live or work in areas affected by raids. To this end, you could:

– Develop a small-scale secure communications infrastructure to share alerts (neighbourhood, local businesses, network of friends, a market, a targeted workplace). This could be an instant messaging group, or text alert system, or something else altogether.

– If you’re technically-savvy, why not look into developing an app for people to share raids alerts securely? Some have already been trialed in various countries – we can send you links to these if you get in touch.

IN THE WORKPLACE

If you think that your workplace is at any risk of being targeted by Immigration Enforcement – either looking for staff, service users, clients, or customers – it can be a critical area within which to organise. Discuss the issue with colleagues you trust and come up with a plan.

Depending very much on the nature of the workplace, this could be:

– Agreeing a response plan in the event of a raid, for example, some colleagues helping others leave the premises while others stall at the door.

– Make sure your colleagues know that they can refuse entry to immigration officers, as officers rely heavily on consent alone to raid a property. If they’re in possession of a warrant or an Assistant Director’s letter, they can force entry. Be aware of the risk of “arrests by appointment“, particularly if you and your colleagues have a bad relationship with your employer, or if you’re in the middle of an industrial dispute.

– You may want to organise your own messaging group, particularly if you work in a large-scale or mobile work place, or if the work is spread across different sites (such as a courier company).

– You might want to present your bosses with a statement (signed by as many workers as possible), setting out your position on non-collaboration. This might be that you collectively refuse to carry out a specific task being asked of you (such as to check or report the migration status of a person), or that you simply won’t participate in any functions of immigration control.

– If you work in administration and data entry for sectors being pushed into collaborating with the Home Office, you could ‘forget’ to enter certain data, such as addresses, or in the case of GP surgeries, use the practice address instead. See the Doctors of the World Toolkit for more on this.

– If you work in the NHS, check out Doctors of the World’s ‘Safe Surgeries Toolkit’ for ideas on what you can do to prevent information being handed over to Immigration Enforcement, and get involved in the Docs Not Cops campaign.

– If you’re a student, parent, teacher or lecturer, have a look at the Schools Against Borders for Children campaign against the use of the Schools Census for immigration purposes, and check out Unis Resist Border Controls.

SHARING INFORMATION

– We encourage you to get in contact with us via Twitter when you see a raid happening (@antiraids, copy in @LCAPSV), so that we can spread the word. If you don’t have Twitter, consider calling someone who does and ask them to message us. Always include the exact time and location that you spotted the raid.

– If you work for or were recently employed by the Home Office, or you work(ed) for another agency that is required to collaborate with Immigration Enforcement, we would love to hear from you. All communications will be kept confidential, and you can communicate with us securely using our PGP key if you prefer.

– If you know anyone or any businesses directly at risk of being raided, send them our know your rights information.

– If you know anyone working in a sector being brought into the fold of immigration control (NHS, schools, universities, homelessness charities), send them information relevant to those areas (links above). Similarly, if you are active in resisting the extension of controls into these areas and have information on developments that we could share, please get in touch.

– If you feel confident in giving workshops to groups at risk of raids, involving role plays and basic ‘know your rights information’, you can use the following slideshow as a guide (notes included).

GRAPHICS & TEXTS

Images are essential! Clear images help communication across barriers of languages and literacy. We have found that while some stall visitors may not want to pick up a wordy leaflet, they’ll happily take an informative poster they can stick on their toilet door. We will share most posters and graphics submitted to us on the site (if in doubt please get in touch first).

– Create & share images, infographics, posters, or stickers against snitching and collaboration with immigration control, encouraging migrant solidarity, and resistance to immigration raids.

– Write up your experience of challenging immigration enforcement so that we can add it to our ‘Confronting the Raids’ series to inspire others.

– Get out into the streets: print out and put up posters (flyposting guide here), stickers, graffiti, stencils etc. Note that some of these things could constitute a minor offence, so be careful. See here for some posters you can download and print.

LANGUAGES

If you have skills in a language spoken by those affected by raids (see the languages our materials already translated on our side for a guide), then you might be particularly well placed to do street-based outreach, workshops and translations. We welcome help in translating and proof-reading the ‘know your rights’ cards into other languages, and are still looking for translators for the Igbo and Tigrinya versions. We are also looking for proof readers for the Yoruba version. Get in touch if you are interested in translating information or posters, as some translations might be more pressing than others.

PRINTING

If you have access to cheap printing so that we can print leaflets, pamphlets, or A3 colour posters, please let us know.

LEGAL SUPPORT

We’re always looking for input from lawyers who are familiar with the powers of immigration officers and the intersections between immigration and public law. Please get in touch if you’d like to help us develop more materials. Note that we consult with multiple legal heads before we publish anything.

STREET-BASED OUTREACH

Whether it’s running a regular stall, leafleting in the street or going round from shop to shop, you can use any of our materials to do so, or develop your own. Get in touch if you would like any of our ‘know your rights’ cards (shown in the pic above) or leaflets.

Over the past couple of years, groups have held weekly stalls in Deptford, Peckham, Haringey and Whitechapel. If you are interested in starting a local stall your own stall or group, we recommend that you check out our principles, as we promote and support groups that agree with these principles. So, for example, we do not promote party-political or other hierarchical groups. If you are still interested after having read this, then the best thing to do is probably to visit your nearest active anti raids stall, chat to people there for advice, and have a go at giving out materials. The following stall details are correct at the time of writing (update: 28/5/17):

• Deptford market, Saturdays, 12-2pm.
• Rye Lane, Peckham (currently on hiatus)
• Haringey stall, 12-2pm on Saturdays at Wards Corner, outside Seven Sisters tube station: haringeyantiraids [at] gmail.com / @HaringeyAR

We’ll publish a brief guide we made for running a stall here shortly.

RESIST RAIDS!

Fight back against raids when you see them happening. See here for ideas on how.

BE PROACTIVE

We don’t just have to wait for ‘racist vans’ to enter our neighbourhoods, we can also follow them when we see them on the move. Have a look at where your nearest enforcement base is and consider organising protests there.

We encourage you to get in touch before you start working on some of the above projects, as we have been actively working on many of the areas outlined above and are aware of the practicalities involved.

 

Submitted anonymously – 8th May 2017

Today a group of people on bicycles encircled and tailed an immigration arrest van through the streets of central London as it was on its way to carry out a raid.

This was done to alert people to the existence of these vans and their daily incursions into our neighbourhoods. It was also done to disrupt the smooth running of immigration enforcement; a machine that rounds people up, detains them indefinitely, and expels them from the country to face unknown dangers.

These raids are the point at which the whole immigration regime is at its weakest. Remember that in order to carry out raids they must come into our neighbourhoods, drive down our streets, and try to force their way into businesses and homes. It is also critical to intervene in these moments before someone is handcuffed and in the back of a van. Its also easier to stop a raid which would result in another immigration prisoner than it is to support the same person in detention or fight for their release through the courts.

Immigration officers will not carry out a raid when they know that people are following them. Previous cases have shown that even one person filming and confronting them is at times sufficient to make them give up and leave. They remember and fear a repeat of when they have been stopped by people in the communities they’ve invaded and needed rescuing from by the police.

This action is easy for many people to do. The vans are active around London at all times of day. If you see a snatch van, follow it, film the officers when they get out and show them and the people they are targeting that you won’t just let it happen in your community. You do not need to be many, and you’d be surprised at the number of friends you’ll make when people see immigration enforcement being resisted in the area.

Incidentally, showing how ubiquitous these raids are, another group reportedly confronted two Immigration Enforcement vans that they happened to spot driving down the streets in Whitechapel later the same afternoon. The officers responded aggressively, but this only attracted more attention to their presence and more support from local people for the group challenging the officers.

Direct action can stop these raids!

[Note that these vans, as well as the scumbags riding in them, are increasingly equipped with cameras]

New poster with ideas on things we can do to resist immigration raids. Produced by Nic Vas from Draw the Line.