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Seven Stories Press

Works of Radical Imagination

Breaking ICE

Community Defense against State Terror and MAGA Fascism

by Sonali Kolhatkar

Book cover for Breaking ICE
Book cover for Breaking ICE

A gripping, on-the-ground account of the growing movement against state violence, featuring interviews with those on the frontlines of the fight for immigrant justice.

A war is being waged on the streets of the United States of America. On one side, there are the ICE agents, the DHS, and their supporters, terrorizing communities throughout the United States with the threat of arrest and deportation. On the other side is the growing national movement dedicated to protecting communities, reversing racist and authoritarian policies, and otherwise challenging MAGA’s violent anti-immigration regime.

In Breaking ICE, award-winning journalist Sonali Kolhatkar presents her conversations with over a dozen movement organizers, lawyers, artists, labor leaders, and scholars on the frontlines of the fight. Through their courageous stories, Kolhatkar documents the impact of ICE violence, workplace raids, mass surveillance, and intimidation tactics, and how communities from Maine to California are organizing for a better world. Our present actions will not only determine the nature of American demographics from here on out, but also whether the future of the United States will look like an open multiracial democracy or a fascist police state.

Features conversations with: Pablo Alvarado, Nikki Marín Baena, Eduardo Delgado, Adela de la Torre, Shannon Gibney, Ron Gochez, David Huerta, Ibram X. Kendi, Robin D. G. Kelley, Josefina Lopez, Leonardo Martinez, Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Favianna Rodriguez, Luis Rodriguez, Ruben Torres, Richard Wallace, Yohuru Williams, and Kent Wong. Foreword by Roberto Lovato.

Book cover for Breaking ICE
Book cover for Breaking ICE

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“Sonali Kolhatkar's Breaking ICE is a vital road map of the community defense efforts emerging across the country that the MAGA fascists, masked federal thugs, and techno-oligarchs don't want us to see. Essential reporting from the front lines of resistance.”

“If you want to know what we mean by ‘Abolish ICE,’ read this book. Journalist Sonali Kolhatkar combines the real-world experiences of activists currently fighting state terror with the long-term vision of academics and historians who study movements. These uniquely curated voices are not just reflections of the foremost battle of our time, but inspire on-going action, solidarity, and a roadmap rooted in justice for immigrant families and people of color.”

Breaking ICE provides us with much-needed lessons from activist warriors on the frontlines against Trump’s fascist attacks on immigrants and the historical systems of oppression. Each story serves as a powerful reminder of why building deep solidarity is our best weapon in the fight for justice. This book helps us transform our fears into collective resilience. I look forward to sharing Breaking ICE with my students, community members, and all those in the struggle today.”

Sonali Kolhatkar by Amanda McIntosh

SONALI KOLHATKAR is an award-winning multimedia journalist. She is the racial justice editor at YES! Magazine and the host of YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali, a weekly television and radio program that airs on Free Speech TV and Pacifica Radio stations and affiliates around the United States. Sonali is a senior correspondent of the Economy For All Project at the Independent Media Institute and the author of Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice. She has won numerous awards, including Best TV Anchor and Best National Political Commentary from the LA Press Club, and has been nominated for Best Radio Anchor four years in a row.

Sonali earned her MS in Astronomy from the University of Hawaii, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. She resides with her husband and two sons in Pasadena, California.