The Quiet Resistance We Need

For the past few months I’ve been sharing information about the private companies ICE relies on, hoping to give people some tangible ways to stand against the administration’s favorite attack dog. As ICE gleefully pivots to its new mandate of terrorizing our communities and eroding our civil liberties, we should all know who is profiting from the chaos and violence we're seeing so that we can resist strategically.

Along the way I’ve encountered plenty of encouragement, along with a few genres of negativity. There’s nihilism, of course, and hate—both fairly easy to dismiss. But there’s another kind of pushback that deserves more attention.

It starts off with a legitimate criticism. Maybe this company doesn’t belong on the boycott list—they’re just selling a product, not providing a service. Or they're providing a service, but it's not really contributing to the bad stuff ICE is doing. And most of these ICE contracts started during the last administration.

These are all valid concerns. There are some clearly horrible ICE contractors that I have no reservations saying should not exist in any form (looking at you, GEO Group & CoreCivic), but it’s rarely so black-and-white. Even ICE itself isn’t black-and-white: its investigative branch, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), has done important work on things like human trafficking and child exploitation.

So I respond by describing the parameters for inclusion and acknowledge that they’re imperfect. Everyone should learn more about the companies’ roles to decide on their own parameters and priorities for protest, boycott, and divestment. 

But the person pushes back, now more insistent, and it’s clear that they don’t just find the information unhelpful or incorrect; it’s really struck a nerve. They tell me that they actually agree with the goal of the project, but that they know it’s wrong to include this company (or maybe even share any information about ICE contractors at all) because—here it comes—they know that company or industry very well. Oh.

It makes perfect sense that the idea that your company might be a target of activism that could, at scale, affect employment or have a social impact might feel threatening. But I get the sense that it’s more than that: the suggestion that the work they do might in some way be enabling a situation they sincerely, deeply oppose might be inviting some major cognitive dissonance. It’s not just about their livelihood; it’s about their identity. 

The handful of interactions like this are a reminder of the challenge that a lot of good people are facing, one that calls on us to embrace nuance and respond with empathy.

As of June, the federal government employed about 2.95 million civil servants, but that number belies the government’s true size. While we don’t know the exact number, Paul Light has estimated that private contractors working for the federal government outnumber its civilian employees by a factor of more than two to one. In 2020, Light estimated the true size of the federal government to be around 10 million people, including civil servants, postal workers, active duty military, grantees, and contractors.

The millions of people who were keeping the government chugging along last December are (with some very noteworthy exceptions, of course) the same people keeping it chugging along now.

They are still driving their cars along the same routes to the same office buildings, where they greet the same colleagues and do the same tasks. 

Nothing has changed. 

But everything has changed.

Now there is a fascist regime at the helm of the government. To help the government function is to be part of a machine that they control. No one is grandfathered in or exempted from that reality. 

Of course, it isn’t realistic to think that millions of people could (or should) simply walk away from their jobs because of their ideological opposition, even to fascism. Many are doing important work to keep essential, protective elements of the government functioning. Beyond that, of course, people have bills and kids and retirements to consider. And the future of the economy is extremely uncertain.

On the other hand, none of us can afford to simply bury our heads in the sand. That’s how good people end up “just following orders.” 

So what does this moment require of the people who suddenly find themselves working within this familiar but changed machine? It calls for the same honest reflection it demands of all of us.

We are all part of this system now and must ask ourselves important questions:

• What is my role here?

• Am I indirectly contributing to the harms this administration is doing?

• How am I best able to resist, given my role and resources? 

The work of the late Gene Sharp, who studied nonviolent revolutions around the world, is a good place for all of us to look for guidance and inspiration. In his 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action, he devotes a section to tactics government employees can use to work against authoritarianism from within the system. Here are three of them:

142. Selective refusal of assistance by government aides

Government personnel help with routine functions, but refuse to assist with specific tasks or orders they view as unjust or illegal, without outright resigning.

144. Stalling and obstruction

Personnel intentionally delay tasks, prolong meetings, “lose" paperwork, or create bureaucratic hurdles, slowing down the machinery of government without open defiance. 

147. Deliberate inefficiency and selective noncooperation by enforcement agents

Police or other agents slow-walk or selectively ignore enforcement duties by prioritizing minor tasks, “missing” offenders, or pretending they lack resources, in order to undermine oppressive actions.

Looking at these tactics should make it clear that we absolutely need people resisting from within the government and the companies that support it. In a way few of us are, they’re positioned to engage in subtle disruptions that can meaningfully reduce the speed and effectiveness of this regime’s harmful actions.

Playing this role in resistance must feel quite lonely at times—especially for the career civil servants this administration has proudly endeavored to traumatize. Those on the inside need to know they’re not forgotten, and the rest of us should look for ways to support them. Whether by sharing information, organizing local networks, or discreetly reaching out with words of encouragement, we can share this message: 

You belong to a community of millions of people working to protect our neighbors and defeat fascism in America, and we have your back. You may not be able to tell us about your efforts, but we see you and we’re grateful.