Emerge stands in solidarity with the Prairieland defendants, organizers who have been snatched out of their communities and imprisoned as retaliation for their dissent against the white supremacist brutality of ICE. This repression is carried out under the same racist and hypocritical discourse of “terror” that fascists have weaponized against Black and brown people for decades, with the goal of intimidating and disorganizing liberatory movements. When our communities are being brutalized, our neighbors disappeared, tortured, and executed, resistance is not a crime but a duty. And when the state attempts to break our bonds of solidarity, we stand by our comrades who resist. 

On July 4th, 2025, protesters raised their voices outside the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. What started as a typical noise demonstration went awry when ICE officers called in the Alvarado police department. We do not know exactly what happened next. The state alleges that a police officer was shot in the neck—yet that officer was released from the hospital within hours. We do know not to trust the narrative of the state, which conveniently reimagines black clothing and first aid kits as “military gear” and setting off fireworks as “use of explosives.”

The Prairieland defendants now face extreme state and federal felony charges. This is the Trump administration’s first “antifa terrorism” case: an attempt to implicate 19 people, some of whom were not even present at the demonstration, for routine aspects of activism such as using Signal and possessing zines. Many of the Prairieland defendants are dedicated community organizers, some involved with Palestine solidarity work, while others lead local mutual aid projects; they are united in their objection to ICE’s cruel and indiscriminate imprisonment of our immigrant neighbors. We cannot allow the state to succeed in painting these activists as an “antifa cell” in a transparent attempt to suppress leftist political organizing. Historical examples such as the persecution of revolutionaries Assata Shakur and Leonard Peltier have shown us how the state leverages the carceral system to disorganize and dissuade us from resistance.

Such blatant political repression can only succeed in our silence. Make noise for our Prairieland comrades and support them materially by donating to their legal defense fund! Their trial dates are approaching—nine of the federal trials begin on February 17th—but several defendants are unable to afford adequate legal representation. Please help us defend our comrades by making a donation to the DFW support fund.