PROVIDENCE – At Down the Road Movers, a business driven by a team of formerly incarcerated Black, Indigenous and people of color, "we've seen how systems try to make us disappear," owner Trent Manning said.
"Survival under this system is not just about working hard, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps," Manning added. "It's about protecting each other."
On Friday morning, Manning and members of the R.I. Deportation Defense Coalition gathered on Broad Street to announce Immigrant Defense Zones, an initiative developed to support local business owners in protecting immigrants at risk of arrest and deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Under the initiative, members pledge to refuse immigration officials entry into their businesses without a warrant. So far, 25 Providence businesses, primarily in the Southside neighborhood, have signed onto the network.
Organizers spoke in front of Crown Fried Chicken, another business that has joined the initiative. Like other members of this network, the business now displays a poster on its window reading, "We defend immigrants here! This business is a defense zone.
"We pledge to protect and support those targeted by ICE or other enforcement actions," the statement continues. "If you see ICE, call 401-675-1414," a number for the nonprofit group Alliance to Mobilize our Resistance.
Organizers launched the initiative in response to a spike in ICE arrests and deportations in Rhode Island and throughout the U.S. since President Donald Trump took office in January.
According to a New York Times analysis, ICE arrests have increased in every state since that time. In 2025, ICE has arrested 250 people in Rhode Island, according to the report – a 182% increase from 2024, and averaging 1.7 arrests per day.
Those arrests have included the jailing of Paul Dama, manager of Suya Joint restaurant on Westminster Street.
Dama, who moved to the U.S. from Nigeria seeking asylum in 2019, was taken into custody by ICE on June 15 and is currently being held in Stafford County Jail in Dover, N.H.
The community is taking a stand to support Dama and prevent future arrests, said organizer Jair Perez.
"Small-business owners are excited to join the fight to protect immigrants who live under the fear of deportations and ICE terror," Perez said on Thursday. "There's no warrant, no detention. Not on our watch. That is the basis of our pledge. ICE cannot break the law and barge into businesses to detain people, so the people will enforce this law."
The coalition also condemned Providence police involvement in a recent ICE arrest, pointing to body camera footage that shows officers standing outside of a house during the arrest and interacting with ICE agents.
The R.I. Deportation Defense Coalition will hold a community meeting at noon on July 26 at the Providence Liberation Center, and continues to work with businesses who want to become Immigrant Defense Zones.
"Deportation doesn't happen in a vacuum," Manning said. "It's one of the many tools of the racist, capitalist system. It tears working class families apart. It targets specifically Black and brown immigrants.
"It disappears people in the middle of the night, in front of their children, off their jobsites, out of the court rooms, and it sends a clear message that our lives are disposable," he continued. "Well, I reject that message. We reject that message."
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
