'Liberty Vans' appear across US to help immigrants - and document ICE raids

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/28/liberty-vans-ice-immigrants

‘Liberty Vans’ appear across US to help immigrants – and document ICE raids

Volunteers offer moral and legal support, and document ICE actions with the aim of holding people accountable

Victoria Namkung in Los Angeles
Sat 28 Feb 2026 08.00 EST

As ICE operations ramped up across the US over the past year, vans emblazoned with imagery of the Statue of Liberty have been deployed in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte and most recently, Minneapolis. Liberty Vans, or camioneta de la libertad in Spanish, are on a mission to defend vulnerable communities in the crosshairs of federal enforcement.

Volunteers in the small fleet of three vans – which are named for the second world war Liberty ships that delivered supplies to Allied forces – offer moral and legal support, stand in visible solidarity with families and document ICE operations so people can see the human impact of the military-style raids that have become a daily part of American life.

The vans are powered by a politically diverse coalition, which is representative of how bipartisan the anger against ICE has become, and how anti-ICE sentiment can serve as a broad mobilizing force. Headed by Mary Corcoran, a former public relations executive who once worked in Democratic politics, and Steve Schmidt, the former Republican strategist and co-founder of the anti-Trump group, the Lincoln Project, they say they see ICE’s tactics as a fight for “right against wrong, not right against left”.

“Americans are waking up and realizing that there is power in protesting, organizing and mobilizing,” said Corcoran. “I’m so encouraged to see Americans banding together, peacefully organizing and sharing videos and content so that we can all see with our own eyes the horrors this administration is inflicting on our country.”

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