Signs of Solidarity

Canvassing Toolkit

When businesses and communities stand together, we send a powerful message: immigrants are essential and welcome here. This guide will help you organize locally, engage business owners, and build visible, united resistance.

Signs and Graphics

Download our printable signs — one designates a private area for employees that ICE cannot enter without a judicial warrant, and others show public solidarity with immigrants. Print them, bring them to businesses, and help send a clear message that our community stands together against fear and intimidation.

What’s at Stake

The Trump administration is deploying ICE into our communities to spread fear and terror among immigrants. These agents are often unidentifiable, wearing masks and plain clothes without badges that make them indistinguishable from vigilantes. And they’re detaining and disappearing our immigrant neighbors in increasingly violent and lawless raids. These raids will only continue to escalate, especially since Republicans in Congress passed their megabill that includes massive funding to supercharge ICE.

But we don’t have to just go along with this. ICE may be trying to sow widespread fear, but we can stand up for immigrants and show that they are essential and welcomed members of our communities. And in doing so, we send a message that Trump’s efforts to sow fear and division are not working. Learn how to take action below.

wHAT WE’RE ASKING

There have been dozens of incidents across the country of ICE agents entering small businesses without warrants and detaining people. But business owners can take some simple steps to protect their workers and make sure that all immigrants know they’re welcome at their establishment.

One easy step is to post a sign near the business entrance that declares their support for their immigrant neighbors and their opposition to ICE. These signs demonstrate solidarity not just with immigrant communities, but with everyone who is standing up against Trump’s power grabs. And when multiple businesses in your community display these signs, it has an even bigger impact. It lets everyone know that defiance is everywhere, and all of us have ways we can courageously oppose authoritarian actions from the government.

Another step is to create a private area in their business for employees. ICE agents are allowed to enter any public space, like a lobby or the dining room of a small restaurant, but they need a signed and dated judicial warrant to enter private business areas.

The best way to establish a private area is by putting up clear signage that designates it as an employee-only space. The area needs to be treated as private: it needs to be kept closed or locked, and have a policy that visitors or the public cannot enter without permission. Think about a private break room, or a door to the kitchen that’s kept closed.

We’ve created signs that these businesses can post to create a private employees-only area and demonstrate that they stand with all immigrants.

Now, volunteers across the country are canvassing their local businesses to ask them to post these signs in their establishments. When businesses in your community take steps to protect their employees and stand up against ICE, your immigrant neighbors are safer. It lets ICE know that we won’t allow them to continue their lawless raids. And it sends the message to everyone in your community that there is solidarity in resisting Trump’s authoritarian overreach.

The Signs of Solidarity campaign was developed in consultation with experts at the National Immigration Law Center and United We Dream and with guidance from the seasoned activists at Organized Power in Numbers, who have been training volunteers throughout the Sunbelt and Los Angeles to help small businesses create private areas for employees amid the escalating ICE crackdowns on businesses that employ immigrants. So we know this works!

STEP BY STEP

  1. Print out several copies of all signs.

  2. Visit local businesses and ask the owner or the manager if they’ll put up two signs: one that publicly demonstrates their resistance against the Trump administration’s cruel anti-immigrant policies, and one that creates a private area for employees.

  3. Fill out the report back form to let us know how it went!

A core principle behind all NO KINGS events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values, and to act lawfully at these events. Weapons of any kind, including those legally permitted, should not be brought to events. All events should be held in public spaces or on public property.

Canvassing tip: You can visit your local businesses solo, invite a friend to come along, or coordinate with a larger group to all canvass an entire commercial district together. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach — do what makes you the most comfortable!

SCRIPT

CONVERSATION STARTER

Hi, I’m [NAME], a volunteer with Signs of Solidarity. We’re going around to local businesses to talk to business owners and managers about their constitutional rights and how to protect their employees and customers during an ICE raid. I’m not a lawyer, but a community member concerned about increased ICE presence. May I speak with the business owner or manager on duty?

NOT INTERESTED

No: That's no problem. When would be a better time to come back and speak to the owner or a manager?

No and hostile: Okay, thanks. I’ll be on my way.

No but open/interested: I understand. I’ll leave these materials here. Can you make sure the owner gets them?

THE BASICS

There has been a significant uptick in ICE agents entering small businesses without warrants and detaining people, including workers. It’s created an environment where immigrants are often afraid to go to work, go shopping, and support businesses out of fear that ICE may be there.

That’s not how anyone in our community wants to live. It’s important that businesses do whatever they can to protect their workers and customers from these increasingly violent raids and make it clear that immigrants are welcome here.

While ICE can enter any public space, ICE agents are required to have either a signed judicial warrant or the business owner’s consent to enter private areas of a business, like breakrooms, kitchens, or storage areas. You can exercise your 4th amendment rights by posting signs for a designated private space for employees that ICE is not allowed to enter. That way, you have the legal right to refuse anyone access to those private areas, absent a signed judicial warrant.

We have three signs:

  • A sign that designates a private area for employees only, which ICE can’t enter without a signed judicial warrant

  • A sign you can display somewhere public, like a front window, to show opposition to ICE

  • A sign you can display somewhere public to show support for our immigrant neighbors

THE ASK

Can we count on you to post an Employees Only sign and a public sign in your business? They’ll make your employees safer and make immigrants feel more welcome in your business and our community.

YES

Thank you! Here are the signs. Can I help you put them up now?

You can also scan the QR code on the signs to find more resources about our campaign and what to do if ICE enters your business.

I would also be happy to speak to any other managers to explain why these signs are so important. Are there any managers on this shift I should talk to or times I should come back?

MAYBE

That’s understandable, but what’s holding you back? What do you think happens if most businesses stay quiet?

NO

Thanks for hearing me out. Would it be okay if I check back in another time?

faqS

  • If you encounter a business owner or manager who does not want to display a public sign that expresses support for immigrants/opposition to ICE because they are concerned it will upset some of their customers or be “too political,” here are some talking points to guide your conversation. 

    • The Trump administration is deploying ICE to spread fear and terror amongst immigrants and anyone who dares to oppose their authoritarian crackdown. 

    • ICE is conducting increasingly violent and lawless raids in small businesses across the country, in communities just like ours. 

    • Displaying a sign at the front of your business sends a message of solidarity – not just with immigrants but with everyone who supports our rights, our democracy, and due process. 

    • And the more businesses that put up these signs, the bigger impact they have. 

    • Courage is contagious: when other people in the community see your signs, it can embolden them to take action. Other businesses will want to put up signs too and customers and passersby will start thinking about what they can do to defy the administration’s lawless power grabs. 

    • It will take all of us standing up -- and standing together — to successfully oppose authoritarianism.

  • Every small business can take these simple steps to protect their employees and make immigrants feel safer in your community. This includes (but isn’t limited to): restaurants, coffee shops, beauty salons or barbers, doctors’ offices, clothing boutiques, day cares, gas stations, gyms, fitness studios, and convenience stores. 

    Note: We recommend small businesses rather than national or larger regional chain businesses because they’re typically able to make decisions independently, rather than being guided by corporate policy. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try talking to those larger stores as well!

  • Try to understand why they aren't willing to put up a public-facing sign. If they have immigrant workers and are afraid a sign will make them a target for ICE, thank them for creating a safer work environment for their employees and let them know that if they would like to get the other sign at a later time, they’ll be available soon to purchase via the QR code on the sign. 

    If their concern is that they don't want to be perceived as "political" or don't want to upset some of their customers, talk them through why it's so important for all of us to show up courageously in this moment. If they still aren't willing, that's ok. Thank them for putting up the interior sign and move on. You can find some additional talking points here.

  • Employees at the businesses you visit may confide in you about other issues they’re having in their workplace. If that happens, please do not give out any legal advice and make it clear that you are there as a volunteer and not an attorney (if you are actually an attorney, please make it clear you are not there in your capacity as an attorney) and that no confidentiality exists in the conversation. Our partner, Organized Power in Numbers, is equipped and ready to help any workers who may need assistance. You can share their contact information freely: info@powerinnumbers.us.

  • The QR code links to nokings.org/signs which has information and resources for business owners, workers, and volunteers. There will also be an online store coming soon where volunteers and business owners can purchase more permanent versions of the signs.

  • You can use this link to fill out our report back form. This will help us track our successes and help us learn what works best, so we can continue to grow this campaign. 

    The form will ask you to report back how many businesses you visited, how many businesses agreed to put up signs, which signs they wanted, and what types of businesses they are. You can keep track of that as you go in the notes section below. Once you’re done for the day, enter that information into the report back form. You can submit the form multiple times if you canvass over several days.

  • Staples, FedEx, and UPS all offer low-cost printing options. And while you’re there, you can ask them if they’ll put up the signs to protect their immigrant employees and customers! Most public libraries have printing options for you, too.

  • Great question! It would definitely be helpful to have signs available in different languages so that everyone can read them, regardless of whether they speak English. Unfortunately, we are not currently able to offer signs in other languages, but we’re actively exploring how to offer them in the future.

  • You can email your question to onemillionrising@nokings.org.

AFTERWARDS

After you’ve completed your visits for the day, make sure you report back on how it went! Please fill out this form that lets us track how many businesses have been visited, how many agreed to put up signs, and which signs they chose.

Once you find five businesses that agree to put up the signs, you can fill out this request form and we’ll send you five sets of stickers that the businesses can post more permanently. You can request up to 2 packs per volunteer to get started. There will be ways to order greater quantities of stickers to share with every business you canvass coming soon – stay tuned.