This story was produced in collaboration with WKNO-FM public radio.
Nearly 20 protesters braved Saturday’s thunderstorms to gather outside the AT&T store in Midtown, demanding the company cut ties to U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, commonly known as ICE.
The crowd chanted phrases like “What do we want? No ICE!” and “Cut the cord or pay the price!”
Community organizer Gisela Guerrero with the Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope or MICAH, said the group is spotlighting AT&T’s $90 million contract with the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE.
“If we want ICE to stop what they’re doing, which is separating families,” Guerrero said, “then we have to take away the services that uphold them, the services that (let) them continue business as usual.”
MICAH is advocating for consumers to cancel or avoid renewing their contracts with AT&T.
“And so, we want to use that leverage of our own economic power to pressure AT&T to what we were saying, cut the cord with ICE.”
The company’s five-year federal contract with DHS is set to expire in September. But a potential six-year extension is worth more than $165 million.
AT&T did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Activists like Christine Fox say ICE’s tactics in immigrant communities justify the boycott.
“I mean AT&T… is making millions of dollars off of this contract with ICE, right?” Fox said. “They are profiting off of the pain of, you know, immigrant families, immigrant children, just, they’re profiting off of people’s pain.”
Demonstrations here and in Nashville come amid an ongoing DHS shutdown. Congress is divided on funding the agency, largely over criticisms of ICE.
