A Tampa Light Brigade sign on 301 over I-4 on May 16, 2025. Credit: Dave Decker

Tampa Light Brigade posted signs over Interstate-4 this morning comparing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to one of the world’s most repressive police forces.

Signs reading “ICE = STASI” (referring to the secret police of East Germany that used torture and intimidation to crush dissent from 1950-1990), “FK ICE,” and “CRUSH ICE” were posted on the U.S.-Hwy 301 overpass of I-4.

Tampa Light Brigade has been posting signs on streets across Tampa Bay for more than 10 years, but had been inactive for the last year. Previous signs supported Palestine and Medicare for all.

Last month, ICE deported Heidy Sánchez, the mother of a 17-month-old, to Cuba when she went to an appointment to get a green card in Tampa.

Protestors gathered outside local ICE offices in April to demand the return of Frengel Reyes Luis Marcano Silva (a cause U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor has thrown her weight behind).