When immigration raids ramped up across the country last year, cafeteria workers at Meta’s Bellevue office made a promise to each other, they’d have each other’s backs if anyone got caught up in deportation proceedings. That promise got tested fast, and what happened next shows us something important about where activism in tech is actually happening these days.

In December, ICE detained Serigne, the brother of dishwasher Abdoul Mbengue. Instead of waiting for Meta or their employer Lavish Roots to step up, Mbengue’s coworkers, many of them immigrants themselves from Africa, the Caribbean, and Ukraine, launched a fundraising campaign. The response was overwhelming. Tech workers from Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon donated thousands of dollars for legal defense. By February, a judge ordered Serigne’s release.

This story matters because it highlights a shift happening in Silicon Valley. A decade ago, thousands of tech workers protested immigration bans alongside their executives. Now? Workers are realizing their companies aren’t going to be their advocates. They’re stepping in to do the work themselves.

The cafeteria workers at Meta are trying to unionize with Unite Here Local 8, demanding better pay and protections for immigrants navigating the legal system. Over 60 percent of Lavish Roots employees signed cards asking for union recognition, but the company has allegedly fought back hard through meetings, surveillance, and new workplace restrictions. Meanwhile, unionized workers at Microsoft, Google, and other Meta offices already have job protections during immigration proceedings and excused time off for hearings. They’ve also negotiated procedures to keep ICE off their campuses.

Mbengue, who fled Senegal in 2023, has become a vocal organizer. Working as a dishwasher for $22 per hour, he’s frustrated that Meta refuses to address basic safety concerns. The company charges workers $300 a month to park in a secure underground garage with direct building access. For lower-wage workers, that’s basically impossible, forcing them to use public parking and risk ICE encounters during their commute.

“I choose to fight”, Mbengue says, explaining why he got involved in organizing efforts. “It was the only option after I learned about the union and what we could do together”.

What’s emerging is a network of tech workers building their own support systems. They’re formalizing a legal defense fund, connecting workers with immigration attorneys, and creating a list of people who can escort colleagues to hearings. An Amazon engineer who donated explained that solidarity means showing up how workers ask, sometimes that’s just money, not protests or big demands.

Meta and Lavish Roots have refused to comment on any of this. But the message from workers is clear: if your employer won’t protect vulnerable members of your community, your coworkers will.