Year of the Snake Indeed. February 2, 2025
We knew he was a snake before they voted him in. We are in the Find Out phase. Again.
Note:
It’s the YEAR OF THE SNAKE. And look, I don’t want to malign snakes. They have a role to play in nature, and that’s the place for them — in my garden, or out in the desert, or in the rocky places, or under leaves.
I just don’t want them in government.
I’m publishing this on Sunday. Things happen too fast to wait for Monday. You all have a lot of calls to make.
We knew he was a snake before they voted him in.
Editorials
Blame and Accountability - That’s the topic
By Sabra Briere, editor
Recently I heard from someone interested in Indivisible, but not certain if it was a good fit. Was it too liberal? Too left?
I get that concern, I really do. Wouldn’t it be great if our opportunities to find a middle ground, to reach compromise, were actually right there, if only we were to reach out our hands? If only we offered love?
(OK, we didn’t talk about love, but still.)
Sadly, all the moderates in the Republican Party have been driven out or driven into silence . And the Democratic Party is already filled with moderates. Moderates who are busy following the rules and worrying about the law and unforeseen consequences (somebody has to) while the MAGA Republicans clearly don’t care about any of that.
It’s hard to find a middle ground when one side follows the rules and the other side is, well, rewriting the rules every day, and then ignoring them.
My laughter at all of this is bitter, but it is real.
If you feel as I do, we are not alone. And we are never helpless. We are INDIVSIBLE.
Let’s Stop Pretending
Tom Benthin, Indivisible Sonoma County
Pretending is what got us into this mess. We need to see and name things clearly if we want to get out.
Our media has pretended that Republicans, although different, are still a normal political party. When Republicans broke the rules, the media acted as if they were redefining them instead. Democratic politicians, for their part, have pretended that if they themselves follow the rules even while Republicans are shredding them, everything can still be normal. And both media and Democrats have left it up to citizens to read between the lines and figure out what is actually going on.
There’s a name for this kind of pretending. It’s called hypernormalization. It was coined by a Berkeley professor who was born in Leningrad to describe a paradox of Soviet life in the 1970s and 80s, when the U.S.S.R. was disintegrating:
“…everyone in the Soviet Union knew they system was failing, but no one could imagine any alternative to the status quo, and politicians and citizens alike were resigned to maintaining the pretense of a functioning society. Over time, the mass delusion became a self-fulfilling prophecy, with everyone accepting it as the new norm rather than pretend…”
Sound familiar?
Our mass delusion has given us fascism, currently ravaging our federal government and quickly becoming the new norm. For those of us from the “Class of 2017”, this is what we have been working against, fighting against, for eight long years. Right now, we’re not winning. I think it would help us to see where we ourselves have been pretending.
The Indivisible Guide got me, and so many others, started on activism. The core insight of the Guide, then as now, is that constituent pressure can cause representatives to act on our behalf. Their desire to get re-elected makes them sensitive to constituent criticism and praise and we can use that knowledge to get them to fight for us. Pressure is a great tool and it has had some big wins since the Resistance was born. But we’re pretending that it’s a sufficient tool for this moment. It’s not.
Calling your members of Congress (and meeting with them, etc) to push a particular bill is a time-honored movement tactic, vital for winning new rights and improvements to governing. But the fight we’re in isn’t to make progress on an issue. It’s to stop fascism. That’s something else entirely.
Fighting fascism requires politicians to have and use skill sets other than legislating. They need to be able to shape public opinion, rally voters, communicating with passion and urgency, through both words and action. They must seize the agenda and help voters make meaning of the things that shape their lives. They have to use every tool, including legislative procedure, to fight back, realizing that continuing to play by the rules when the other team has gone rogue is just pretending that it’s still ok to keep playing the game, when instead it’s time to call foul. They need to enforce discipline to maintain a united front against the enemy. Most of all, in everything they do they need to oppose fascism.
Most Democratic members of Congress not only lack these skills, they don’t realize that they’re necessary. They see themselves, instead, as legislators whose job is to pass bills “for the good of the American people’. Communication, to them, is talking about legislation. And legislation is about compromise.
When we call members of Congress (“MOCs”), we need to make a clear ask: what’s the action that we want them to take? This works fine when there is a bill to vote for or against (that is, if we can apply enough pressure). But it doesn’t work well as a way to teach our representatives the new skills they need to be able to fight fascism. Those skills are broader than a single bill and, in the eyes of an MOC, outside of their job description. A phone call isn’t up to the task.
There’s more. Because they are in response to a particular bill or event, calls to our representatives are piecemeal. When we only call our own representatives, we’re missing the others in their caucus, particularly the leadership, who normally exert far more influence over MOCs than we constituents do. Phone calls are a poor way to put pressure on the Democratic party itself. And that’s where our problem really lies, because the Democratic Party as an entity isn’t opposed to fascism.
Of course, if you ask your Democratic MOC, they will tell you that they’re certainly opposed to fascism. They’ll probably ask if you’ve gotten their most recent fundraising email. But being opposed to fascism in theory is one thing. The Democratic Party isn’t opposed to fascism in practice. Because, in practice, fascism isn’t an abstract concept. In practice, fascism is the Republican party. The link between theoretical fascism and the real thing called the GOP apparently fries Democrats’ brains. So they pretend.
They pretend that Republicans, while often bad, are also still worthy political opponents. Their colleagues across the aisle. Bipartisan buddies in waiting. See how we’re back at the beginning?
(If you, like the Democratic party, are also still pretending that there’s some reason not to unapologetically refer to today’s Republican party as fascists, I’d suggest watching Jason Stanley explain what fascism is).
A Democratic party that opposed fascism would oppose today’s Republican party, because they are fascists carrying out a fascist attack to dismantle our democracy (and we’re in the end stages of that attack). Such a party would require all its members to oppose fascism in all instances. It would present a unified front. Instead, Democrats are allowed on a case-by-case basis to decide whether or not to join with the fascists on this or that bill.
A Democratic party that opposed fascism would respond to each fascist attack vehemently, seeking to shape the public’s understanding at every step, knowing that fascists win when they can convince the nation of their lies. Instead, Democrats’ response is silence or weak tweets about the price of eggs.
A Democratic party that opposed fascism would find every small piece of leverage it had, including exploiting or breaking procedural rules, to slow the fascists down and sabotage their illegal actions. A Democratic party opposed to fascism would reject all compromise with the fascists, because fascists are focused solely on increasing their power, never on the public good (though they will often try to tempt Democrats to join them in attacking those who need protection). And a Democratic party opposed to fascism would treat Republicans as a fundamentally illegitimate party, because they have routinely broken laws and rigged the rules to win.
You may have noticed that this hypothetical party bears little resemblance to what Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and their teams are doing in Washington at the moment. You’re not alone. Lots of people are noticing. And they’re not very happy about it.
So where is all this taking us?
To stop pretending, we should realize two things. The Democratic party in Washington is not functioning as the full-force opposition party we need. And just making phone calls to our representatives isn’t going to make them change. (Yes, we still need to make phone calls, because they may have some limited effect. No, they won’t solve our bigger problem).
And I do mean make them change. Everywhere you turn, someone has written an article asking why aren’t the Democrats doing anything and then saying what they should be doing. Most of the folks I’ve read are right, in various ways. Their prescriptions are what the Democrats should be doing. But the fact that the Democrats aren’t should tell us something.
It’s the donkey in the room: the current leaders of the Democratic party will never be interested in or capable of changing. And no amount of desperate wishing will make them. Instead, they will have to be forced out. (No, they won’t voluntarily step down. That would be the same as changing).
I don’t know what it will take for us to get rid of Schumer, Jeffries, and their leadership teams. But I do know that keeping the same, failed leaders with the same, failed leadership approach is a recipe for… failure. Not sure? Instead of opposing fascism, the apparent diagnosis by Democratic leaders of what went wrong last November was that they weren’t paying close enough attention to “kitchen table issues”. Which is exactly the same diagnosis they have after every election. In other words, it’s not a diagnosis; they’re just repeating their own programming. Programming that, by the way, encourages them to “tune out the noise”, that is, to ignore the fascists. Seriously.
A Democratic party that tolerates fascists, voting with them on a case-by-case basis and extolling the benefits of “bipartisanship”, will never be a credible opposition. And if you imagine we have to tolerate the party in this form because doing so will help us win elections, I think you’re wrong. Harris lost last fall because so many 2020 Biden voters stayed home (Trump’s vote share was flat relative to his performance in 2020). We shouldn’t be surprised. A Democratic party that isn’t fully opposed in practice to Republicans isn’t worthy of voters’ trust. Democrats’ tolerance for fascism sends two messages. To those fooled by the pretense that the Republicans aren’t fascists, it says: there’s nothing serious to worry about. And to those who see the fascist threat clearly it says: we won’t fight for you. Both messages say: stay home.
It’s not that I think this will be easy. But we can’t get to the other side of fascism with the party that we’ve got right now. The first step is to stop pretending and to understand the problem. So,
· While we need to keep making calls, we have to realize that they’re a tool of limited use, one that won’t by itself get us where we need to go;
· We need the Democratic party in Washington to be fully opposed to the Republican fascists and right now it is anything but;
· Democrats will never be that opposition party without new leaders who believe in opposing fascism and have the skills to fight (we have them; watch this)
· Instead of wasting our time offering Democrats advice that they won’t take, we should focus our efforts on devising ways to force the party to change both its mindset and its leadership (Withhold funding? Support primary challengers?);
· This will take time, but there is no plausible alternative. Shit isn’t going to fix itself.
It’s time to get started.
Tariff-ick
By Sabra Briere, editor
As I write this, I haven’t seen the impact of the new tariffs imposed (Feb. 1) on our former trading partners. You know, those countries the US spent decades wooing to get them to Buy American! because American buyers tended to keep their things too long and make too many things to sell.
2.0 and his supporters sold voters the idea that rising prices were all Joe Biden’s fault. I’m looking forward (in a very negative sense) to how 2.0 or anyone will explain to me that the increased cost of groceries, clothing, electronics, fuel, and nearly every other consumer goods will be the fault of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, of low-IQ women, of Democrats (and Obama/Biden), of being WOKE … but not of tariffs, and not the chaos in the government.
The flip side of tariffs — higher taxes for some
While tariffs increase the cost of consumer goods for everyone (which means they hit harder for those with less disposable income), changes in tax law under MAGA Republicans are aimed at asking less of the very wealthy, and more of the poor. A double whammy for the poor.
House Republicans are beginning the first procedural steps that will allow them to pass major tax legislation before the end of this year. The emerging details reveal a deeply flawed package that prioritizes tax cuts for the highest-income Americans over low-income and middle-class families. Under the proposed plans to finance the package, not only would most Americans receive smaller tax cuts than those going to the wealthiest Americans, but they also would end up paying higher costs—including for housing, health care, or education.
The 2017 tax law cost $1.9 trillion, showering enormous giveaways on the wealthy and the biggest corporations: More than half of the tax cuts went to the top 10 percent of Americans.
Republicans in Congress are planning to repeat this approach by extending the expiring provisions. This means that once again, any benefit for low-income and middle-class families would pale—both in raw dollar amounts and as a percentage of after-tax income—in comparison to the benefits received by the wealthiest households.
These benefits to the rich are not free — they rest on cutting benefits. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security (yes, that’s paid for by our own contributions), health care, education, housing, transportation infrastructure, government services, government staffing, the EPA, the FDA . . . In fact, the very programs in place to keep our citizens healthy, educated, productive, and happy.
We need to watch that tax bill as it gets designed and make certain all Democrats in the House and Senate vote NO. They may not win — MAGA Republicans may have frightened too many Republican members of Congress to get even a handful to vote with the Democrats. But if the Democrats stand firm, there’s a better chance. And if the Democrats cave and divide, there’s no chance at all.
There’s nothing we can do about the tariffs. Sadly, that is a power the president, any president, has. There are things we can do for ourselves, until the government can be changed. And I’m really sorry to talk and think and write like this.
Pretend (for a while) that you are living in the 1930s or 40s, in the Great Depression or under wartime rationing. I particularly like old cookbooks from that era for inspiration (a favorite title: We’ll Eat Again, which is not available in our library). Buy all your non-perishables in bulk (COSTCO?). If you’ve already upgraded your electronics, great. If you haven’t, you may be shocked at how much even the older model years increase in price — immediately.
Live frugally. Share with others.
2.0 intends for US TO PAY FOR TAX BREAKS FOR HIS BILLIONAIRE CRONIES. Not Canada or Mexico or China or anywhere in Europe or Central/South America. Nope. It’s all on our shoulders. We’ve been turned into a country of consumers — cheap items that don’t last, landfills full of items that cannot be fixed, clothing that we toss away . . . Not like our grandmothers, who truly did keep things for generations. And if we keep spending and complaining — we’re complicit.
Buy what you need. Spend what you must. Conserve where you can.
Share your bounty with others.
Why tariffs could drive prices up (CNN)
Unprecedented plan for sweeping tariffs - NYTimes
Nothing Canada, Mexico, China can do (maybe) - Reuters
A Whole Bunch of Awful
By Sabra Briere, editor
We’re entering week 3, but not quite there yet. And still chaos reigns bigly. Taken in its individual pieces, all of it is bad. As part of a pattern, as a complete picture so far — it’s really bad. I’m trying to control my language.
Back in the summer, when we were working our hearts out to elect Kamala Harris, we talked about Project 2025. But even to us it seemed unbelievable . Well, here we are. It’s time to believe.
In no particular order:
Over the last few days, 18 Inspectors General were fired. This removes, from most of the Administration, any means of accountability. And these firings were illegal. There’s a procedure, and Congress must be involved. But not for this administration.
Also, senior FBI officials were by the acting Attorney General; including about a half-dozen executive assistant directors, some of the Bureau’s top managers who oversee criminal, national security, and cyber investigations. There were also reports of firings of senior FBI leaders, including the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s field office in Washington, D.C., and special agents in charge of field offices across the country, including Miami and Las Vegas.
DOJ’s acting leadership also instructed the FBI on Friday to turn over information about “all current and former bureau employees who ‘at any time’ worked on January 6 investigations,” according to an email acting FBI director Brian Driscoll sent out. The email included an attachment from the acting Attorney General suggesting those employees’ records would be reviewed to determine “whether any additional personnel actions”—i.e., more firings—“are necessary.” https://wapo.st/3CvMiBo
Painting over the Core Values statement at the FBI Headquarters in DC
Elon Musk and his minions gained access to all of the government’s personnel data systems, locking out career HR staff while they were at it. They have our social security information with all that implies. They also have all the personnel information about all government staff — from how much they earn to how long they’ve been working for the government to where they live. These are people who not only have never passed a security check, they have never been approved on any level for confidential work in the government. And they have our personal information — all those security breaches we’ve worried about from China were just done en masse by these clowns on behalf of 2.0’s unauthorized crew. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/musks-team-given-access-us-government-payment-system-new-york-times-says-2025-02-01/
Every civilian employee of the government had their email wide open because this crew removed the security. And then they were told to ‘resign now’ in order to ensure that they’d get 8 months of pay . . . This proffer is not in the budget, was not made based on whether the employee was doing an important job or doing their job really well. Just - hey, you aren’t important at all, so why not just quit now before we fire you? (Anyone who believes Trump&Co would honor a promise to pay that they have no legitimacy to make is … dreaming.) https://www.npr.org/2025/01/29/nx-s1-5279365/federal-workers-resign-offer-buyout
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issues a memo that halted payment on all grants and loans, causing wide-spread panic. Both Medicare and Medicaid were affected, although that was immediately denied. So were Head Start, Meals on Wheels, aid for military families, and all other social safety net programs. States, the ACLU, and others immediately sued, and a federal judge issued a restraining order. The OMB quickly withdrew their memo, but stated they intended to continue to find ways to stop paying for WOKE programs. You know, the kind of programs that directly help people. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyv48540n4po
Not too coincidentally, the OPM (Office of Personnel and Management) told Federal Agencies to compile lists of employees whose status could be changed so they could be fired for political reasons. The agencies were given a 90-day deadline to compile their lists. This is an implementation of his 2020 plan to make all government employees political appointments rather than civil servants. https://www.govexec.com/management/2020/10/stunning-executive-order-would-politicize-civil-service/169479/; https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/fear-chaos-grip-federal-workers-trump-remakes-government-rcna189746
There’s more. The plan is to numb us, to hit us with so many truly bad things that, even as we resisted one, there would be ten others that would slip by without much resistance.
And that’s the thing. We’ve all spent our lives being rule-followers. A lot of these Executive Orders are not legal. We know it. They know it. Do any of us truly believe that the president can just wave his hands in the air and declare that babies aren’t citizens because he doesn’t like the 14th Amendment? No. No we don’t. But all of MAGA-DOM is counting on us to fight really hard on one thing but not on all things. (See! We won on the OMB memo! We can fight back!) And so we will focus on this one thing and miss a whole lot of those very bad other things.
I’ve mentioned not losing focus. Right now, our focus must be on each Project 2025 goal. We have to make certain our members of Congress fight back with us.
I cannot do it all. You cannot do it all. But if we each do some of it, it will be done. We are stronger together. And together, we are INDIVISIBLE.
You don’t have to click on this YouTube video. I’ll certainly understand if you don’t. The press has (sort of) covered what he said . . . But they skipped right over the part where he said he’d impose tariffs on medications. And you should know that might affect you, and someone you love.
Resist the Global Aid Freeze
This post is derived from and action alert from the national office of Peace Action
“This is lunacy.”
That’s what Jeremy Konyndyk, President of Refugees International and a former USAID official, said about Trump’s order to put a global freeze on lifesaving and essential U.S. foreign aid. Konyndyk goes on to say “This will kill people, I mean, if implemented as written in that cable…a lot of people will die.”[1]
This is a huge story that is getting too little attention in the mainstream media. It's also another manifestation of the fascism that marks the new administration. And it’s another time to ring the alarm bell and tell our Representatives and Senators that their constituents are upset about it, and demand they take action.
As one of the world’s wealthiest nations, U.S. funds make many critical global programs possible. While the freeze exempts food shipment programs, many other critical humanitarian programs will go without resources. Layoffs of aid workers are already beginning around the world.
For example, while some actual food will get through to starving Sudan, the other services needed to deal with that famine – clean water programs, cholera treatment, critical health services – will lose funding. The slogan “the cruelty is the point” comes to mind at moments like this. Underlining that notion, the Trump White House put roughly 60 career foreign service workers on leave for trying to soften the blows of this decision.[2]
But that’s just one example. Other victims of Trump’s freeze include critical global HIV/AIDS programs, pandemic prevention programs as we face a global bird flu threat, and programs for the refugees and displaced victims of current wars. Programs like these are “peace embodied”, and peace is not just the absence of conflict but a form of global cooperation that reaches out to serve and protect those in need. Ultimately, peace is global justice and true human security. Trump is attacking the initiatives that point humanity in that direction.
One cynical aspect of this decision is that Trump is throwing red meat to his base. He’s promoting the false “America First” trope that U.S. taxpayers are spending a large portion of their taxes on foreign aid. It’s the foreign policy version of Reagan’s “welfare queens” lie, a form of which right-wing media outlets have been trumpeting for years. Polls show that Americans think the U.S. spends 25% of our budget on foreign aid. The reality is that a mere 1-2% of the budget is spent on such aid. The disinformation that Americans are being fed is another page from the fascist playbook.
But the worst, most cynical part is that Trump spared a significant portion of “foreign aid” by exempting Israel and Egypt's military financing from the order. Israel, a well-off country, is the largest historic cumulative recipient of U.S. aid dollars. Almost all of that is money for weapons. Egypt, another chronic violator of human rights, will also continue to receive military assistance. It seems warfare is sacrosanct; healthcare, not so much. The machinery of death is placed above human lives. Only Congress can stop Trump, and we need to tell them so.
Take Action: Contact Reps. Jared Huffman or Mike Thompson, or whomever represents you – as well as both Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff – and urge them to oppose the madness of a foreign aid cutoff. Tell them to use all their powers to press the administration to reverse this draconian decision that will cost many lives around the world.
[1] ”US issues broad freeze on foreign aid after Trump orders review”, Humeyra Pamuk, Reuters, Jan. 24, 2025
[2] Trump administration targets dozens of senior USAID staff after aid freeze, Daphne Tsaladakis, Reuters, Jan 27, 2025
Guest Editorials
THE HUNT FOR BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENS 1.31.25
By Roxanne Goodfellow
The hunt for undocumented Rafael V. has commenced and if the Trump administration institutes the immoral and illegal rescission of Birthright Citizenship, the hunt for Rafael’s unborn son is soon to follow.
Birthright Citizenship as defined in the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause declares “all persons born or naturalized in the United States , and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Trump’s Executive Order (EO) issued on January 20, 2025, Protecting the Meaning and Value of America Citizenshiptakes issue with the second requirement of the Citizenship Clause – that a person be born “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States. Trump contends that this clause intended to limit birthright citizenship to lawful residents.
Rafael (then 10 years old) and his parents came to San Francisco in 2011 as they were fleeing Honduras, which at that time had the highest murder rate in the world.
Once there, they moved into a Mission District flat owned by Hector, Rafael’s uncle. Rafael’s family were my neighbors for 7 years until both of his parents were killed in a car accident in 2018. At 18 years old Rafael became desperate and in what seemed like the answer to his prayers, his uncle Hector offered Rafael a lifeline – a job.
By 2018 the City Gang Injunction of 2006 against the Mission based Norteno gang had been very effective. Gang territory of 24th & 25th Streets was significantly reduced, gang-related killings decreased and gang drug activity had moved to the East Bay. Except…not all gang members were willing to give up the cash cow of the drug trade; uncle Hector was one such individual.
For 6 months Rafael couriered what he thought were legal documents from his uncle’s business (Hector was an attorney) in San Francisco’s Sunset District to a legal office in Richmond, California. During this time he fell in love with Valeria, a beautiful newly arrived Venezuelan refugee. Over a period of months, they talked about becoming U.S. citizens, getting married and starting a family.
In July of 2019 while on BART going to Richmond, Rafael came to understand that he was, in reality, transporting drug money; an undercover SFPD Drug Task Force member approached him, and Rafael was taken into custody. Faced with arrest and deportation, Rafael worked with the San Francisco D.A.’s office to identify a drug money laundering ring operated by Hector and 2 other attorneys. In exchange for his cooperation he was given immunity.
While hope of becoming a legal citizen died for Rafael with his arrest, Valeria applied for political asylum. They are now expecting their 2nd child, due in April 2025. And while their first child was born in San Francisco in 2022, this next baby may cause them all to be deported. They currently live in a State where hospitals are required to ask about the immigration status of all women coming in to give birth.
Rafael knows with his criminal record he is in the cross-hairs of ICE; he is now facing the possibility that he and his wife and his children will be deported – his newborn son will have no protection from deportation if the Trump administration is allowed to rescind his birthright citizenship.
Guantanamo now looms large, as do the concentration/detention camps being built in States like Texas.
NOTE: The EO ending birthright citizenship is set to go into effect on February 19, 2025; on January 23, 2025 a federal judge in Seattle issued a temporary restraining order for 14 days halting the policy while there are more briefings in the legal challenge. Call your MOC & let them know that this EO is unconstitutional; support the legal efforts of the ACLU & other agencies filing lawsuits to stop this travesty.
Employees were advised to expect their agencies “to be downsized through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force,” and that they could be furloughed if they stayed and held to new, “higher” standards. They were told that their jobs could be reclassified, and that they could be reassigned or even removed. Employees were advised, “At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions.”
If there was any doubt about what this was about, the email laid it out plainly. The goal is to remake the career professional civil service into a troop of Trump loyalists: “The federal workforce should be comprised of employees who are reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and who strive for excellence in their daily work.”
To take advantage of the “opportunity” they were being offered, employees need only hit reply and send the word “resign” back—a laughable process for anyone who has ever worked in or with the federal government and understands the amount of paperwork involved in even the most simple of actions. To underscore the obvious, no federal employee should be duped into thinking this is a normal, enforceable buyout with all of their rights, including severance pay and pension, fully protected.
Read the rest of Joyce Vance’s Substack piece here.
DEMOCRATS, DON’T DO TRUMP’S WORK FOR HIM
WALEED SHAHID
When I was 23 years old, I was very tangentially involved as a volunteer in a 2013-14 grassroots campaign in Philadelphia to stop police from automatically transferring undocumented immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under a program known as 287(g). <>
For many of the core organizers in Philadelphia, the fight wasn’t just about immigration policy—it was about dismantling a system that relied on the same tactics and policies driving the United States to become the world leader in incarceration. Immigrant communities shared their stories of how minor interactions with the police—traffic stops, jaywalking, even calling the police for help—could lead to deportation. The campaign made it clear that 287(g) didn’t make communities safer; it made neighborhoods more afraid, undermining trust between residents and law enforcement.
The organizers eventually won and Philadelphia became one of the first major cities to cut ties with 287(g), disentangling local policing from federal immigration enforcement. Nearly a decade later, as Republicans persist in blocking immigration reform, it feels as though we’re sliding backward. (Emphasis added)
Read the rest of Waleed Shahid’s Substack piece here.
Actions
Scripts
CALL YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS: OBSTRUCT EVERYTHING
Please call your members of Congress and say:
I’m calling to ask you to obstruct and sabotage everything that Republicans in Congress attempt. The administration is illegally shredding our federal government. Fight everything that comes in your path. Pick fights. Oppose, oppose, oppose.
Rebuild in Southern California with clean and resilient energy!
BACKGROUND: As Southern California residents struggle to rebuild their homes and communities, they must rebuild an affordable, clean and resilient electricity system and remove all methane gas infrastructure. The technology is there: Solar panels covering rooftops of all rebuilt homes along with microgrids, stationary batteries, and EV batteries.
CALL AND SAY: Please require and help Southern California fire victims to build climate smart neighborhoods using rooftop solar, microgrids, and stationary and EV batteries. It is a time to show both compassion and climate-wise leadership.
Fossil fuels caused the climate change that led to massive wildfires; fossil fuel producers must pay for rebuilding!
BACKGROUND: Big Oil has known for years that burning fossil fuels creates climate change but chose to cover it up in order to amass billions of dollars. Now these industries MUST pay the price of their greed.
CALL AND SAY: The prolonged drought created in large part by climate change fueled the Southern California firestorms. Big Oil has known for years that fossil fuels create climate change but chose to cover it up. Now they need to pay for their greedy deception. Demand that the fossil fuel industry pay to rebuild the area.
Senator Alex Padilla
https://www.padilla.senate.gov/contact/contactform/
331 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3553
Senator Adam Schiff
https://www.schiff.senate.gov/contact/
B40B Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3841
Who are my California Representatives (Assemblymember and Senator)?
https://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/
Assemblymember Chris Rogers https://a02.asmdc.org/contact
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0002
Tel: (916) 319-2002
Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry https://a04.asmdc.org/contact-me-0
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0004
Phone: (916) 319-2004
Assemblymember Damon Connolly https://a12.asmdc.org/contact
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0012
Phone: (916) 319-2012
Senator Mike McGuire https://sd02.senate.ca.gov/contact
1021 O St., Suite 8610
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-400
Governor Gavin Newsom https://www.gov.ca.gov/contact/
1021 O Street, Suite 9000
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 445-2841
SANTA ROSA RESIDENTS ONLY:
Tell the City Council they must safeguard the environment, even without a clean energy manager!
BACKGROUND: The Santa Rosa City Council just voted not to fill a vacant clean energy manager position as part of cuts to reduce the City's deficit. This is a shame because with a national administration that vows to eliminate “green programs” it truly falls on local entities to protect our climate these next 4 years. The council needs to hear that we are depending on them!
MESSAGE: I understand the need to reduce the city’s deficit, but even without the critical position of clean energy manager, you on the council must encourage our city to safeguard the environment. We can’t give in to a federal government that vows to eliminate all environmental efforts.
Santa Rosa City Council
100 Santa Rosa Avenue
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Email: citycouncil@srcity.org
For individual Council Members, their phone numbers and email addresses, go to City Council Page
Santa Rosa City Manager
Mareskeshia Smith
100 Santa Rosa Avenue
Room 10
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Phone: 707-543-3010
Email: CMOffice@srcity.org
IndySoco General Meeting
Mon, Feb 10, 2025 6:00pm - 7:00pm | US/Pacific
Feb. 2025 General Membership Meeting
Sign up HERE
“Moving from Resistance to Defiance”
Come join us on Monday, February 10th, at 6 pm for our February general meeting. We’ll talk about moving from resistance to defiance, about organizing and actions, and more. See you there!
Brainstorming Get Together/Activist Support Group
Wed, Feb 12, 2025 10:30am - 12:00pm
Wed, Feb 26, 2025 10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Location: RSVP for location
Come to one or all of these meetings to gather with a community of progressive folks active in grassroots actions.
Each of us has something to contribute to this existential responsibility that rests on all of us.
We will be there and hope you will be too!
Support our Immigrant Neighbors - Become a Legal Observer!
Legal Observer Training
Saturday, February 22, 10 am - 12 pm
Sebastopol (the location will be shared a few days before the training)
Registration Required. Sign up here to register.
For questions about the training you can contact Jenny Douglas at jadoug2715@gmail.com.
Trained legal observers are part of the North Bay Rapid Response Network, a community-led first responder network that provides a 24-hour hotline to immigrants facing a raid by federal immigration agents, dispatches trained legal observers to the raid location, connects
communities to legal defense and offers accompaniment to families following a raid.
Legal Observers are trained on how to identify Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and are sent out on location to confirm ICE activity after dispatchers receive a call reporting activity to the hotline. Legal Observers are trained by community volunteers.
If you are interested in learning more about the North Bay Organizing Project and the Rapid Response Network Rapid Response Network, you can go to their website.
We hope you will join us to support and protect our immigrant neighbors!
Sabra, you're right again. . .the Democratic Party has to change: they no longer lead, and that's what has to happen. The 74 million have to act as one. . .quit buying, quit paying taxes, shut off ALL the screens, and only deal with people you can see face to face. Organize community by community: Starlink, with an assist from AI, is taking over the internet, and soon algorithms will follow you even more than now.
We can start by avoiding X, Tesla, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and anyone who supports them. This is Civil War 2.0, and they've taken Ft Sumter again. Will we respond by saying "Whatever. Long as I can watch the Superbowl"?
Paul,
I followed the Reddit link and clicked on California. There’s a lot of chatter, and I’m no fan of Reddit. Others may be.
Here’s the direct to California link: https://www.reddit.com/r/50501/?f=flair_name%3A%22California%22
This appears to be real.