11/23 – Continuing actions this week!

Update! We, along with 68 other CA groups, made the national news!

(theHill)“A coalition of nearly 70 California progressive grassroots groups urged Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) either to call for the “swift passage” of both the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act by the end of this month or to resign.“ (Letter attached at the bottom of this post.)

Action #1: Dear Senator Feinstein, it’s time to drop the filibuster for the “Freedom to Vote Act” and the “John Lewis Voting Rights Act.” And postpone your holiday until AFTER the BBB Act is passed.
Action #2: Dear Governor Newsom, We need you to step up for solar…
Action #3: Write a comment to protect DACA recipients – DEADLINE November 29 at 11:59 pm EST

We’ve just had another infuriating episode of #WhiteTearsWin. Kyle “Property over People” Rittenhouse walked away with 2 dead and one permanently damaged body in his wake, along with what Anthony Huber’s parents stated is “the unacceptable message that armed civilians can show up in any town, incite violence, and then use the danger they have created to justify shooting people in the street.” Hopefully his victims’ families will be able to sue him for damages in a civil trial, but that’s cold comfort. If an action comes from this, we will bring it forward.

Meanwhile, we need to take a moment to focus on some wins (see our header above), and the work we need to do next. Some of these you can do during business hours today or Monday, and all have an component you can do this weekend.

Action #1: Dear Senator Feinstein, it’s time to drop the filibuster for the “Freedom to Vote Act” and the “John Lewis Voting Rights Act.” And postpone your holiday until AFTER the BBB Act is passed.

We know from early on in our Indivisible movement that Feinstein will move if enough people flood her office with comments. (Yes, she was ready to rubber-stamp that horrid Jeff Sessions as Attorney General before we’all found out.) So make her phones ring in every office, it really only takes minutes to contact them all and say the short phone script. (Program your phone to save time! “MOC” = “Member of Congress”) Then fill up her email box over the weekend and make ourselves HEARD!

Continue reading →

Tues. 7/14: Speak out against the Trump administration’s deadly new asylum proposal – deadline Wednesday – 7/15

Article regarding Salvadoran deaths here.

Write a comment against Trump’s proposed human rights violating asylum changes. Deadline 7/15 (Wednesday) 11:59 pm EST.

Over the last three years, the Trump administration has drastically altered the U.S. asylum system. From attempts to ban asylum seekers who entered the United States between Ports of Entry, to forcing more than 60,000 to wait in squalor in Mexico while their cases wind their way through backlogged immigration courts, gaining access to the U.S. asylum system has become fraught with challenges. Continue reading “Tues. 7/14: Speak out against the Trump administration’s deadly new asylum proposal – deadline Wednesday – 7/15” →

Mon. 9/23: Asylum America – Write a comment today! Deadline 11:59 pm EST.

Unless our people came here unwillingly, or were standing on the shore watching the first ships land, we are beneficiaries of asylum – our people were refugees from failed crops and starvation, from joblessness, from poverty, from corruption, from religious persecution and from threats against their lives. (Even ~~Swedish~~ German former brothel owners were welcome to return after being banished from the country of their birth for draft dodging.) In our forefather’s shoes, we walked down a gangplank into America and a new life.

We owe a debt, those of us who got here before cruel immigration limits kicked in, for there was nowhere else to go. Pay it back by standing indivisible with the people coming here now. They too, are running from failed crops and starvation, from joblessness, from poverty, from corruption and from threats against their lives, and they need our help.

Action: Write a comment to oppose Trump’s proposal to further bloat the anti-American “Expedited Removal” rule. Due tonight!

“Expedited removal . . . represented a dramatic assault on the due process rights . . . . [It grants] extraordinary and unprecedented power to low-level immigration officers to remove individuals without review and without a fair hearing.” – ACLU

Your voice matters and is needed now more than ever. Your comment doesn’t need to be long. A few sentences are fine. It just needs to sound exactly LIKE YOU.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, don’t copy anyone else’s comment verbatim. It will be thrown out by the moderator. Don’t bother with petitions either, as all the signatures only count as “1”.

Comment here

Here is the proposed rule here.
Here are other people’s comments for inspiration only: here.

Basic Information

Continue reading “Mon. 9/23: Asylum America – Write a comment today! Deadline 11:59 pm EST.” →

Wed. 8/14: Stop the “Public Charge” rule changes.

Action: Call your legislators to stop the Administrations cruel and unnecessary changes to the “Public Charge” rule.

It’s time to call in the Congressional Review Act – This action empowers Congress to review new federal regulations issued by government agencies and overrule them with a joint resolution. Congress has 60 days to do this.

(From Indivisible SF): “For generations, the US government allowed people who immigrated to avail themselves of commonly-used anti-poverty programs to get a start in building a new life, keep their kids fed, and keep their families healthy without endangering their status. Now the Trump administration intends to deport hard-working taxpayers if they use government services. Despite overwhelmingly negative public comments, DHS has allowed their expanded “Public Charge” regulation to go into effect.

This is an unmistakably class-based attack on immigration, aimed at ensuring that America allows only wealthy people to enter or remain here. It ties in directly with racist ideas of white supremacy—particularly of immigrants being a drain on (white) society—espoused on Fox News and in recent mass shootings. This cruel reversal of “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” is in complete opposition to our most deeply held ideals. And Congress can put a stop to it with the Congressional Review Act.“

Minimal script to federal legislators: I’m calling from [zip code] to urge Rep./Sen. [___] to invoke the Congressional Review Act to block implementation of the new DHS “Public Charge” immigration rule.

Minimal script to our Governor: I’m calling to urge Governor Newsom to take the strongest possible action to fight the public charge immigration rule changes and to act by executive order to ensure outreach and services continue to reach legal immigrants and their families awaiting processing in California.
Continue reading “Wed. 8/14: Stop the “Public Charge” rule changes.” →

Sat 7/27: Kids take a stand! – kids raise awareness and funds for KIND and the Rio Grande Valley Rapid Response.

What are your kids doing this weekend?

The Lawyer Moms Foundation is organizing Kids Take a Stand—lemonade stands set up all over the country on Saturday, July 27, and Sunday, July 28, to raise awareness of the plight of migrant families and to raise funds to support the Rio Grande Valley Rapid Response and KIND (Kids in Need of Defense).

Last year, kids and families in 91 cities, across 38 states, hosted over 112 lemonade stands as part of Kids Take a Stand. These lemonade stands raised OVER $35,000!

Does your kid want to help? Go here to sign up your stand! Here is the link to the tool kit. Continue reading “Sat 7/27: Kids take a stand! – kids raise awareness and funds for KIND and the Rio Grande Valley Rapid Response.” →

Close the Camps Protest at Rep. Brownley’s Office – On July 2nd!

When: July 2nd, 11:45am – 12:45pm
Where: Rep. Brownley’s office, 223 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd.
RSVP: (and share!) https://www.facebook.com/events/2657967964429858/
Bring: Please bring a sign, your flag, and your most passionate voice!

Trump’s family-separation/detention-center regime is a humanitarian crisis — and Rep. Julia Brownley last week helped scuttle a House bill that would have put restrictions on Trump’s racist excesses. (She voted the same as Nunes and McClintock!)

Please join this protest, part of a nationwide day of action, hosted by Indivisible Conejo, demanding that Brownley stop caving in to Republicans and support legislation that places limits on Trump’s ability to cage children — and urging her to visit a detention center in the coming weeks.

We’ll be protesting outside from 11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m., and a small contingent of activists will meet with Rep. Brownley from 12-12:30 p.m.

Please note that Lights For Liberty protests are still scheduled for Friday, July 12, at detention centers and on street corners nationwide.

By participating in this event, you agree to follow all applicable laws and to behave lawfully to ensure the safety of event participants. This event will be nonviolent and will not involve any civil disobedience or other violation of law. In the rare occurrence of counter-protesters, you further agree to not engage and use the “isolate and ignore” model.

Monday – 6/24: Someday, a young person will ask you what you did during the time of concentration camps. Mark your calendars – 3 local actions – Join in!

There is a philosophy, in both Judaism and Islam, that is paraphrased “whoever destroys a life, it is as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he has saved an entire world.” 33 worlds are now gone.

(Go here for today’s LEGISLATIVE actions.)

“What did you do, grandpa?” – when our country ran amok, when we put scared, desperate men, women and children into freezing cages, when we pulled screaming toddlers from their parents’ grip, when we fed them inadequate or rotten food, or trapped them in vans, or carried their bodies out of our facilities.

Over the last week, we’ve read ferocious arguments on Facebook over the term “concentration camp“. We’ve seen “READ HISTORY!” hurled at each other on Twitter. We watched “Never Again” being reduced from the robust internal tripwire it should be to a verbal tombstone.

Yes, social messaging is a crucial issue in our modern political world. Everyone should be reminding their media circles that we can’t let shame or denial keep us from hearing the warning 6 million souls are screaming to us. There are also active things we can do to help drive that message, to connect with other resisters and to help affected people directly. Here are some options…

Action #1 – June 29th – “Know Your Rights” Workshop

This event, and another offered on July 9th in a different location, are sponsored by Buen Vecino and will be conducted in Spanish. If you’re interested to becoming a Know-Your-Rights educator in English, Spanish or in other languages, check out buen-vecino for further information.

Continue reading “Monday – 6/24: Someday, a young person will ask you what you did during the time of concentration camps. Mark your calendars – 3 local actions – Join in!” →

Wed. – 5/1: Taking back the real May Day! Not just one day off in September, but justice 24/7. Come join in!

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Ventura event details here. Oxnard event details here.

Today, almost every major industrial nation is celebrating International Workers’ Day, a holiday based on the 1886 Haymarket Riot by immigrant workers in Chicago. It was a major historical event which involved freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to free assembly, the right to a fair trial by a jury of peers and the right of workers to organize and fight for things like the eight-hour day. It should be a huge celebration here too.

Continue reading “Wed. – 5/1: Taking back the real May Day! Not just one day off in September, but justice 24/7. Come join in!” →

Stop the #FakeNationalEmergency! Presidents’ Day Protest Ventura

Share, share, share the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/2474989142574688/ – we need a HUGE turnout! This is a NATIONAL EVENT!

Join us on Presidents Day—Monday, 2/18 from noon to 1:30pm— on the corner of Victoria and Telephone in Ventura in front of the Government Center (800 S Victoria Ave, Ventura)

Bring your flags, signs, dress in red, white, and blue – and show what real patriots look like!

Donald Trump has declared a #FakeNationalEmergency—an illegal power grab from an unhinged man to push his racist, dangerous policies.

Let’s be clear: Trump is the real national emergency. In crisis moments like this—when a president abuses power so egregiously—how the citizenry responds in the immediate aftermath can shape the course of our country’s history. That’s why MoveOn members and allies are launching hundreds of events all across the country.

Together, we will say NO to Trump’s power grabs, NO to his racist border wall, NO to xenophobia, and NO to HATE.

Trump’s undemocratic power grab Continue reading “Stop the #FakeNationalEmergency! Presidents’ Day Protest Ventura” →

Thurs 12/20: Keep calling on Trump’s folly.

fol·ly /ˈfälē/: a costly ornamental structure with no practical purpose

No compromise. No deals. No fear. No wall.

More information on why and how to contact your legislators, go here.

(Good article on cost and effect of wall from Cato Institute (!))

“For the full 1,000 miles, Trump’s 30-foot wall (with a 10-foot tunnel barrier) would cost $31.2 billion, or $31.2 million per mile, according to the best estimate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineers. Two other estimates placed the construction cost of the wall in the $25 billion range. An internal Department of Homeland Security report from February 2017 concluded the project would cost $21.6 billion for “a series of fences and walls” along 1,250 miles of the border. And these are solely upfront construction costs. They don’t include ongoing maintenance, which has accounted for roughly half of the price of the existing barriers over a decade.”