The Long Read - Resistance and Solidarity
What are some specific ways that local communities and their leaders are standing up to federal overreach?
My bad - the goal of these long reads is to get them out on the weekend, but I had a professional development day on Friday and chaperoned a school trip on Saturday and it totally threw off my perception of time. But this is is less of a long read to peruse over coffee and more a list of links that I hope will be helpful and inspiring.
I know there is a lot of concern locally about ICE enforcement and what we can do at the local government level. Originally, I wanted to lay out what it is that we can and can't do at the local level. But one, I'm not a lawyer, and two, the Dillon Rule makes it confusing. So I thought it would be a better idea just to pull together facts, examples, and some articles about what is occurring, and look at what we can all do together.
The first section is the big picture - our rights and general ways that people can resist. The second section looks at specific stories from around the country. What are some specific ways that local communities and their leaders are standing up to federal overreach? And then the final section looks more specifically at Virginia, which is a more complicated situation.
Big Picture
Learn more about resistance and community protection overall:
Rapid Response Toolkit - Legal Aid Justice Center
How to resist like Minneapolis
Meet the block, shop the indies, and check on your people.
Dessa
"Filming immigration enforcement can expose abuses, deter violence, and provide crucial evidence, but it also comes with risks. This tipsheet helps you understand your right to record, how to center care while filming, and best practices for capturing, storing, and sharing video evidence."
How Local Leaders are Protecting Communities Under Trump - Local Progress
In the face of relentless federal attacks, localities nationwide are fighting back and publicly affirming their commitment to protecting immigrants.
Rebecca Poutasse
Around the Country
Learn more about how specific communities are responding and working to protect their neighbors:
Whistle Up 2: Rise of the Whistle Goblins | dansinker.com
"And one of the things that we started doing in the summer and continue doing is teaching our folks not only how to document and how to bear witness to what’s happening, but also nonviolent direct action. How do we use our bodies? How do we move collectively? How do we communicate if we’re in a large group with each other? How do we respond to the tactics that they’re using as a group? And that has been really, I think, an important learning for us about how to keep ourselves safe, but also how to remain effective in a moment of a great authoritarian escalation."
Boston Mayor Wu’s executive order forbids ICE from using city property for immigration enforcement
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu issued an executive order that she says is designed to protect residents “from unconstitutional and violent federal operations.”
Neal Riley Digital Producer, CBS Boston
The horns and whistles work
What it’s like to watch community activists stand up to a Border Patrol raid.
Amanda Moore
Milwaukee County passes ordinance to attempt to limit ICE from staging in county parks
Milwaukee County officials have passed an ordinance to prepare for the possible escalation of federal immigration enforcement agents in Wisconsin.
evan.casey
Meet the Minneapolis Punks Fighting ICE
People in the DIY music scene are using the community organizing tactics they learned by putting on shows to battle ICE.
Evan Minsker
‘Streets of Minneapolis’: 32 protest songs inspired by the city’s ICE resistance
MinnPost contributor Jim Walsh compiles a playlist by songwriters who are tapping into their talent, anger, artistry and empathy to support Minnesota.
Jim Walsh
Virginia
In Virginia things can get complicated quickly because of the Dillon Rule. Ultimately, with the system of Federalism that we have in the United States, the federal government has a lot of authority. It's worth listening to Jamelle Bouie on this point (well, it's always worth listening to Jamelle), and the comparison to the idea of (northern) State's Rights during the Fugitive Slave Act era. I personally think the work done at the state level is going to be key.
One really important thing is that in Albemarle County, we do not have 287(g) agreements with immigration enforcement. (What are 287(g) agreements?)
And now, Governor Spanberger has ended the state 287(g) agreements. There is also legislation working its way through the General Assembly that is important.
Virginia’s New Governor Ends ICE Program. Local Contracts Remain, For Now. - Bolts
Abigail Spanberger left the 287(g) program, which empowered state law enforcement to detain immigrants. Will Democrats also bar local police and sheriffs from the program?
Daniel Nichanian
"Taken together, the bills would require judicial warrants for certain civil immigration arrests in courthouses and other public facilities, restrict immigration enforcement near polling places, limit cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, and impose new penalties on officers who conceal their identities or impersonate federal agents...
One of the central bills moving forward is House Bill 650, sponsored by Del. Katrina Callsen, D-Albemarle, which passed on a 4-1 party-line vote."
Continuously contacting our federal representatives (and working to get federal representatives who refuse to participate with the administration) and because of the Dillon Rule, our state representatives, is the best way to legally restrain the federal government. Showing up to local government is also important, especially when it is on specific items that we have some control over. The public pressure over warehouses for concentration camps is also working.
"The Hanover County property that federal immigration officials wanted to buy and convert into an immigrant processing and detention center is no longer for sale, according to a statement released by the Canadian-based developer that owns it."
When I swore in as a Supervisor, I swore an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and I take that seriously. I do not have any participatory authority over courthouse spaces. I do not have any participatory authority over federal agents undertaking federal tasks. I am well aware that what is legal is not always moral or ethical, and I am aware that many actions federal officers are undertaking are illegal and unconstitutional.
I understand the desire for resolutions, to know that your local leaders are going to do everything they can to protect their residents. But resolutions are just statements, and there is also wisdom in not antagonizing the federal government. To me, the real action and the real protection is not a written statement but by working within the larger community.
The best way we can support our neighbors is solidarity and mutual aid.
One of the easiest ways to get connected is to get involved with local organizations. There are many more in our community, but Indivisible is a really great starting point.
Upcoming Events — Indivisible Charlottesville
Information about upcoming actions, protests, trainings.
Quite frankly, as an elected official, on this issue, if organizations such as Sin Barreras are not asking us to do something, I am less inclined to do it. Listening to those who are most affected is really important.
Advocate – Sin Barreras/Without Barriers
"Throughout the commonwealth, a wave of mutual aid has come from community foundations, grassroots organizations and neighbors who quietly built their own support systems for families caught in detention and deportation proceedings."
And locally, we do have one major way of contributing to mutual aid.
SPONSORED
I know this is an unsettling and dangerous time for so many people. The work this community has been doing for years (decades) has created a strong foundation for this particular time. The best time to get involved was yesterday. The second best time is today. In the end, we keep each other safe.
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