In this country under the First Amendment, reporters are free to view, document, and share information with the public. And that’s exactly what these journalists were doing in Minnesota.  From day one of Trump’s second term, this administration has been hell-bent on attacking the free press. From defunding public media to banning press outlets from White House press briefings to removing legacy media outlets from the Pentagon and attacking individual journalists, the administration has worked not only to discredit valid reporting as “fake news” but taken major steps to control and shut down the free press. The arrests of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort are a major escalation in the Trump administration’s attacks on the First Amendment, jeopardizing freedom of the press and ultimately threatening all of our rights. Demand that the Trump administration immediately release Don Lemon and Georgia Fort from custody and drop their charges NOW! 

DHS under Secretary Noem can be quickly summed up: Impunity. Injustice. Slanderous propaganda. Violence. As out-of-control ICE and CBP agents kill with impunity in our communities, Kristi Noem has proven herself to be utterly unfit to lead the Department of Homeland Security and rein in this violence. Indeed, she’s often spurred it on. We will never get the accountability we deserve so long as Noem is leading DHS, which is why Congress must take matters into its own hands and push her out.

Why This Petition Matters Illinois Medicaid dental coverage often exists in name only. In many parts of the state, especially rural and southern Illinois, there are no dentists or oral surgeons who accept Medicaid, leaving patients without real access to care. Untreated dental problems become medical emergencies, increasing suffering and healthcare costs. This petition calls on Illinois to ensure Medicaid dental coverage provides real, timely, and geographically accessible care.

The Constitution guarantees American citizens and immigrants rights and liberties. We elect our leaders to uphold the Constitution and to protect our rights and freedoms; not to look away as federal agencies are given license to strip them away. Currently, ICE and BP officers are disappearing people off the streets and detaining them with no due process, they’re smashing car windows to gain access to people, requiring people to provide proof of citizenship on the spot, and killing people without cause. These actions are antithetical to our democracy, our security and our liberty. We elect our leaders to represent us, the American people, and our democracy not to uphold the extreme tactics of an administration. We need our leaders to fulfill their vows to the constitution. We need our leaders to step forward with courage to protect the people who voted for them and that pay their salaries. We need them to do so now before our precious democracy is lost.

Human rights is a cornerstone of our democracy.  It's unconscionable that these conditions exist in our country today.  State inflicted inhumanity can not be tolerated.  Men, women and children are suffering these conditions today.  There's no time to wait.

As long as ICE exists, even with "safeguards" like body cameras and training, then we aren't safe.  Minnesota knows too well there is no real solution but to disband ICE.  Furthermore, other solutions to immigration can be found.  Spain announced on January 27 that it is granting legal status to hundreds of thousands of people already living and working there but lacking authorization.  Instead of ICE enforcement, we could do something like that and stop wasting taxpayer money pretending it will help anything to hunt innocent, hard working people down.

ICE and the Trump administration have been clear that the widespread opposition to their agenda—from everyday people to local leaders—has impeded ICE from carrying out its cruel, inhumane, and unlawful agenda.  ICE has lashed out with increased violence directed at protestors in Minneapolis, using tear gas and chemical irritants to punish people and obscure witnesses. And tensions have only escalated in the aftermath of the devastating murder of two citizens—Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were observing ICE’s operations.  But this brute force has been met with a wave of opposition from everyday people and local leaders, who have thwarted, intervened, and delayed ICE’s attempts to kidnap neighbors and violate civil liberties. Border Control Commander Greg Bovino himself admitted: "The groups are a bit better organized. They have some excellent communications, and that, coupled with a very poor response from the mayor and the governor, those two things coupled together make that a difficult operating environment." The Tenth Amendment makes it clear that the federal government cannot coerce states or cities into doing federal work. We need elected leaders everywhere to learn from Minneapolis, as well as Chicago, Portland, and Washington, D.C., and take steps now to do everything in their power to protect their residents from ICE’s unlawful occupation.  Add your name to the petition to demand governors and mayors commit to:  • Prohibiting state and city agencies from sharing  with ICE legally protected  information about residents to which ICE is not entitled.  • Declining to have local jails participate in voluntary programs of cooperation with ICE. • Blocking the expansion of immigration detention facilities, and visiting and investigating code violations for existing ICE detention facilities.  • Terminating any agreements that enlist local law enforcement to do ICE's bidding, directing local law enforcement to uphold the rights of residents, and directing them to arrest ICE agents who violate state law. • Banning ICE on city and state owned property, and not allowing ICE to use public property to stage ICE raids, including city-owned parking lots, ramps, garages, or vacant lots.   • Directing city and state resources to inform residents of their rights, provide legal representation for residents, and support communities being negatively impacted by ICE.  • Issuing an eviction moratorium and rent freeze if ICE does occupy the city to support residents who are unable to work, and supporting an emergency declaration to financially support families.  • Supporting city and statewide infrastructure for constituents to report abuses of power and unlawful behavior of ICE agents and Border Patrol. 

Georgia is fourth highest in the nation for ICE arrests - and it is in no small part because of state and local law enforcement cooperation with ICE/DHS. The Georgia Department of Public Safety - under which the Georgia State Patrol falls - has a so-called 287(g) agreement to cooperate with ICE.

Georgia is fourth highest in the nation for ICE arrests - and it is in no small part because of state and local law enforcement cooperation with ICE/DHS.

To stop extremely high monthly BGE bills due to rising delivery cost approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission.

We will succeed in passing the Safe Communities Act (S.1681/H.2580) in the current 194th session at a time when it is most needed, given the militant excesses of NHS ICE agents.

The Trump administration released thousands of untrained, armed agents into Minnesota, creating a deadly crisis in Minneapolis—and now, it is trying to extort Minnesotan officials to end it.  For months the Trump administration has been trying to force states to hand over their private voter registration information to build the largest set of national voter roll data ever collected. While some Republican states have complied, even they have not gone so far as to provide unredacted voter rolls, as requested. Meanwhile, Democratic run states have refused to release any information, and are currently being sued by the Department of Justice for not giving in to this unprecedented request.  And with the midterm elections coming up in November, it’s clear they are using violence and intimidation to exploit states and advance their agenda. Given that the current administration is being led by a bunch of election deniers still refuse to acknowledge that Joe Biden won the 2020 election, experts are greatly concerned about how private voter data in their hands could be manipulated to undermine future election results.  Add your name to the petition to urge Governor Walz and governors across the country to not give into Trump’s threats and to protect private voter data! Our future elections could depend on it.