“This is a bad time to be an Iranian.” That’s what a Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officer said when they were asked why dozens of Iranians and American citizens of Iranian descent were being held returning to the U.S. at the Canadian border with Washington State on Saturday. Sepehr Ebrahimzadeh was held and questioned for hours by CBP when returning from Canada to Seattle with his girlfriend after they spent a week out of town for the holidays. Ebrahimzadeh said the experience made him fear that the United States would prepare for war on Iran by rounding up everyone of Iranian descent, just like the Japanese internment camps during World War II.

Our democracy faces an existential threat if Donald Trump is re-elected. The damage he has done during his first term, enabled by feckless Congressional Republicans who put party over country, will take years, if not decades, to undo. Trump has already packed federal courts with right-wing ideologues; fully one in four U.S. circuit court judges have been appointed to lifetime seats by Trump. His Supreme Court picks have moved the high court to the right of ultra-conservative Justice Scalia. It's terrifying to imagine what the federal judiciary would look like after another four years of Trump nominees. It’s expected that during the Democratic primaries candidates will attack their opponents’ platforms; at times the critiques have been mean-spirited and personal and no doubt will continue that way as the competition intensifies. Worse, though, is what’s playing out among the candidates’ core supporters. Examples abound on social media of insults being hurled at one candidate or another by the others’ supporters. That doesn’t bode well for the general election. To defeat Trump in conservative-leaning swing states (the only ones that matter, thanks to winner-take-all and the Electoral College), to hold the Democratic House majority and to flip the Senate, Democrats will need a get-out-the-vote effort the likes of which we’ve never seen. To achieve that will require efforts well beyond what the eventual nominee will be able to muster on their own. But to listen to some activists, if their candidate doesn’t prevail, yes, they’ll vote for whomever is the Democratic nominee, but beyond that the effort they make will be much less than what it would have been. Given what’s at stake, that’s not acceptable. If the losing candidates’ supporters just show up to vote, but do no more, we could lose it all. The only ones who can change this narrative are the candidates themselves. And they can’t wait until after the convention. Democrats can’t afford to let the acrimony between the camps build to the point that the ill will causes any Democratic activist to sit on the sidelines (the way it did in 2016 between Hillary and Bernie supporters.) The way to build party unity is for candidates to keep sending the message to their supporters, “I expect you to work as hard to elect the Democratic nominee, whoever it is, as you will if I win the nomination. Nothing less is acceptable. Do I have your promise that you’re all in, whoever is nominated?” Imagine the power of a huge display of unity at the end of every Democratic nominee's campaign rally. We need nothing less.

Dolores Clara Fernández Huerta is an American labor leader and civil rights activist who, with Cesar Chavez, is a co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers (UFW). Huerta helped organize the Delano grape strike in 1965 in California and was the lead negotiator in the workers' contract that was created after the strike. Huerta has received numerous awards for her community service and advocacy for workers', immigrants', and women's rights, including the Eugene V. Debs Foundation Outstanding American Award, the United States Presidential Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was the first Latina inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame, in 1993. Huerta is the originator of the phrase, "Sí, se puede" (Yes, we can). As a role model to many in the Latino community, Huerta is the subject of many corridos (Mexican or Mexican-American ballads) and murals. In California, April 10 is Dolores Huerta day. It is also her birthday. For more information, see doloreshuertaboulevard.org

Because I want to make America a great place for international immigrants again. Because President Donald Trump is a terrible President. I want to be a good president for same-sex marriage, women and immigrants.

These Amerasians have US father's and are Americans. They need a pathway to US citizenship.

Please grant my father’s application for a pardon to protect him from the reach of Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) and help him stay in the U.S. with us, his family. My father was brought to the U.S. lawfully as a child by my grandmother, who wanted a better life for her family. In 1997, when I was three, my father went to prison. He was just 19 when he shot and tragically took the life of another young man. In 2011, while my father was in prison, my brother (my father’s youngest son) was killed in an act of violence, deepening my father’s understanding of the traumatic impact he had on his victim’s family and gun violence has on our community, more generally. My father spent 25 years in prison atoning for the harm he caused (http://www.voicesfromwithin.org/tyrone-abraham.html). After much soul searching, he turned his life around and committed to bettering himself (he earned Bachelor and Master’s degrees) and helping others. He helped at-risk youth understand the impact of gun violence and develop strategies for non-violent conflict resolution. He educated his peers about HIV/AIDS and making healthy lifestyle decisions. He led his prison’s United Asian American Organization as President when no one else stepped up to ensure its representation. For all his work, my father earned the respect of peers, advocates, clergy members, academics, correctional officials, legislators, and, earlier this year, the state parole board, which granted him parole. However, my father was not freed on his release date, he was transferred to ICE custody and set for deportation to a country he has not seen since he was just 11 years old and where he has no family left. Time is running out; my father’s deportation is imminent as he sits in an ICE detention center. My father served his time, every day of his sentence; and so did our entire family. I need my father, my aging grandmother needs her son, my mother needs her husband, my uncle needs his brother, my cousins need their uncle, and my father needs us. Keeping my father away from our family and sending him to a land he does not know and where he has no support system is cruel and defies logic. Moreover, deporting my father would be a terrible loss for our community. New York taxpayers invested tremendous resources in my father’s transformation, and with the help of dedicated professionals, he succeeded remarkably. My father will continue his community work as a credible messenger after his incarceration. But without your pardon, we will all lose what we stand to benefit from my father’s return. The precious life of my father’s victim can never be replaced. As someone who lost her own brother in much the same way, I understand. But I am so proud of the man my father has become. He has taught me the importance of humility, hard work, and community service. Please help my father continue to live and work here in the U.S. If you give him this opportunity, I know he can help heal our broken world. Sincerely, Shayquana (daughter of Tyrone Abraham)

Bakhodir Madjitov, a Connecticut father of 3 young boys, had been living in the US for 11 years when ICE raided his home in the early morning hours of December 22, 2017. He’s been in custody ever since. His children are suffering – and we’re concerned that he may be deported soon. Bakhodir’s wife Madina was 39 weeks pregnant with a complicated pregnancy when ICE entered their home without a warrant 2 years ago. Bakhodir and Madina’s third child was born a week after ICE detained his father. Prior to being detained, Bakhodir supported his family as a home health aide working with a government issued ID. In the last 2 years, ICE has moved Bakhodir around the country in detention centers in Massachusetts, Alabama, New Jersey, and Louisiana. Madina and her lawyers are concerned that ICE might be planning to deport Bakhodir- even though he has an active case pending. Connecticut values families. We want Madina and Bakhodir and the boys together. Join us in telling ICE that Bakhodir should be home with his wife and sons!

Nelson arrived in the US from Ecuador in 1992 and has not left since. He’s a hardworking family man and has dutifully checked into INS/ICE for many years- always having his work permit approved and getting told he “is not a priority for deportation” since he has no criminal record. At a routine check-in on a chilly day last October, Homeland Security put a large black electronic monitoring device on Nelson's ankle and told him to fly to a country he has not seen in 26 years, leaving his loving partner and 3 minor kids behind. Nelson could not leave his family and so he sought refuge. He has been living in the pastor’s office at First and Summerfield United Methodists Church, located on the New Haven green, ever since. Homeland Security’s arbitrary decision to separate this kind and loving family is another example of family separation happening in our local communities, in addition to family separation at the border. There is no compelling reason to break up Nelson’s family. It's unnecessary. It’s cruel. Nelson’s children have suffered tremendously the past year. He’s missed apple picking, fishing outings, hikes, parent/teacher nights, Easter, and Christmas. Nelson’s oldest daughter turned 16 without her dad home- and little Brandon turned 6. Arlly, who turned 13, finds it hard to concentrate on her schoolwork. Kelly has nightmares and Brandon continues to ask why his father can’t return home, as he tries to understand why this happening to his family as best he can. Every day that Nelson remains in sanctuary and away from his family, is another day of trauma for them all. It’s time to end this cruel family separation at the hands of the Department of Homeland Security. It’s time to demand that ICE allow Nelson OUT OF SANCTUARY so he can take care of his family while his lawyers continue to pursue his path to legal status. ICE has the discretion to grant Nelson a stay of removal and we are asking that they recognize and END the harm and trauma being inflicted on this family. Tell ICE- STOP SEPARATING FAMILIES! Enough is enough! Charla Nich & Gini King, Vanesa Suarez, Terra Martin-Volpe CT Shoreline Indivisible, Unidad Latina en Accion, Action Together CT

This week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals released a ruling on Texas v United States that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program is unlawful, sending the fate of the program back to Judge Hanen in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas to further decide. DACA is an administrative relief program that temporarily protects eligible immigrant youth from deportation and grants them work permits. While DACA renewals remain open for now, Judge Hanen has ruled against DACA before, and a negative ruling would devastate millions of people, including DACA recipients, immigrant youth, our communities, and our country. DACA was won through the organizing of thousands of young people of color, who have remained resilient despite incessant anti-immigrant attacks. This fight is far from over – we need to step up to have their backs against anti-immigrant, Republican-appointed judges by demanding permanent protection for all Dreamers and immigrant youth.  But speaking out is not enough. Congress must act to provide permanent protection, such as citizenship, before it’s too late. DACA is right and legal and has helped hundreds of thousands of young people finish school, apply for work permits, and be protected from detention and deportation. The Republicans in congress have attacked DACA since its inception, and this conservative court decision affirms just how relentless Republicans are. Deportations rip families and our communities apart, and Congress has the power to protect our immigrant communities immediately by delivering permanent protections, like citizenship. Inaction or opposition from members of Congress is unacceptable and will be viewed as support for keeping our immigrant communities vulnerable. Add your name to this petition demanding that Congress take action immediately to protect hundreds of thousands of immigrant youth from detention and deportation!

BREAKING: This week it was revealed that Texas Troopers severely violated the human rights of migrants seeking safety in the U.S. by denying them drinking water & literally pushing them back into the Rio Grande. This inhumane treatment was ordered by TX. Governor Abbot as a continuation of his administration’s anti-immigrant project Operation Lonestar by working closely with ICE & CBP to detain, abuse, and deport immigrants. In addition to his stunts of bussing of migrants out to other states, his administration has now installed razor wire barriers in the water of the Rio Grande that injure and make crossing much more dangerous. People including children, pregnant women, and babies have suffered serious injury & death as a result of these cruel tactics employed by Gov. Abbot’s administration. President Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas must act now to stop these human rights violations and provide relief to those who have suffered under TX Gov. Abbot’s abuse! They must investigate this and put an end to this abuse NOW! ADD YOUR NAME to demand President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas investigate and correct the treatment of migrants at our borders and offer relief to those who have suffered from Governor Abbott's actions!

The plight of immigrant visa applicants continues as the government's focus on processing tourist visas and other non-immigrant visas takes precedence over family reunification. This shift in priorities contradicts the core principles of American immigration policies, which emphasize family unity and the importance of keeping families together. As a result, many deserving individuals and families find themselves caught in a frustrating bureaucratic loop, experiencing prolonged separation from their loved ones. The consequences of this issue extend beyond emotional distress, impacting various aspects of their lives. Financial strain, strained relationships, and disrupted educational opportunities are just a few of the numerous challenges immigrant families face. Moreover, this approach undermines the essence of diversity and inclusion that the United States has long celebrated, as it erects unnecessary barriers for those seeking to contribute to society and establish a stable life within the country.

As a result of the Trump administration, our country has become more divided and divisive; we have lost integrity around the world; the right to vote has been restricted; free and fair elections are being challenged without evidence and our institutions are being infiltrated by those who fabricate conspiracy theories. These are only a few risks before us and they cannot be condoned if we want to save our Democracy. Failure to prosecute, convict and impose the strictest sentence under the law will compromise our democracy, promote increased corruption in our politics and send a clear message that we no longer have separate branches of government. As recently stated by Senator Cheney, "We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation."