The Department of Homeland Security has plans to open 23 detention centers nationwide. We recently learned that two of them would be in warehouses DHS purchased in Pennsylvania, in Berks and Schuylkill Counties. Nearly 12% of all of the 76,500 beds DHS intends to put in the 23 new facilities would be in the two separated by only 25 miles in rural Pennsylvania. The Berks facility would house 1,500 people while the Schuylkill facility would house a whopping 7,500 people. Local, state, and even federal elected officials report that they were not informed of the purchases. There were no public meetings or hearings. Had there been, DHS would have heard moral and ethical arguments against the plans. They would have heard about the lack of services and infrastructure available to serve, in the case of the Schuylkill County location, a prison population 30 times the size of the current local population. They would have heard about the loss of tax revenue of more than $1.6 million that would impact, among other things, the local school districts in both locations. They would have heard about safety concerns, particularly for the day care center that is 300 yards from the Schuylkill County location. Facilities planned in Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Virginia are facing stiff opposition or have already been defeated, thanks to communities and their elected officials coming together to say "No." 

The U.S. faces an unprecedented national debt, now exceeding $107 trillion, yet billions are spent punishing parents rather than supporting children. The current child support enforcement system drains resources, incarcerates parents, and worsens poverty—all while failing to prioritize children’s actual needs. Congress must act to reform this system. Key Findings: • National Debt & Fiscal Waste: From 1998–2025, federal child support enforcement contributed to mismanaged funds, with $32.5 billion spent on administrative costs—often exceeding the net support actually delivered to children. This waste worsens an already unsustainable national debt. • Child Support Arrears: Over the same period, cumulative unpaid child support totaled ~$450 billion. Tens of thousands of parents are jailed annually for nonpayment, preventing them from earning income to support their children. • Inequity & Constitutional Concerns: Felony prosecutions, punitive interest, and incarceration without consideration of ability to pay violate due process and equal protection. Current enforcement often penalizes poverty rather than ensuring child welfare. This Act Will: 1. Repeal federal felony child support provisions (18 U.S.C. § 228). 2. Require ability-to-pay hearings before penalties, license suspensions, or incarceration. 3. Automatically adjust arrears for income loss, verified unemployment, disability, or incarceration. 4. Ensure gender-neutral, equal enforcement and reciprocal enforcement of financial and custodial orders. 5. Prioritize support over punishment through job assistance, mediation, and debt reconciliation. 6. Prohibit punitive interest or penalties unrelated to actual child expenses. 7. Prevent children from being treated as government revenue or collateral for debt. 8. Increase transparency and accountability for administrative costs, reimbursements, and enforcement outcomes. Why This Matters: Current policies trap families in cycles of debt and incarceration, divert billions from direct child support, and contribute to a spiraling national debt. Reform will ensure fiscal responsibility, protect children’s needs, uphold constitutional rights, and break the cycle of poverty that unfair enforcement perpetuates. Call to Action: Sign to demand child support reform that is fair, transparent, fiscally responsible, and focused on children, not punishment.

Students around Georgia have been missing or dropping out of school due to fear of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Our parents are scared and our families are in crisis. Immigrants make 20% of all people in Dekalb County. They are active members of the community contributing every day and deserve to be protected from the attacks. We deserve to have a safe learning environment in school and feel supported by our elected leaders.  Dekalb County prides themselves on diversity and inclusion, this is the time to show immigrants are included in that diversity. We need to show up for each other and for our leaders to be courageous in the stand against ICE. 

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.

We can't let ICE and other federal agents to keep terrorizing our kids and neighbors. DC Council needs to stand up for us NOW. They must ban MPD from collaborating. They must hold ICE accountable. They must use their voices instead of being silent.  

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.

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.

We deserve representation that serves our communities. Ripping apart families, violently detaining residents, citizens or non citizens alike is antithetical to a healthy democracy. Instead of funding violence, our tax dollars should go back into our communities for much needed social services.Tom Souzzi has broken trust with his voters repeatedly by breaking ranks with democrats to further white supremacist agendas. He needs to change course and represent the will of the people, the majority of whom want ICE abolished. The blood of Renée Good and Alex Pretti is on his hands. 

Masked, unidentified federal agents have been militarizing our cities and brutalizing our communities in order to carry out Trump’s extreme deportation agenda. These agents—outfitted for war—are showing up at schools, work places, immigration courts, and people’s homes, kidnapping and deporting our neighbors without any due process.  Vice President JD Vance argued that federal agents are protected by “absolute immunity” and boasted that their efforts are being ramped up, saying agents will soon be “going door to door.” This terrifying escalation of state violence makes it clear—something must change.  Our communities deserve safety, dignity, and justice. Minnesotans are showing up for Renee Nicole Good, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, Kieth Porter, 5-year-old Liam Ramos who was abducted by ICE, and countless others. Now it’s time for Congress to show up for us and put an end to this terror. Congress can refuse to give ICE another dime and demand real accountability for the harm these agents inflict. But they need to hear from us, loudly and clearly, that we will not tolerate more funding for any agency that treats our neighbors as enemies. 

 The murders of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, followed by attempts to cover-ups the crimes and obstruct all legal processes to bring the guilty to justice, the Trump regime is rapidly expanding its tyrannical, fascist control of our country and the destruction of our democracy and rule of law. Unless We the People, from whom government derives its just powers, don’t stop the regime soon, their control will be as extensive as it is in Russia and other right-wing authoritarian governments where any dissent is violently suppressed.