1. Protect the decent and hardworking members of your
communities who are undocumented or whose parents are undocumented.
This is an urgent moral call to action. As Trump’s ICE
begins roundups and deportations, many good people are endangered and
understandably frightened.
One of Trump’s new executive orders allows ICE to arrest
undocumented immigrants at or near schools, places of worship, health care
sites, shelters, and relief centers — thereby deterring them from sending their
kids to school or getting help they need.
So-called “sanctuary” cities and states have laws
prohibiting their schools, public hospitals, and police from turning over
undocumented individuals to the federal government or providing information
about them. These are sensible policies. Otherwise undocumented people who are
ill, including those with communicable diseases, won’t go to public hospitals
for treatment. Parents will be reluctant to send their children to school.
Crime victims who are undocumented will hesitate before reporting crimes for
fear that they could then face being deported.
If you trust your mayor or city manager, check in with their
offices to see what they are doing to protect vulnerable families in your
community. Join others in voluntary efforts to keep ICE away from hospitals,
schools, and shelters.
Organize and mobilize your community to support it as a sanctuary city, and to support your state as a sanctuary state. Trump’s Justice Department is already launching investigations of cities and states that go against federal immigration orders, laying the groundwork for legal challenges to local laws and forcing compliance with the executive branch. Your voice and organizing could be helpful in fighting back.
I recommend you order these red cards from Immigrant Legal
Resources Center and make them available in and around your community: Red Cards / Tarjetas Rojas |
Immigrant Legal Resource Center | ILRC. You might also find these of
use: Immigration Preparedness Toolkit
| Immigrant Legal Resource Center | ILRC.
2. Protect LGBTQ+ members of your community. Trump
may make life far more difficult for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
queer, and other people through executive orders, changes in laws, alterations
in civil rights laws, or changes in how such laws are enforced.
His election and his rhetoric might also unleash hatefulness
by bigoted people in your community.
I urge you to work with others in being vigilant against
prejudice and bigotry, wherever it might break out. When you see or hear it,
call it out. Join with others to stop it. If you trust your local city
officials, get them involved. If you trust your local police, alert them as
well.
3. Help protect officials in your community or state whom
Trump and his administration are targeting for vengeance. Some may be
low-level officials, such as election workers. If they do not have the means to
legally defend themselves, you might help them or consider a GoFundMe campaign.
If you hear of anyone who seeks to harm them, immediately alert local law-enforcement
officials.
4. Participate or organize boycotts of companies that are
enabling the Trump regime, starting with Elon Musk’s X and Tesla, and any
companies that advertise on X or on Fox News. Don’t underestimate the
effectiveness of consumer boycotts. Corporations invest heavily in their brand
names and the goodwill associated with them. Loud, boisterous,
attention-getting boycotts can harm brand names and reduce the prices of
corporations’ shares of stock.
5. To the extent you are able, fund groups that are
litigating against Trump. Much of the action over the next months and
years will be in the federal courts. The groups initiating legislation that I
know and trust include the American Civil Liberties Union, Citizens for
Responsibility and Ethics, Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental
Defense Fund, and Common Cause.
6. Spread the truth. Get news through reliable
sources, and spread it. If you hear anyone spreading lies and Trump propaganda,
including local media, contradict them with facts and their sources.
Here are some of the sources I currently rely on for the
truth: Democracy Now, Business Insider, The New Yorker, The American Prospect, The Atlantic, Americans for Tax Fairness, Economic Policy Institute, Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities, The Guardian, ProPublica, Labor Notes, The Lever, Popular Information, Heather Cox Richardson, and,
of course, this Substack.
7. Urge friends, relatives, and acquaintances to avoid
Trump propaganda outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, X, and, increasingly,
Facebook and Instagram. They are filled with hateful bigotry and toxic
and dangerous lies. For some people, these propaganda sources can also be
addictive; help the people you know wean themselves off them.
8. Push for progressive measures in your community and
state. Local and state governments retain significant power. Join
groups that are moving your city or state forward, in contrast to regressive
moves at the federal level. Lobby, instigate, organize, and fundraise for
progressive legislators. Support progressive leaders.
9. Encourage worker action. Most labor unions
are on the right side — seeking to build worker power and resist repression.
You can support them by joining picket lines and boycotts and encouraging
employees to organize in places you patronize.
10. Keep the faith. Do not give up on America. Remember,
Trump won the popular vote by only 1.5 points. By any historical measure, this
was a squeaker. In the House, the Republicans’ five-seat lead is the smallest
since the Great Depression. In the Senate, Republicans lost half of 2024’s
competitive Senate races, including in four states Trump won.
America has deep problems, to be sure. Which is why we can’t
give up on it — or give up the fights for social justice, equal political
rights, equal opportunity, and the rule of law. The forces of Trumpian
repression and neofascism would like nothing better than for us to give up.
Then they’d win it all. We cannot allow them to.
We will never give up.
***
Beyond these, please be sure to find room in your life
for joy, fun, and laughter. Do not let Trump and his darkness take you
over. Just as it’s important not to give up the fight, it’s critically
important to take care of yourself. If you obsess about Trump and fall down the
rabbit hole of outrage, worry, and anxiety, you won’t be able to keep fighting.
