Actions for the Week of 2/22/26
How to contact your elected officials
Use this link to find contact information for ALL of your elected officials – Federal, State, City, and County – just by entering your address: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials
Other useful links:
Find contact info for your senator: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
Find contact info for your House representative: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
Find contact info for your state attorney general: https://www.usa.gov/state-attorney-general
Find contact info for your governor: https://www.usa.gov/state-governor
Find your state legislature website: https://www.congress.gov/state-legislature-websites
Action 1: New York Residents: Support the SAFE AIR Act
The SAFE AIR Act ensures that New York State does not directly or indirectly aid in immigration enforcement actions that lack the due process protections guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. It prohibits New York State agencies, authorities, departments, local governments, and public benefit corporations from contracting with commercial airlines that participate in removals illegally initiated by U.S. ICE.
Senator Patricia Fahy and Assemblymember Michaelle C. Solagese have sponsored a petition urging our State Legislators and Assemblymembers to support and advance the SAFE AIR Act. Follow this link to sign the petition (takes 5 minutes): https://redwineblue.controlshift.app/petitions/support-the-safe-air-act
Action 2: Children Must be Released from Immigration Detention Centers
Adapted From Chop Wood Carry Water 2/17/26
According to the Marshall Project, the number of children being held in detention centers has increased 6-fold since Trump took office. There have been numerous reports from the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, which may house hundreds of children at any given time, of inadequate medical care, unsanitary conditions, poor quality food and water, disease outbreaks, and inadequate educational opportunities for children. Furthermore, the Trump administration is violating the Flores Settlement by regularly keeping kids imprisoned in them for longer than 20 days.
Call or email your senators and House Rep. and urge them to stop DHS from detaining families with children. Write your own script or use this one.
I’m horrified by the disturbing reports coming out of the Dilley Detention Center. President Biden shut down that facility for good reason. These places are not safe for children. The deplorable conditions add to the trauma and uncertainty they have already experienced by being torn from their homes, friends, family members, and schools. I'm urging the [Senator/Representative] to demand that ICE release every single child in detention right now.
Extra credit: If you are able, consider donating to Each Step Home, an immigrant rights non-profit that has launched a commissary fund for families in detention. The following statement is on the organization's website: "No child belongs in a detention cell. Help us alleviate some of the pain for the children locked away at Dilley Immigration Processing Center. Reports include worms in their food, guards shouting orders and snatching toys from small hands, restless nights under fluorescent lights that never fully go dark, and hours in line for a single pill. Donate today to add funds to families’ commissary accounts. These funds will allow families to buy the most basic items, like clean water or a phone call to lawyers and loved ones." Donate here.
Action 3: Thank the Judges Who are Holding the Line
Facing threats, political pressure and a Supreme Court that has frequently not had their backs, lower court judges are still doing vitally important work to keep this administration’s power within the bounds of the law. Let’s acknowledge their work and send encouragement to keep fighting!
This past week several judges have ordered dismissal or reversal of wrongful incarceration or deportation actions by the administration. Let’s write a note or postcard to thank them.
Judge Richard Stearns ruled that 19-year-old Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, a Babson College freshman who was deported to Honduras while traveling for Thanksgiving, must be returned to the United States within two weeks.
Judge Richard Stearns
United States District Court
1 Courthouse Way, Suite 7120
Boston, MA 02210
Judge James Boasberg ordered the administration to bring back some of the Venezuelan men deported to a prison in El Salvador and later returned to Venezuela, who were accused of being gang members but never given a chance to contest those accusations and clear their names.
Judge James Boasberg
E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse
333 Constitution Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
Judge Kristin S. Piepmeier dismissed the deportation case against Narciso Barranco, who as the father of three U.S. marines is qualified for a pathway to US citizenship.
Judge Kristin S. Piepmeier
180 Howard St.
San Francisco, CA 94105
Judge Nancy Brasel
United States District Court
300 South Fourth Street
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Judge Ana Reyes, who last week ruled that the government could not terminate the temporary protected status of Haitian immigrants until a court case about it has finished, revealed that she had been sent death threats because of her decision. Let’s show her some support.
Judge Ana Reyes
E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse
333 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001
Judge Maxine Chesney ruled for a second time that the government cannot force states to hand over the personal data of SNAP recipients – or use noncompliance with the order as justification for withholding the funds.
Judge Maxine Chesney
U.S. District Court
450 Golden Gate Ave, 16th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
Judge Manish Shah temporarily blocked the administration from cutting $600 million in health research funding to Democratic states. Further legal action is anticipated.
Judge Manish Shah
Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse
219 South Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60604
Judge Richard Leon blocked the Pentagon from punishing Sen. Mark Kelly from participating in a video reminding the military that they do not have to obey unlawful orders.
Judge Richard Leon
333 Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phonebanking
Make calls with the Environmental Voter Project: https://www.environmentalvoter.org/get-involved
The Environmental Voter Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit focused on identifying an estimated 11.2 million environmentalists who did not vote in the 2024 presidential election, and efficiently converting them into a critical mass of consistent voters that will soon be too big for politicians to ignore.
Make calls to support Judge Chris Taylor: https://www.mobilize.us/activateamerica/event/888272/
Chris Taylor is running in a special election on April 7 for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Choose your own outrage with 5 Calls
5 Calls has been around since the first Trump term and offers a quick and easy way to make calls to your elected representatives. Enter your zip code or address and pick a topic. Then choose the representative you want to call, make the call, and read the script provided. Calling your congressperson is the most effective way to influence policy. Please check it out here: https://5calls.org/