TOMORROW: #ICEOutOfMN Solidarity Protests Nationwide - January 22, 2026
Plus House vote on ICE budget possible today, stopping new offshore drilling, Maine in their sites, and more
‼️ Another busy Thursday in the fight for our country - watch Jack Smith testify on his investigation into Trump before the House Judiciary Committee at 10AM ET here, join the Progressive Caucus Action Fund for a webinar on threats to voting rights at 3PM ET here and learn more about Women’s March’s plans for International Women’s Day at 7:30PM ET here ‼️
WE WILL PROTEST IN SOLIDARITY WITH MINNESOTA TOMORROW
ICE began a new operation in Maine and DHS personnel opened fire again in Los Angeles. A whistleblower leaked a memo authorizing ICE agents to break into homes without a judicial warrant, which even their own training materials say is unconstitutional. The head of the U.S. Border Patrol is personally tear gassing protesters.
This is not normal. We will not accept it as normal.
Tomorrow is Minnesota’s Day of Truth and Freedom, where folks statewide will not go to work, to school or shopping in protest of the murder of Renee Nicole Good and ICE’s continued terrorizing of their streets. We are going to act in concert with them, with folks across the country holding non-violent solidarity protests. We can find events near us to join here, and keep checking back – many more are being added as we speak. If we’d like to organize one ourselves, we can find a host guide here and register with the #ICEOutForGood coalition here.
Activists are also continuing the national week of action targeting corporate collaborators with ICE. Today’s focus is Hilton Hotels. We can send a letter to the corporation demanding they stop working with ICE here, and take part in a reserve-and-cancel action aimed at Hilton hotels here.
Lastly, we can take the pledge to join the strike wherever we are with United We Dream here – we’ll get access to graphics and posters we can use we can sign up.
MEANWHILE IN DC, THE MONEY KEEPS ROLLING TO ICE - VOTE POSSIBLE TODAY
We could see a vote as soon as today on the proposed Homeland Security appropriations bill which leaves the tripling of ICE’s budget untouched and includes almost none of the restraints on immigration enforcement we demanded. One of the few changes Republicans were willing to agree to was directives for new training on de-escalation and our right to record – and as if to emphasize how toothless that is, we learned today that ICE is secretly asserting sweeping power to enter our homes in direct defiance of DHS’s own training materials.
House Democratic leadership has announced they will vote against the bill, but they are not planning on whipping Democrats to oppose. The American Prospect reports several swing seat Democrats are expected to vote in favor.
It’s a political inept and morally disgraceful response to the moment, and we’re not going to take it. We need to hit the phones to our House members ASAP to tell them anything but a hell no is unacceptable. We can use this call tool here. And we can do the same for the Senate, where a united Democratic front would stop the bill.
We can also join Common Cause for a phonebank TONIGHT at 5:30PM ET to reach out to folks in key states and districts and urge them to rally their reps against ICE appropriations without guardrails. We can sign up here.
STOP TRUMP’S OFFSHORE DRILLING PLAN NOW AND FOR THE FUTURE
The Trump Administration is serving as a bought-and-paid-for agent of Big Oil companies. We’ve seen it in Venezuela, we’ve seen it in his attacks on wind and solar power, and we’re seeing it in his effort to auction off more than a billion acres of our public waters previously untouched by heavy industry to oil and gas drilling. They’re netting billions of dollars on their $75 million investment in his campaign, but it’s coming at our expense. His plan would risk the health and well-being of millions of people who live along the Alaska, California and Gulf coasts, in addition to threatening economic disaster, devastating ocean ecosystems humans and wildlife rely on and worsening the climate crisis. It even might be a problem for military readiness. It’s a bad enough idea to have brought together everyone from Gavin Newsom to Ron DeSantis in opposition.
The Department of Interior is currently accepting public feedback on this proposal, many of the auctions would not take place until after Trump’s term, and there will be a major legal battle before any of this can move forward. But expanded offshore drilling has been a continued obsession of Trump going back to his first term, and we need to shut it down once and for all. A bipartisan group of lawmakers have proposed a package of bills that would permanently block new drilling off America’s shores. Let’s reach out to our reps and ask them to push back against Trump’s drilling plan and support the legislative drive to protect our coasts once and for all. We can find call scripts and language to use here, or send them this email via Resistbot by texting SIGN PPMESD to 50409.
We can also take a moment to submit public comments against the offshore drilling plan before tomorrow’s deadline at the Federal Register here, and find language to work from via Earthjustice here.
LEARN EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES TO CREATE COMMUNITY CHANGE OUT OF CHAOS - WEBINAR TOMORROW
If the headlines are leaving us feeling both energized and exhausted, we’re in good company. Many of us who care about justice are caught between wanting to lead and feeling overwhelmed by constant political turmoil - and when everything seems urgent, it’s tempting to stay in reaction mode.
That’s why Ripple Effect Institute founder Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin is offering a free webinar TOMORROW at 1:00 PM ET called “How to Create Lasting Community Change in 2026—Even When It Feels Like Democracy Is Under Siege.” We’ll explore what actually work to create change, learn a four-step framework for turning ideas into action and discover how to lead in ways that survive beyond election cycles. We can sign up here to join.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
ME - ICE IS STALKING OUR STREETS
As has been reported, Maine will be the next target for increased ICE terror, with the federal government confirming the beginning of the dehumanizingly named “Operation Catch of The Day.” May they find themselves no more welcome here than they did in the Twin Cities. Here’s some steps we can take to stand up for our immigrant friends and neighbors:
Keep a close eye out for ICE agents in our area, and if we spot them take a photograph or video and report it to the Maine ICE Watch Hotline at (207)-544-9989, We can find tips on how to verify and what information to record from WITNESS and Never Again Action, and find tools to spread the word about this hotline and volunteer for it here.
Make sure we know our rights – we can find a guide to what ICE agents can and can’t do from the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project here.
Reach out to Attorney General Aaron Frey and our local prosecutors to demand they commit to prosecuting any crimes by ICE and CBP agents to the fullest extent of the law. We can find language to use here.
The ACLU has developed a toolkit for helping organizations respond to the deployment of federal law enforcement or National Guard in our communities. We can get a copy for our use here.
On Thursday, January 29th at 1PM our state’s Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing on LD 2106, an emergency bill to make sure ICE can’t enter private spaces in hospitals, schools, and childcare centers. Maine People’s Alliance is recruiting people to testify in support of this legislation – we can sign up here if we’re interested. We can also call our legislators and Governor Mills to urge them to pass this into law ASAP.
If we’re able, we can donate to Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services in Lewiston or the Maine Solidarity Fund to support those facing detention, targeted harassment and systemic discrimination under the Trump regime.