Iran War Not Quite As Over as Trump Said Last Week (5/5/26)
Plus widespread abuses documented in ICE detention, supporting a rent strike in Bozeman, tools for voter registration drives and more
🫱🏻🫲🏿 Don’t miss it: take one last phonebank shift for today’s Michigan state senate special election at noon, hear from the May Day Strong coalition what’s next on moving from mass protest to mass non-compliance in mass call at 8 PM ET 🫱🏾🫲🏼
TOO LONG, DIDN’T READ
New documentation of ICE violence against detainees comes as DHS closes office that investigates abuse in detention – stop their funding, stop their profiteering, and protect our neighbors from them
Bozeman Tenants United launches first rent strike in Montana in decades – support their strike fund
Alabama, Tennessee join Louisiana in rush to attempt to redistrict out Black representatives after VRA falls – emergency briefing with Red Wine and Blue tomorrow at 7:30PM ET, plus steps we can take in the long road back
Guide to organizing a voter registration drive in our community
MomsRising wants to know how much we’re paying for child care, health care and housing
If you have questions, comments, and especially submissions for actions, please email us at roganslisttips@gmail.com!
DAYS AFTER TRUMP INSISTS WAR IS OVER, U.S. AND IRAN EXCHANGE FIRE
On Friday, we hit 60 days since Donald Trump notified Congress of the beginning of his attacks on Iran. Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, at this point he was required to either request a 30-day extension to wind down operations, ask Congress to authorize use of force, or end hostilities. Shocking no one, he did none of that, instead claiming the War Powers Resolution was unconstitutional, and also the deadline doesn’t count because hostilities stopped with the ceasefire, and also the war was actually over and the United States had won.
Yesterday, he launched an initiative to start bringing ships through the closed Straits of Hormuz. Iran, as they threatened, attacked, leading to an exchange of fire, and launched missiles at the United Arab Emirates. Not only is the war not over, the ceasefire itself is looking increasingly shaky.
Multiple Republicans who had fallen in line behind Trump on the Iran War had indicated they might reconsider their position after the 60-day mark. We’ve heard that line of garbage before, but with Democrats having lined up multiple war powers resolutions votes for the coming weeks we are going to make them put up or shut up. 🗣️ Let’s take a moment in light of the renewed fighting to reach out to our reps and tell them we want them to stop this war – especially if they’re Republicans. Our ask is simple: support a war powers resolution, publicly affirm you will not support massive appropriations to allow Trump to keep fighting. We can find more language and email tool to use here, and text SIGN PRWMIS to 50409 to send this message directly via Resistbot. 🗣️
WAPO REPORT: WIDESPREAD ICE VIOLENCE AGAINST DETAINEES BEHIND BARS
Trump’s Homeland Security Department has fought hard to stop us from seeing what’s going on inside the deportation camp archipelago. Every time we get a glimpse, it becomes obvious why. The Washington Post has published their investigation of internal ICE records revealing widespread use of force in the detention centers in 2024 and 2025, with ICE staff documented using physical force or chemical agents on immigrants 780 times, and doing so more frequently and against more people under the Trump regime. These included guard violence against “detainees who repeatedly asked staff for things to which they are legally entitled, including food and water, medical care and personal belongings.”
Hours after this piece was published, the Huffington Post reported that DHS is closing an office responsible for investigating misconduct and abuse in the immigration detention system.
This is evidence of a cruel and broken system no matter which party runs it, and one that Trump is both growing and actively making harsher and less transparent. It needs to be stopped. Here’s some immediate steps we can take:
🗣️ Congressional Republicans are working hard to supercharge the budget of the deportation machine yet again, and without a single restraint on the masked thugs who are brutalizing our neighbors. Let’s push them to say no to $140 billion more for the camps. We can find call tools for GOP senators here and GOP reps here, plus an email tool here and one for Dems here. 🗣️
🗣️ The majority of facilities reporting this violence in 2025 were run by private contractors, meaning they are actually profiting off these abuses from our tax dollars. Legislators in California and New Jersey have introduced bills to tax profits from detention camp operators at 50% to ensure no one’s getting rich off our neighbors’ pain and hopefully discourage them from setting up shop near us. Let’s reach out to our legislators and governors and urge them to hit the private prison companies where it hurts – we find call scripts here, an email tool here or send this message by texting SIGN PBYCBG to 50409. 🗣️
And let’s keep doing what we can to keep our friends and neighbors out of their clutches. 🙋♂️ We can find a list of rapid response networks to volunteer with here and a toolkit for how we can organize to stop their expansion in our communities here.🙋♀️
A HISTORIC RENT STRIKE IS UNDERWAY IN MONTANA
The May Day rally in Bozeman, Montana marked the jumping off point for further collective action, as Bozeman Tenants United launched the first rent strike in the state in nearly five decades. Folks living in the King Arthur and Mountain Meadows trailer parks have organized, and are withholding nearly $53,000 in response to an 11% rent hike by negligent landlord Gary Oakland. It’s a final cash grab before he sells the property to an out-of-town investor, and the tenants simply can’t afford it – many have already cut back on groceries and filling prescriptions.
💵 Let’s have their backs. We can follow along for updates on social media here, and donate to their strike fund to ensure tenants can afford legal support and deal with whatever else comes up in this fight here. 💵
LEARN WAYS TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST VOTING RIGHTS ATTACK - TOMORROW
The Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais has already set off an avalanche of voter suppression measures across the country. Alabama and Tennessee are rushing to redraw districts to eliminate Black-majority districts. Louisiana’s governor has suspended a primary election after ballots were in the mail to do the same. It’s a devastating attack on Black voting power, on Black America, and on the future of our democracy.
But we still have the power to fight back. TOMORROW at 7:30PM ET, Red, Wine and Blue is holding an emergency meeting featuring NAACP lawyer Janai Nelson, who argued this case before the Supreme Court, to talk about how we can protect our voting rights when the justices won’t. 🏫 Let’s sign up to join them tomorrow evening here. 🏫
We can also find more recommendations on how to join this battle here.
HOW TO ORGANIZE A VOTER DRIVE
If voting didn’t make a difference, Republicans wouldn’t be trying so hard to make our votes not matter. These midterms are coming, primaries are already underway, and we’ve got to get folks in our communities ready to vote.
Organizing a voter registration drive is something anyone can do, with a little help from friends. Let’s put together our own events! ⚙️ We can follow this detailed and helpful guide written for a Massachusetts state audience but applicable in any state here. We can also get tips from Field Team 6’s how-to manual here. ⚙️
SHOW CONGRESS THE BILLS FOR RISING FAMILY COSTS
Families across America are drowning in bills. Gas, health care, rent, and child care are eating up paychecks faster than ever, and the math just isn’t adding up. Yet President Trump’s budget cuts health care, child care, and housing programs while pouring trillions into an unpopular war, and he recently said - out loud! - that funding war matters more than paying for daycare, Medicaid, or Medicare. Flowers and chocolates are nice, but what moms actually want this Mother’s Day is to afford their bills. That’s why Moms Rising is organizing moms to take to the streets of Washington, D.C., bringing real receipts from families across the country straight to elected leaders with one clear message: Our Tax Dollars, Our Families.
💳 We can join in by telling them what we pay each month for child care, health care, housing, and other household expenses. Our personal information will not be shared, just our numbers will be added to one giant receipt to show lawmakers exactly what’s at stake. We can find out more and contribute our info here. 💳
👀 KEEPING AN EYE ON… 👀
NEWS: Supreme Court pauses Fifth Circuit ruling attempting to cut off access to mifepristone by mail - let’s keep countering the disinformation and ensuring everyone knows how to exercise their reproductive rights
NEWS: Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) currently under Ethics Committee investigation for sexual harassment; NOTUS reports details of dismissed case over inappropriate behavior with interns by Rep Jim Costa (D-CA)
NEWS: Foreclosures hit six-year high in the first quarter as housing costs rise
NEWS: Agriculture Secretary brags about 4.3 million people being denied food assistance
Looking for ways to get engaged in the midterms? Here’s a full list! And here’s some ways to help flip two supreme court seats in Georgia!
Drive calls to senators against putting Big Oil above the law Thursday at 7PM ET, find more ways to help here
We can’t let anyone forget the kids in Dilley - join the #ReadThemHome campaign and organize a stuffed animal drop-off May 20th
Call on the DNC to release the full results of their 2024 election autopsy
Public Citizen identifies 446 hospitals at risk thanks to the MAGA murder budget, let’s make sure folks in our community know we’re in danger and who’s to blame
Solidarity with striking workers in Independence as they enter Week Five on the picket line, push local lawmakers to stand with them
Thank you for the work you do!
T
Don't fall for Trump's BS about the Iran war. Get the facts with these real time dashboards.
https://makeitfast.org/TrumpWarDashboard
https://youtu.be/vWIp5UpC5y8