When Institutions Fall Short, We Will Step Up (4/1/26)
Featuring NDLON's Adopt A Day Labor Corner program and rapid response everywhere. Plus challenging ICE at co-working spaces and our polling places, new opportunities to help win Virginia and more.
⚖️ Birthright citizenship goes before the Supreme Court today, listen to oral arguments live at 10AM and follow along with ACLU of Maine on Bluesky or Instagram ⚖️
TOO LONG, DIDN’T READ
The deportation machine rolls on, join NDLON’s Adopt a Day Labor Corner program or a local rapid response network to throw a wrench in the gears
ICE wants to lease co-working space in more than 100 communities - demand owners keep them out of their offices
Phonebanks running every day for Wisconsin and Virginia – now added to the list, call Spanish speakers M/W/F and take a shift with the Working Families Party
Join an organizing call for actions against AI money flooding the midterms TOMORROW at 7:00PM ET
If you have questions, comments, and especially submissions for actions, please email us at roganslisttips@gmail.com!
GET MORE DEEPLY INVOLVED IN PROTECTING OUR IMMIGRANT NEIGHBORS
While the political maneuvering over Homeland Security funding continues, here’s the bottom line: we are likely at the end of the road on putting legal restraints on ICE at the federal level for the immediate future.
The best-case scenario is forcing them to spend down their slush fund for normal operations for the rest of the fiscal year. That would be an effective $10 billion cut, a genuine victory, and Democrats’ refusal to bend on passing ICE appropriations without real change is progress. But the deportation machine is going to continue to roll over our friends and neighbors as Trump and Stephen Miller see fit. We need to remain dedicated to doing what we can to throw a wrench into their work in our communities.
If we’re looking to step up our efforts, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network is building a grassroots movement for folks to observe, witness, report ICE activity, denounce and record the secret police, ensure the loved ones of those abducted can find them and bring food, water, information, legal and financial assistance and solace to those under attack with their Adopt A Day Labor Corner program. 🛑🧊 We can find an Adopt A Day Labor Corner effort near us we can join up with here. And on Friday, we can join them for a call at 4PM ET on how this program works and how we can get started. We can register here. 🛑🧊
🫱🏾🫲🏼 We can also volunteer for and spread the word about rapid response programs underway in our area. We can find a national map of these networks with more information about them here. 🫱🏻🫲🏿
ICE AGENTS AT THE NEXT DESK AT WEWORK?
In mid-March, Em Knepp and Project Salt Box reported that ICE is seeking to lease co-working space for over 300 personnel nationwide, in more than 100 communities in 42 states and Puerto Rico. By moving into existing co-working locations, they’ll be able to ramp up operations more quickly – to “drop personnel into fully furnished offices on a few weeks’ notice, then move or scale down just as fast.” They’re trying to make things a done deal before we can gear up.
We’re not going to let it happen. 🪧 Let’s see if our communities are among their targets, then work with fellow activists to identify co-working space owners in our area and start demanding right now that they and their agents not sign any contracts with ICE and CBP. We can begin by sending them this sample letter written by Friend of Rogan’s List Rachael S! 🪧
DEFENDING ELECTIONS FROM ICE AT THE POLLING PLACE
Steve Bannon has been one of the loudest voices on the right demanding Trump send his secret police to the polls, and last week he described stationing ICE at airports as a “test run” for the midterms. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche expressed support for ICE at the polls at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Border czar Tom Homan did the same. Our state attorneys generals are getting prepared for this possibility, and so are organizers on the ground (preparing us to take the streets is a big part of the point of the May Day shutdown). Our state legislators need to be taking it seriously, too.
Earlier this month, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation prohibiting a person from bringing or ordering military troops or armed federal agents to a polling place or ballot drop box location. While obviously not a cure-all, as Eric Blanc writes this legislation addresses a loophole in federal law barring military personnel from polling stations that might allow a civilian federal agency to sneak through, and gives our AGs and our governors more tools to respond in the name of enforcing state law. Legislators in seven other states have introduced similar measures, and four states are considering bills prohibiting the enforcement of immigration law near election sites. Let’s encourage our legislators and governors to be proactive in defending our democracy and move forward on bills like this ASAP. We can find a list of them from Ballotpedia here, and language and an email tool to use via Coleman Rogers here.
APRIL IS THE CRUELEST MONTH (FOR MAGA CAMPAIGNS)
No fooling, April is here, and that means we’re in the home stretch on a number of crucial spring elections. Wisconsin goes to the polls to pick between former Planned Parenthood staffer Chris Taylor and abortion ban backer Maria Lazar for their supreme court this Tuesday, and we’re now just 20 days from Virginia deciding whether they’re going to balance the House map against Trump’s gerrymandering. Neither of these races is in the bag – voter turnout has been higher in Republican areas in the Virginia early vote and polls indicate more than half the electorate in Wisconsin is undecided.
Our efforts to turn out our people are ramping up. Virginians for Fair Elections is phonebanking daily, and they’ve just added specialized shifts to reach Spanish-speaking voters. ☎️🇪🇸 If we’re bilingual, let’s sign up to get in touch with this often-neglected demographic Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 6PM-8PM ET here. ☎️🇪🇸
The Working Families Party is also in the mix. ☎️🐺 They’re continuing their Wisconsin phonebanks with sessions tomorrow and Monday from 8-9:30PM ET, and giving us something to do while we wait for results Tuesday evening with a phonebank for Virginia 6-9PM ET. Let’s join the Wolf Pack and get out some votes! ☎️🐺
We can also find more ways to help win in Wisconsin and Virginia, along with other crucial elections this spring, here.
TAKING ON AI MONEY IN OUR ELECTIONS THIS RECESS
Palantir and other Big Tech firms are receiving massive government contracts to serve Trump’s deportation machine, his war on Iran and his attacks on government services. They’re turning that money right around to elect pols who will give them even more. AI-backed super PACS are preparing to spend more than $150 million on these midterms.
Mijente and the Purge Palantir campaign are already organizing folks to push elected officials to get off the Palantir payroll. During this congressional recess, they’re looking to step up their efforts against the AI billionaires buying our elections. ✊🏼 Let’s join Mijente, 50501, Make The Road Action, the Center for Popular Democracy and more for a mass call TOMORROW at 7PM ET to talk about their plans to get the AI money out and how we can help over the next week and a half. We can register to take part here. ✊🏿
🗣️ And if we haven’t already, let’s see if our members of Congress are taking Palantir money here and use this tool to demand they give the surveillance titan the boot if so. 🗣️
👀 KEEPING AN EYE ON… 👀
Trump to address the nation with “important update” on Iran TONIGHT at 9PM ET … keep up the pressure for no boots on the ground and an end to the Iran War
30 days to the May Day shutdown, pledge to take part and sign up for next Thursday’s mass call
Help Revolving Door Project build a story bank about the damage done by Russell Vought
Meatpacking workers in Greeley, Colorado need our solidarity as their strike enters its third week - donate to support the strike fund here
Looking for ways to get engaged in the midterms? Here’s a full list! And here’s some ways to help with the spring elections!
Rogan's List is a terrific resource! Very informative & helpful