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. HUMAN RIGHTS .

An article by Jessica Corbett in Common Dreams

As President Donald Trump on Wednesday continued to wage war on Iran, threaten Cuba, and push his mass deportation agenda across the United States, people nationwide were preparing for the next round of No Kings protests  on Saturday, March 28.

People participate in a “No Kings” national day of protest in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 18, 2025. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP via Getty Images)

“Just months ago, millions of people took to the streets across thousands of events to say no to Trump’s abuses of power, and today that movement is only growing,” noted Ezra Levin, co-executive director of Indivisible, one of the organizing groups, in a statement.

There were more than 2,100 demonstrations during the coalition’s first day of action last June. Then, over 2,700 events were held last October. As of Wednesday, just 10 days away from the upcoming mobilization, more than 3,000 events are planned.

The ralllies will follow Trump’s deployment of agents with Customs and Border Protection as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Minnesota’s Twin Cities—where CBP and ICE fatally shot two Minnesotans and violated the rights of many more. Local protests and national outrage led to a drawdown, but critics fear similar invasions of other US cities.

“With every ICE raid, every escalation abroad, and every abuse of power at home, Americans are rising up in opposition to Trump’s attempt to rule through fear and force. Each day Trump crosses a new red line, and more people are deciding they’ve had enough,” said Levin. “That is why people across the country are organizing, showing up for their neighbors, and making one thing unmistakably clear: We are done with the corruption, the cruelty, and the authoritarianism.”

Naveed Shah, political director of Common Defense, highlighted that while “we’ve watched citizens killed in the streets by militarized forces” in recent months, the Trump administration has also “dragged us deeper into war: sending brave American service members into harm’s way and leaving their families to carry the weight of that loss.”

In addition to partnering with Israel to launch a war of choice in Iran, Trump this year has sent US forces to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, deployed troops to Ecuador for a joint campaign against “narco-terrorists,” continued to bomb boats allegedly trafficking drugs in international waters, and engaged in “economic warfare” against Cuba while repeatedly threatening to take over the island.

“On March 28, we will come together to show that our communities reject corruption, senseless war, and division,” declared MoveOn Civic Action executive director Katie Bethell.

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Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson similarly said that “millions of us will come together to reject the attacks on LGBTQ+ people, the deadly occupation of our cities, and the assaults on our freedoms and demand a nation that lives up to its promise.”

Other advocacy and labor groups in the No Kings coalition include the ACLU, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), 50501, League of Conservation Voters, National Education Association, National Nurses United, Public Citizen, Service Employees International Union, and United We Dream.

“This unprecedented mobilization is the American people saying NO to President Trump’s violent, inhumane treatment of our immigrant neighbors, attacks on our freedom of speech and voting rights, and the weaponization of the federal government,” said Deirdre Schifeling, the ACLU’s chief political and advocacy officer.

At Trump’s direction, Senate Republicans are trying to send the so-called SAVE America Act, a voter suppression bill already approved by the GOP-controlled House of Representatives, to the president’s desk. Opponents warn that the legislation would disenfranchise eligible voters who lack access to proof-of-citizenship documents.

“Trump has promoted violence, hatred, lawlessness, and chaos across the country, proving time and time again that he is not a leader,” argued Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert. “As we approach our country’s 250th birthday, we urge all fellow Americans to join the No Kings movement as a show of patriotism and a vision of the country we deserve.”

Next week’s protests are scheduled just over seven months before the November midterm elections, which will determine whether Trump’s Republican Party keeps control of Congress. The GOP has used its slim majorities in both chambers to impose a 2025 budget package—the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—to pass new tax giveaways to the ultrawealthy while cutting key federal food and healthcare benefits for working-class Americans.

As billionaires enjoy some benefits of GOP policies, working people across the country are struggling with the cost of gasoline, groceries, healthcare, housing, and more. Trump’s contested tariffs and war on Iran are exacerbating the affordability crisis.

“America is at an inflection point. Our communities are hurting. People are afraid, and they can’t afford basic necessities. It’s time the administration listened and helped them build a better life rather than stoking hate and fear,” said AFT president Randi Weingarten. “That’s why record numbers of us will again take to the streets on March 28 to protect our neighbors, schools, and hospitals from the illegal actions of a wannabe king.”

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. HUMAN RIGHTS .

An article from Common Dreams (reprinted according to Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Members of Congress should vote against any additional funding for President Donald Trump’s unconstitutional war on Iran, 251 groups said today in a letter sent to Congress. Waging a war of choice that costs an estimated $1 billion a day not only fails to address the economic squeeze and health care crisis facing Americans, but diverts federal funding from an array of urgent domestic priorities. The letter was led by Public Citizen, Win Without War, MoveOn, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

“By launching a war against Iran, Trump has violated the Constitution, defied international law, flouted the will of the American people, and has put millions of lives across the region at risk. A vote for President Trump’s Pentagon supplemental funding package would be a vote to commit the U.S. even further to this crisis, which has already killed seven U.S. servicemembers and nearly 2,000 people from across the region, and which endangers the lives of many more,” the letter reads.

The Pentagon’s budget now totals more than $1 trillion, after an extra $150 billion the agency received in the GOP’s reconciliation bill. A supplemental worth $50 billion would be enough to restore food assistance for four million Americans, establish universal pre-K education, and pay for the annual construction of more than 100,000 units of housing. The groups maintain that this illegal war with Iran cannot be an excuse to fund more weapons instead of priorities here at home.

Other prominent signatories to the letter include Oxfam America, the Service Employees International Union, National Nurses United, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the National Organization for Women, the Union of Concerned Scientists, J Street, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Indivisible, Common Cause, Jewish Voice for Peace, Rising Majority, and Working Families Power.

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“More money for the Pentagon will serve to extend and escalate an illegal, unpopular, and devastating war – as well as pave the way for still more Pentagon funding requests,” said Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen. “The money wasted on this war should instead be invested in meeting the economic squeeze felt by everyday Americans. The $11.3 billion spent on the first six days of the war would, for example, be enough to restore food benefits to the four million people losing them due to the tax and budget reconciliation bill.”

“President Trump’s illegal war has already shown the costs war imposes — American servicemembers killed and injured, thousands of civilians killed in fighting, skyrocketing oil prices, a conflict spiraling over a dozen countries in unexpected ways, and more. That’s exactly why it’s so crucial that the decision to go to war not rest on one person’s impulses. Congress must not fund the continuation of this unconstitutional war,” said Christopher Anders, director of ACLU’s Technology and Democracy Division.

“Every penny wasted on bombing children and families in Iran would be better spent on health care and affordable housing in America. Secretary Hegseth and President Trump are ready to spend trillions on another forever war that nobody asked for, but they won’t lift a finger to lower costs here at home,” said Sara Haghdoosti, chief of program for MoveOn Civic Action. “A vote for supplemental spending is a vote to continue the war in Iran, and Congress must listen to the vast majority of Americans and stop the reckless spending and bloodshed.”

“People across the U.S. already hate Trump’s illegal war in Iran, and they’re not going to like it any better if Congress wastes $50 billion more of their money on it,” said Shayna Lewis, deputy director of Win Without War. “It’s outrageous that Trump is even asking for more money to spend on bombs when his spiraling war is killing civilians abroad and driving up prices for everyone at home, all with no end in sight. Congress should tell Trump clearly: not one more penny for this foolish, destructive war.”

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