. 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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. HUMAN RIGHTS .

An article from CNBC

A 5-year-old boy and his father must be released by Tuesday from the Texas center where they’ve been held after being detained by immigration officers in Minnesota, a federal judge ordered Saturday in a ruling that harshly criticized the Trump administration’s approach to enforcement.

Images of Liam Conejo Ramos, wearing a bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack, being surrounded by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers sparked even more outcry about the administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, who sits in San Antonio and was appointed by former Democratic President Bill Clinton, said in his ruling that “the case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children.”

Biery had previously ruled that the boy and his father could not be removed from the U.S., at least for now.

Liam and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, who is originally from Ecuador, were detained in the Minneapolis suburb of Columbia Heights on Jan. 20. They were taken to a detention facility in Dilley, Texas.

Neighbors and school officials say that federal immigration officers used the preschooler as “bait” by telling him to knock on the door to his house so that his mother would answer. The Department of Homeland Security has called that description of events an “abject lie.” It said the father fled on foot and left the boy in a running vehicle in their driveway.

The government says Arias entered the U.S. illegally from Ecuador in December 2024. The family’s lawyer says he has a pending asylum claim that allows him to remain in the country.

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Their detention led to a protest at the Texas family detention center and a visit by two Texas Democratic members of Congress.

In his order Saturday, Biery said: “apparent also is the government’s ignorance of an American historical document called the Declaration of Independence,” suggesting the Trump administration’s actions echo those that then-author and future President Thomas Jefferson enumerated as grievances against England’s King George.

Among them: “He has sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People” and “He has excited domestic Insurrection among us.”

Biery included in his ruling a photo of Liam and references to two lines in the Bible: “Jesus said, ’Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,” and “Jesus wept.”

He’s not the only federal judge who has been tough on ICE recently. A Minnesota-based judge with a conservative pedigree described the agency as a serial violator of court orders related to the crackdown.

Stephen Miller, the White House chief of staff for policy, has said there’s a target of 3,000 immigration arrests a day. It’s that figure which the judge seemed to refer to as a “quota.”

Spokespersons from the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

The Law Firm of Jennifer Scarborough, which is representing the boy and his family, said in a statement that it was working “to ensure a safe and timely reunion.”

“We are pleased that the family will now be able to focus on being together and finding some peace after this traumatic ordeal,” they said.

During Wednesday’s visit by Texas Reps. Joaquin Castro and Jasmine Crockett, the boy slept in the arms of his father, who said Liam was frequently tired and not eating well at the detention facility that houses about 1,100 people, according to Castro.

Detained families report poor conditions like worms in food, fighting for clean water and poor medical care at the detention center since its reopening last year. In December, a report filed by ICE acknowledged they held about 400 children longer than the recommended limit of 20 days.

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. HUMAN RIGHTS .

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

Twin Cities residents are weeks into the Trump administration's deployment of thousands of federal immigration agents in an operation that has seen a legal observer and young mother fatally shot; US citizens dragged out of their homes and vehicles by masked officers; one of President Donald Trump's top Border Patrol officials lobbing a gas grenade at lawful protesters; children as young as 2 detained; and armed agents seemingly lurking around every corner.

Demonstrators participate in a rally and march during an “ICE Out” day of protest on Friday, January 23, in Minneapolis. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

But the trauma inflicted on the cities during "Operation Metro Surge" appeared only to have strengthened residents' resolve to push US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) out of Minnesota on Friday as residents filled the Minneapolis' downtown area to march in subfreezing temperatures and assembled at a nearby airport through which an estimated 2,000 people have been deported.

The demonstrations were part of a “no work, no school, no shopping” general strike that labor, faith, and community leaders and businesses have joined in calling for in recent days as outrage has grown over ICE's arrests of immigrants and citizens alike and attacks on residents' First Amendment rights.

Demonstrators carried signs reading, "ICE Out Now," "Stop Pretending Racism Is Patriotism," and "Stop Disappearing Our Neighbors."

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Businesses and cultural institutions were closed in solidarity across the city and the state on Friday; Truthout reported that about 700 businesses shut their doors across Minnesota, while businesses that remained open planned to donate their proceeds from the day to immigrant rights groups.

Organizers said about 100 clergy members were arrested at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport protest. They were among the protesters who blocked the road at a departures terminal, singing, "Before this campaign fails, we’ll all go down to jail, everybody has a right to live.”

According to union leaders, 12 airport workers are among the Minneapolis-area residents who have been detained by ICE in recent weeks.

Chelsie Glaubitz Gabiou, president of the Minnesota Regional Labor Federation (MRLF), AFL-CIO, acknowledged that the weather on Friday was "dangerously cold."

“Negative-10°F with wind chills. Like the high is going to be -10°F with wind chills of up to -20F,” Glaubitz Gabiou told the Guardian. “We are a northern state, and we are built for the cold, and we are going to show up.

Organizers said the goals of the general strike were for ICE to leave Minnesota, the ICE agent who killed Renee Good earlier this month to be held legally accountable, and no additional federal funding for ICE operations.

Seven US House Democrats joined the Republican Party in passing a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security this week. The legislation still needs to get through the Senate.

Nationwide, data has shown that nearly three-quarters of people arrested by ICE have had no criminal convictions, but the Trump administration has continued to claim it is detaining the "worst of the worst" violent criminals, even as agents have clearly been shown arresting people who are authorized to be in the US and have no criminal records.

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