Donald Trump’s latest threats to illegally strip federal funding from Maine schools, if we don’t “comply with executive orders,” is nothing less than an authoritarian attack on our communities, our values, and our rights. Maine will not be bullied into submission by a power-hungry fascist billionaire who has repeatedly targeted marginalized groups for political gain and in this case, transgender children. This isn’t just happening at the federal level—a Republican in our state house jeopardized the safety and privacy of a Maine child by making an inflammatory post over her participation on her sports team appropriate for her gender identity. This prompted national public ridicule aimed at this child by adults. Despite community outrage and the censure of this House member, politicians remain unapologetic about endangering trans youth—so long as it propels their agenda. This could be your child.

Maine DSA is working hard to provide tangible hope and solutions to vulnerable communities, despite, and in spite of, all the transphobic backlash from the current administration. Through the newly established Bodily Autonomy Working Group, we are organizing for trans and reproductive rights across the state. Our first major project is a clinic to support individuals who need to change their name legally or get their birth certificate amended; more details will be shared about this soon. Furthermore, we are working on supporting legislation at the state and local level, planning to host events that foster welcoming environments, collaborating with local like-minded organizations, and more. Therefore, we are asking for your financial support to help us accomplish this by donating specifically to our working group. If you cannot financially contribute to our working group right now but still want to help, please message us on our socials or email steering@mainedsa.org.

Historically, the people of Maine have demonstrated a commitment to fairness, inclusion, and the fundamental belief that all people deserve dignity. Our own state motto, Dirigo—meaning “I direct” or “I lead”—reflects the path we choose to follow. We reject any attempt to undermine our sovereignty or to punish us for upholding basic human rights. The people of Maine—tenants, farm workers, trade unionists, teachers, parents, students, and LGBTQIA+ communities—will not be intimidated and we will not back down.

Rather than bending to the fear stoked by this administration, we call on every Mainer—and all Americans—to organize, resist, and fight back. In the face of sporadic executive orders, written to cause panic, do not comply. Our strength lies in our solidarity. We will continue to stand up for trans rights, and for the fundamental belief that every person deserves safety and respect.

We Will Win If We Are Organized.

Join the movement. Take action. Protect Trans Kids.

The post Maine DSA’s Statement in Response to Trump’s Threats appeared first on Pine & Roses.

Depending on where you work, you may be covered by the NLRA or other federal or state laws. See what covers you and how to use it.

The post Am I covered by the NLRA? appeared first on EWOC.

Every year the chapter conducts a census of the members and creates a report on how the dynamics of the chapter function along with vital information about demographics. Read the report here.

The post 2024 CNJ DSA Chapter Census appeared first on Central NJ DSA.

Monthly Newsletter of the Rochester Chapter of Democratic Socialists of America

ROC DSA is stepping into 2025 with the same momentum that has been steadily building our movement. Our membership continues to grow, as the realization sets in that we must do more than vote every four years to make the world a better place. Without the unified action of the working class, the gains that have been won from their struggle—through strikes, protests, and resistance—are eroded and overturned.

The post Rochester Red Star | March 2025 (Issue 11) first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

By Jean Allen

At the December General meeting, in a breakout group talking about what to do with a second Trump administration, comrade Lara (who wrote “Post-Election Reds” for our December issue) said something to the effect that under a political atmosphere that degrades any concrete interaction with reality, that degrades the truth itself, that socialists need to stand for the truth. I’ve been thinking about that since, because it’s such a lovely phrase. And so I’ve had it rolling through my head even though my reaction was initially dismissive. 

Earlier last year, at our May Day Picnic, I had a speech talking about the way the state used the Haymarket bombings to make martyrs of a group of largely unrelated anarchists. How, despite the target of the Haymarket bombing being a rally of the Labor movement, anarchists were targeted because they posed a threat to the state, which was what made the Haymarket Martyrs figures which unified the whole world’s socialist movement. I summed up the speech saying that “the capitalists have their truth, and we have ours”. 

I was thirteen when the United States invaded Iraq, starting a war for reasons that were found to be totally spurious on year 1 of 17. Since then things have only gotten worse, so when I hear that we need to stand for the truth it’s hard to believe in. What is the truth? My whole political life has been defined by lies and falsehoods in pursuit of the naked aims of power. They have their truth, and we have ours.

But for us to have our truth, we do need to stand for it. Something that is beautiful about having a truly democratic culture, which we need to constantly fight for and renew, is that by working together, as equals, and by talking to each other, we are striving to arrive at a kind of collective truth. A friend of mine and I were talking together last year about some personal conflict, and they said that people want to skip the process and work that’s required of a radical, and just be immediately Correct. That in this post-truth world, people cling to facts that make them feel good about themselves. This results in an odd feeling I’ve had multiple times this year, when the truth of the genocidal offensive that the Israeli Defense Army has undertaken in Palestine has been turned into a muddled media narrative, where people brush off facts that don’t feel right to them because they have associated their ego with their beliefs.  

This is, to some degree, always true, it is part of why I’ve advocated for socialists to be emotionally intelligent agitators for years. But accepting that, we still need to struggle with each other and hold each other to the truth. It is very easy to keep fuzzy beliefs that allow us to feel smart and correct, but we need to investigate, need to make sure what we’re saying is true, need to hold each other to account. Truth is the heart of a working democracy, and how are to be a democratic organization if we don’t stand for the truth?

The post Stand for the Truth first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

“We are attacking the cynics and the oligarchs who are trying to drive wedges into our community. This is not new. This is what they do.” Last night at the […]

By Henry McKeand

In the everchanging movie landscape of the past decade, one of the great casualties has been the wide-release R-rated comedy. In the 2000s, raunchy joke-a-minute projects were being made with big stars for less than $50 million and reliably turning a profit at the box office, but there was a shift in the industry around a decade ago. Suddenly, studios were afraid to take a risk on releases that didn’t have superhero spectacle or franchise potential, and mid-budget films began to face an uphill battle at the cineplex. Comedy moved to television and the internet, while lighthearted fare in movies was relegated mostly to direct-to-streaming leftovers and throwaway gags in larger blockbusters.

This is part of what makes One of Them Days, Lawrence Lamont’s new comedy starring Keke Palmer and SZA as friends on a Los Angeles odyssey to recover their rent money, such a breath of fresh air. It’s a capital-C comedy with a back-to-basics buddy dynamic and modest budget (around $14 million), relying on a funny trailer and the strength of its stars to drive audiences to the theater. There’s an old-school appeal here that has already made it successful with critics and audiences, but the real highlight is the working class core of the narrative. When was the last time you watched a crowd-pleaser where the main dramatic question was whether or not the main characters would be evicted?

Palmer plays Dreux, an ambitious young woman working as a waitress at a small diner who has an important corporate interview coming up in the afternoon. SZA plays Alyssa, a talented artist with a laid back demeanor and “candles and crystals” sensibility. While Dreux has a plan for everything, Alyssa goes with the flow and believes that the spirits of their ancestors will guide them through anything life has in store. But when Alyssa’s do-nothing boyfriend Keshawn runs off with their rent money, they’re forced to work as a team and race against the clock to get their money back before their landlord kicks them out, contending with various local oddballs, criminals, and love interests along the way. 

The ticking clock, escalating insanity, and “best friends” bickering call to mind countless comedies from yesteryear, from House Party to Superbad, but the best reference point may be the original Friday. Syreeta Singleton’s script shares not only a working class LA milieu with the F. Gary Gray and Ice Cube classic, but also a similar blend of social realism and class clown silliness. The best Black comedies of the 90s and 2000s, such as Friday and The Wood, served as more socially conscious alternatives to their “white yuppie in crisis” peers, and One of Them Days is no different. Whereas the few big-budget comedies of the past ten years have either been absurdist romps disconnected from reality (Bottoms, Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar) or Hangover-esque tales of well-off middle class characters cutting loose (Booksmart, Ricky Stanicky), Lamont and Singleton focus on the daily problems that Black and working class people face. 

More so than the gangsters and bullies who stand in Dreux and Alyssa’s way (here, Friday’s Deebo is swapped out for a take-no-shit neighborhood woman nicknamed “Big Booty Berniece”), the true villain is the capitalist, white supremacist world that they live in. Their ceiling is falling apart, but their landlord hasn’t fixed it. When they get their first white neighbor (Euphoria’s Maude Apatow) as a result of ongoing gentrification, they’re shocked that her unit has a working AC. In order to whip up some quick money, their only obvious options are trying to donate at a blood bank and applying for predatory loans. And when they end up en route to the hospital after one of them is electrocuted, they decide to escape from the ambulance because they can’t afford the medical bill.

Things aren’t all bleak, though. This is a film that understands the power of friendship and solidarity in the face of oppressive systems. The various neighbors argue and isolate themselves just like everyday people, but they also come together and stand up for one another as tenants and members of a shared community. And while Dreux and Alyssa have their differences, the script never forces conflict between them. For all of her flakiness, Alyssa is refreshingly supportive in her support for Dreux, and SZA, in her first major acting role, captures the character’s eccentricities and contradictions remarkably well. Palmer, too, is predictably great; her movie star charisma has been evident for years, and she is routinely hilarious as Dreux. Together, they create a lived-in quality to their characters’ friendship that’s authentic and warm.

It doesn’t hurt that this is the funniest feature-length script in years, never afraid to balance sweet human touches with comedic big swings. One scene, involving the blood bank and Abbott Elementary’s Janelle James as an irresponsible nurse, is one of the most laugh-out-loud things to grace the big screen in a long time. There’s also no shortage of perfect cameos, including Lil Rel Howery as a sneaker obsessive and Katt Williams as a sidewalk truth teller named Lucky. But the biggest standouts are the lesser-known names, such as Patrick Cage as Dreux’s mysterious crush and Joshua Neal as Keshawn. Neal, especially, embodies an all-too-real kind of unambitious, manipulative boyfriend with hilarious conviction.

Movies like One of Them Days are often classified by Hollywood as “minor” or “low stakes.” There’s no high-concept twist or massive energy beam threatening to destroy the world. These kinds of “low stakes” movies, however, are the ones that capture the actual joys and stresses of modern life. Take, for example, the scene where Dreux has her interview and has to prove herself to a white hiring manager who doesn’t know how to pronounce her name. The sequence is overflowing with emotion and humor and suspense, and it’s all rooted in something “mundane.” 

At one point, as Dreux is talking to a neighbor who has been evicted and is worried about where he’ll go next, she says four simple words: “Your life is lifing.” It’s an acknowledgement that day-to-day existence is far too urgent and scary for the majority of us. One of Them Days isn’t a radical film, or at least it shouldn’t be. It’s not a vitriolic call to action or an openly socialist film. But by honing in on these kinds of mundane, material realities, it stands out from the endless stream of studio releases that are completely disconnected from working class concerns. 

Films are powerful in their ability to reflect and influence public opinion, and the success of One of Them Days points to a growing dissatisfaction with capitalism. The contradictions and stresses in our everyday lives have gotten to a point where audiences are ready for stories that take stands landlords and the healthcare system. Slowly but surely, the needle is moving.

If your life is lifing right now, and you want to fight for a world in which people don’t have to struggle in order to have simple necessities, then the time is now to get involved with groups like Triangle DSA and Triangle Tenant Union!

Pine and Roses’ Todd Chretien sat down for breakfast at Ruski’s Tavern in Portland with Maine DSA member and recently-elected City Councilor Wes Pelletier to talk over his priorities in City Hall. 

TC:  What’s your favorite breakfast here at Ruski’s? 

WP: The oatmeal. It’s four dollars. It’s a good deal. 

TC: Excellent. Cheap government, that’s an old slogan from the Marxist movement.

TC: How did you decide to get involved in this whole mess of American politics?

WP: I’d been canvassing and phone banking with the Dems from a very early age. I always watched the Daily Show and was a real news junkie. But then at a certain point, I was thinking about climate change and decided I needed to get involved. I heard about DSA six or seven years ago and signed up and started paying my dues. One day I got an email from DSA about a meeting and I decided to show up. Turns out they needed a secretary, and I got convinced to take the position and since then I’ve been learning how to organize, how to run a campaign. I met a bunch of comrades and then decided to, from a psychological point of view, put all my stress into things that I can try to control at the local level. Even as a non-elected, you have more control over local politics than state and obviously national issues. It’s where you can affect change and actually improve lives and show people what good government can do. We had a friendly city councilor stepping down, so I decided to run. 

TC: When you decided to run for city council, what was central to your platform? 

WP: There’s a huge housing crisis in Portland, and in Maine generally. We passed a number of referendums in 2020 under the banner of People First Portland, including rent control. And we’ve defended it from several attempts by landlords to overturn or weaken it. It’s wildly popular in Portland, but the city government does not want to proactively enforce it, which means that for a lot of folks, the law just doesn’t exist. So we need a city council that’s willing to take action rather than just sit by.

TC: Trump’s 2016 election, Bernie’s 2020 campaign, the Covid pandemic, and Black Lives Matter spurred Maine DSA into action. Really enormous political events shook the country. Now we’ve got two socialists on city council. Do you think there is something unique about the way that Portlanders have responded to all those crises? 

WP: Portland is somewhat unique. We think of ourselves as a city, but we are basically a large town. But we’re the biggest city in the state. DSA keeps the bar to entry low so we’ve been able to organize and train a lot of people. So, sometimes, we’re able to do more than the Democratic Party machine, which isn’t as powerful as it is in a lot of places. But the structure is set up so that the unelected city manager and high-level staff have more capacity and power than the mayor or the city councilors. When Black Lives Matter arose in Portland, one of the organizers’ main demands was getting rid of the city manager. We’ve lost a little bit of momentum on that but we are able to take these national moments you mentioned and engage a large enough coalition including labor unions, leftist organizations like DSA, and progressives to get things done. It’s a broad set of alliances. For instance, former Portland Mayor Ethan Strimling is a pretty prominent  member and leader in DSA and he has a lot of knowledge about how the system works. That institutional knowledge and experience is critical when you combine it with organizers who are adept at ground-level organizing to give enough volume to these ideas that they can’t be ignored. We can show up in big numbers given enough organization. We are able to leverage a lot of different parts to build a bigger thing that has more impact due the smaller size of the government.

TC: Being a newly elected city councilman, what stands out to you?

WP: The most obvious thing is that the city councilors don’t really have a ton of power. Honestly, I didn’t run on this point because it is sort of a bleak message, but I did understand the dynamic beforehand. The power city council has on paper is really watered down because we all have second jobs and no support staff, while city management is able to devote their full time and hundreds of staff hours toward moderating the political course of the city. To be clear, the vast majority of the work done by staff, both by management and by the largely unionized rank and file, is mostly unseen and underappreciated. It’s what holds our social fabric together. But there’s chafing when that establishment comes into contact with democratically elected leaders, because we are there by design to make changes to the status quo to best serve people. Those changes usually create logistical hassles for staff. In looking to minimize that hassle, city management has taken on a conservative political role, often slow-walking or hampering councilors’ efforts that they either publicly or privately disapprove of through a combination of legal hand-wringing or simply deprioritizing the research and legwork needed to see those efforts through. That creates a sort of paralysed government that can’t adapt to a changing political and economic landscape, and it’s a huge reason Portland is in the crisis it is.

To cut through that malaise and effect change, I need to leverage organizing structures to get our own research and legwork done to bring forward proposals even without management’s blessing, which is frankly one of the most exciting opportunities presented by having an elected DSA cadre. I’m not an electoralist, and I don’t believe that we win socialism simply by getting someone elected, but it allows us to get back to what the party system used to mean, which is to have working class people come together as a team and organize to use democracy to win change.

TC: Can you give me an example of the power imbalance between the city manager and the city councilors? 

WP: The city manager runs all of the full-time staff, and the higher level department leaders get paid well over $100,000. Whereas we get paid $7,000. In reality, I get a check every week for seven bucks, because it goes into benefits. Don’t get me wrong, the health care benefits are good! But being on the city council is not a working-class position. You have got to have another job or the economic flexibility to live off something else. 

TC: Who are the big economic players in Portland and what kind of access do they have to the City Manager and the staff?

WP: Historically it’s been the Chamber of Commerce. Recently, they’ve been pretty, I would say, poorly managed. They’ve staked out a very right-wing stance, and promoted a lot of stuff that many people in Portland find very odd. They’re more anti-worker than they are pro-business. They are an outside organization, they’re not part of city government, but they get to be on decision-making calls, right? They have access to the city manager and department heads that even I don’t have. They’re not lobbying me because I have not been a friend to them. 

TC: What do you want to accomplish this year and what are the biggest barriers you see? 

WP: The number one thing we’re facing right now is a budget shortfall. The state, let alone the federal government, is looking to slash general assistance. A lot of things that are now helping people stay on top of a very thin edge. And without those, it is going to be a bit of an apocalypse. That’s not set in stone yet, and we’re hoping that the state doesn’t make that decision, but we do need to prepare for it and we need to start raising local revenue in creative ways. That means looking for ways to raise taxes and fees on the wealthy, to raise fees while not impacting people who are barely making it through. 

For instance, there’s a push to expand a tax program that sends a check back to people who meet certain requirements after they pay property taxes, which is a workaround to allow us to raise taxes on the wealthiest. But we also have to try to make Maine Med—the biggest hospital in the state— pay its fair share. As a non-profit they don’t pay property taxes even though they continue to purchase property, draining us of revenue which would otherwise allow us to fund social services which could prevent people from needing to go to the hospital in the first place. We can make the cruise ships actually pay disembarkation fees that at least begin to offset the amount of environmental damage they do. We can make the yacht owners pay when they tie up here in the summer. We can start issuing fines on landlords who are breaking rent control. We’ll need to raise revenue so that we can pay our workers and maintain services rather than give into the nihilism of austerity in the face of economic hardship

TC: Trump has declared that unless the state bans trans athletes from competing, he will defund the state. The number I saw was $256 billion in federal funding for Maine. How should we respond to this threat?

WP: There are two kinds of tactics. There is an instinct to keep your head down and not draw attention to yourself. I think that there’s something to be said for that, but I also think that vulnerable people in our community do not benefit from that. I am not a Mills fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I do very much respect holding the line and saying to Trump, you know, fuck you, that’s fascist. We’re not going to go along with that. We have to state our values and make sure that people in our community know that they are safe, regardless of what happens on the federal level. We’re going to be looking after them and we’re not gonna throw them to the wolves. We might think sacrificing one part of our community will save us, but it won’t. Trump’s gonna cut funding over one thing or another. We’re a blue state and he’ll punish us for it. 

The other tactic is really building up community, stuff like holding street fairs, block parties, just showing up and getting people to know each other and building those connections so that when this shit hits the fan, we don’t resort to fearing each other. That’s what fascism preys on. We have to stand in the way of that and build up our side. 

TC: As part of your work in Maine DSA, you’ve helped launch the Portland Tenants Union. What inspired you to get involved in that and what role do you see for the union? 

WP: Everyone is entitled to a place to live, right? If you’re paying rent, you start to have an understanding that this is my home, why is the landlord able to take that away or gouge me on a whim? Building a tenants union means building consciousness and awareness of that antagonistic relationship, and really building up your community, to go back to what I was just staying. You get to know your neighbors and understand that, together, you’re able to push back against someone that otherwise is holding all the cards in their hand. Portland’s in a very unique place because we have rent control so there are tools to fight back. Even if you’re not in a labor union, you are able to say, yeah, I understand what it means to have solidarity and to have comrades and to organize. And all that’s important because, even if it’s not necessarily you who is facing harassment or eviction, you know your neighbors will be protected if it comes to it. 

TC: Last question and this comes from Jess, our Maine DSA communications co-chair. People should join trade unions, tenants unions, immigrants rights organizations, local churches, community groups, softball teams, and local PTAs. We want people to join all sorts of organizations in general. But why should people consider becoming a socialist and joining DSA specifically?

WP: DSA is my political home because, like Portland, it is something that you as a participant and member have the ability to change. You can become involved and you get to know the ropes and you get to know the people. It’s like a social organization, but it is also a political organization. You don’t necessarily need to be friends with everyone, but you know that you are on the same political page. And you get to struggle together and you get to figure out what that means, and really build something that can punch far above its weight. You can help create outsized change by getting just a little bit organized. In DSA, we decide on things together, which doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone’s in agreement or that everyone’s doing it the same way, but we democratically decide on what programs we’re doing and what projects we’re undertaking. Then we pull our resources together, and we pull our members together, and we work to accomplish those plans. We grow because of that and we flex our power. It’s very rewarding. It’s so much more rewarding than sniping from the sidelines, than criticizing everything. Of course, there is a lot of criticism, it’s very much endemic to DSA, but it is part of being involved. 

Join Maine DSA and help us win small things because even those tiny wins can be built into something bigger. It’s better than just throwing up your hands and saying, well, this is not revolutionary enough so I won’t participate. Get involved, do stuff that is, at the very least, pushing towards socialism and, crucially, building organization. It is helping us to get together and be ready for when shit hits the fan and to be prepared to take advantage of turning points, which I think we’re going to have a lot of in the coming months and years, locally, nationally, and globally. Getting organized now helps us be ready to turn things around. 

The post Punching above our weight in Portland, Maine appeared first on Pine & Roses.

On December 9, 2024, after a years-long campaign from a broad-based coalition that DSA-LA is part of, Los Angeles Mayor Bass signed the LA Sanctuary Ordinance. The ordinance is a long overdue policy to protect and defend immigrants and a huge victory for the LA Sanctuary Coalition.  

The campaign for Sanctuary began in 2017 during the first Trump Administration. Despite pressure from the ‘ICE out of LA’ coalition, which demanded that LA adopt a law to disentangle the City from federal immigration enforcement, no policy was introduced at that time. Instead, the City of Los Angeles merely proclaimed itself a “city of sanctuary” and former Mayor Garcetti issued a directive regarding immigration enforcement. This meant that the City of Los Angeles, despite being home to large, diverse, and vibrant immigrant communities, was falling behind other localities such as Santa Ana and Berkeley that adopted policies refusing to use local resources to collude with immigration agents.

Socialists in office make the difference

Fast forward to 2023, after the successful election of DSA-endorsed candidates Nithya Raman, Hugo Soto-Martinez, and Eunisses Hernandez to Los Angeles City Council. Having three socialists in office marked a significant shift in what was possible within local politics. We finally had the champions who were willing to call out the unjust nature of immigration arrests, detentions, and deportations, and to introduce a sanctuary policy.   

The three socialist Council members introduced a motion on March 7, 2023 directing the City Attorney to draft a Sanctuary ordinance. The Sanctuary Coalition had been meeting with them for months to discuss putting forward the strongest possible language, and mobilized dozens of people to turn out that day. 

Fast forward again to October 2024. We were on the cusp of elections and the City Attorney had still not shared a draft ordinance. Worse yet, the City Council was deciding whether to approve the selection of Jim McDonnell as Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department.  During his time as the Sheriff of Los Angeles County from 2014 to 2018, McDonnell colluded with ICE to transfer Angelenos for arrest, detention and deportation, separating thousands of families in Los Angeles. In just one year (2017), the Sheriff’s Department spent $1.4 million dollars on ICE entanglement and transferred 1,223 people to ICE. Jim McDonnell also opposed a sanctuary bill at the state level. 

The coalition quickly sprang into action, mobilizing to host two press conferences—one before the Public Safety Committee meeting and the other before the full Council vote. Speakers included leaders from the Central American Resource Center, California Immigrant Policy Center, SEIU USWW, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, and Black Lives Matter-LA. They spoke intersectionally about the ways in which law enforcement has harmed communities of color and the need for the Sanctuary Ordinance. 

The coalition also organized a rally and march that featured Los Jornaleros del Norte playing from a flatbed truck. Hundreds of people showed up to call for Sanctuary, in order to ensure that no LAPD Chief—current or future—would facilitate deportations. Over 80 organizations signed onto a letter underscoring their strong concerns about McDonnell and supporting moving forward with an ordinance that would completely prohibit ICE transfers, as LA County did in September 2020.

No ignoring Trump’s mass deportations pledge

With Donald Trump’s election this past November, it became clear that the City had to take a stance to defy the anti-immigrant bigotry that has defined national discourse and news. There was no ignoring the pledge of mass deportations that was one of the cornerstones of Trump’s campaign. The City would have to prepare for ramped-up targeting, harassment, profiling, and arrests of LA residents. 

On November 19, 2024, with the City Council poised to vote on the ordinance, the Sanctuary Coalition held a vibrant press conference on the steps of City Hall. Hundreds of attendees rallied while speakers representing labor and immigrant rights groups spoke. We then went into City Hall, providing comments and holding up “Sanctuary Now” signs. That day the Los Angeles City Council unanimously voted to pass the Sanctuary Ordinance. 

The organizations that worked on this victory included DSA-LA, ACLU-So Cal, California Immigrant Policy Center, Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), CLEAN Carwash Campaign, Garment Worker Center, National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), SEIU-USWW, Public Counsel, UCLA Center for Immigration Law & Policy, UCLA Labor Center, and many more groups! 

This victory will have a tangible, material impact. The City is committing to refuse its resources (personnel, property, funds, etc.) for immigration enforcement. Immigrants will feel more comfortable accessing City programs, without the fear that contact with the City will result in their deportation. This is significant given that 1.3 million immigrants reside in Los Angeles City, totaling over 34 percent of the population.

Not just in words

The Sanctuary Ordinance makes Los Angeles a true “sanctuary city,” not just in words but in actions. Its key components include: 

• Barring the City from asking about, or collecting, information about a person's Citizenship, Immigration Status, or place of birth

• Preventing the police from citing, arresting, holding, transferring, or detaining any person for Immigration Enforcement purposes

• Not providing any Immigration Agent access to any non-public areas of property owned or controlled by the City, including City jails, for the purpose of Immigration Enforcement

• Prohibiting the direct and indirect sharing of data with federal immigration authorities. City contractors and subcontractors must confirm in writing that they will not share personal information collected for City services with immigration authorities.

•   City staff cannot participate in any joint task force with any immigration agency

•   City staff cannot make any person in City custody available to any immigration agent for an interview

With this important step, LA will no longer support an immigration detention and deportation system that has its underpinnings in white supremacy, settler colonialism, and the exploitation of immigrant workers. The Sanctuary Coalition will continue our work to ensure that our local resources are spent on supporting City residents and making LA a place where working class immigrants can thrive.