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There's a second half to this story too: wages, working conditions, environmental protections, and labor laws are not worse in colonization-impacted ("""third world""") countries by accident. The same multinational corporations that withdrew their capital and production from the US in response to unions and the EPA are concretely, specifically, and intentionally shaping the laws of other nations to prevent the same thing happening there.

Sometimes the mechanism is these corporations using the US military to foment coups and assassinations of activists and legislators[1]. Even more often, though, it's them using economic and political pressure to force countries to shape their laws and trade agreements in a way favorable to the corporation's continued exploitation of their workers and environment[2].

One of the biggest tools that corporations use to control the legal landscape of a nation is the threat of withdrawing their resources: "if you improve your worker protections, we'll just pick up and move, and your economy will crash." That's why the nations that have been most successful at corporate regulation do so as a bloc, like the European Union: they're using the same principal as labor unions, that collective bargaining is the way to fight back against capitalists' unequal bargaining power.

(Which is why the US has been one of the main nations undermining any attempts by the United Nations to participate in corporate regulation, or to push the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It's also why the US intervened so harshly and comprehensively in Latin America and the Middle East in the mid-to-late 1900s: Latin American nations were seriously considering of developing their economic policy and international law as a bloc [3], and Middle Eastern nations were using OPEC to fight back against US-back private companies exploitation of their oil resources[4].)

Wherever the nodes of the global supply chain go, these tactics to render nations and their people continuously vulnerable to extraction and exploitation follow, backed significantly (though not only) by the economic and military power of the United States. As the US is now destroying its own economic power, we'll need to see how that changes the capacity of other nations to successfully work together and collectively resist corporate shaping of their political economies.

People straight up do not realize that part of the reason manufacturing is not returning to the United States in massive waves is because we have things like “OSHA” and “environmental laws” and “minimum wages.”

It’s not even just about fair wages. It’s literally about the fact that you can’t dump industrial waste in a river here anymore.

Our cheap goods are so cheap because South American and Asians environments are being destroyed so you can buy a $40 pair of shoes every 3 months.

Cutting granite countertops has lead to a rapid increase in silicosis in the lungs out in California. All the working men and women in my family have died from pulmonary fibrosis. They were carpet layers, Post office workers, floor tilers. Staying safe in manufacturing jobs is annoying but also very, very expensive. Real manufacturing factories belch smoke and dust and grime that causes asthma and birth defects in surrounding communities. Everyone wants their manufacturing jobs back until they realize their kids are living directly under the Asthma Plant.

There will come a time when the workers in these countries rise up and demand better and things will start to even out, but if you want to honestly “do your part,” you gotta stop buying cheap shit for no reason.

Not every event needs to be celebrate with a baseball cap or a coozie or a t shirt or a keychain. Not every wall in the house has to have a picture or a cute phrase on it. The knickknacks are killing people.

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I genuinely and affectionately enjoy "fake marriage for the green card" fics but I can't read them often or I get stressed because I need. I need you all to understand. please. PLEASE. that:

between putting in the application for the marriage visa and receiving an interview appointment

the average processing time in the United States

is 18 months

Do you understand. Do you see why I am clarifying this point of the timeline. The way it works is that you get married, in a state process that doesn't inquire about your motivations because outside of literal duress, no other legal system in the US other than the immigration system cares what yours reasons for marriage are. You then exhaustively document your marriage photographically and financially, you submit a binder full of vacation photos and family trips and a really invasive level of information about your bank accounts and auto loan, and then you wait for over a year! While continuously collecting stupid evidence about your relationship during that time! And making sure to post regularly on a variety of social media about your relationship, because "why aren't you marked as 'In a relationship' on Facebook" is a real, actual question USCIS asked a couple and then proceeded to use to mark their 20-year marriage, with biological children, as fraudulent.

While you're doing all that, you're also prepping for an interview in which you'll be asked what color toothbrush your spouse uses, and to recall from memory the layout of your house, the specific, minute details of their work schedule. Oh and don't forget to write down what restaurant you went to for your last anniversary! Better make a note of that, because if you disagree about the name, your spouse might end up in removal proceedings.

Meanwhile, USCIS will be reviewing your marriage petition for red flags, such as *checks notes, and by notes I mean a whistleblower leak from 2012* oh. hahaha. whether your marriage has an age gap? Or an "unusual" number of children??? Or too many cultural differences????? Or whether the non-citizen spouse has less money????????

But don't worry: once you've passed that screening, and the interview that people who have also survived genocide have told me was one of the most traumatic experiences of their lives, you only need to worry about being flagged for a "provisional" green card and a follow-up interview 2 years later, where you go back and do it all again or they take the green card away.

It's a good thing these government employees are out there putting hundreds of thousands of people per year through invasive and traumatizing processes with the threat of family separation in order to protect us all from the scourge of people who--oh. wait. all of this is because the INS Commissioner lied to Congress and falsified data about widespread marriage fraud that wasn't occurring? And "The INS Commissioner cited [IPFS, the fraudulent survey] to Congress in 1985 to support the need for [these marriage screening measures] even though high ranking officials in the INS Central Office [...] knew that the IPFS was not a valid or reliable survey of marriage fraud"???

wow hahaha it's almost like the US immigration system is an evil, white nationalist project or something lol

....so yeah there are a lot of AUs set in my field of work and they're very cute and charming and also I can't read them too often. For my health.

would you read a fanfiction au set at your job? i.e if you're a barista would you read a coffeshop au for any media, hospital au if you're a doctor (?? i guess??? you get the point)

yes and i've actively sought it out

i wouldn't mind it but i'm not seeking it out specifically

no my job is boring and/or wouldn't work as a setting

no i hate my job and don't want to think about it in my spare time

it's nuanced

unemployed button

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maybe its because im an asylum seeker but i am of the opinion that even if immigrants and asylum seekers contributed nothing to a nation that nation should not have the right to deport them.

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I got too mad so I wrote fanfic to cope

BREAKING: Luthor Administration Vacates TPS Designation for Krypton (AO3)

"In its second week of existence, President Luthor's newly-formed Department of Homeland Security has published a memorandum vacating Kryptonian Temporary Protected Status (TPS)."

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This is a good article that alerts the reader, accurately, to the use of this case as a test by the administration of targeting political activity. And: immigrants have been arrested for their political speech alone this whole time. That reality is important to understand, even as it doesn't take away the heightened danger that we are all, including immigrants, now in.

Here's the quote that, without fail, makes at least one law student per year start crying in introductory Immigration Law courses:

‘‘Whatever the procedure authorized by Congress is, it is due process as far as an alien denied entry is concerned’.’

The Supreme Court said that in 1950 when it upheld the decision to permanently exclude a Czech Jewish Holocaust survivor from the US. The decision was based on a lie made up by a man she refused to sleep with. The Supreme Court said that that was a valid basis for an immigration decision. It's still "good law": the constitutional right to due process does not exist at the US borders. (United States ex rel. Knauff v. Shaughnessy, 338 U.S. 537 (1950)). It has not existed since 1889.

Now, Mr. Khalil is not at the US borders. As a Lawful Permanent Resident, he has procedural due process rights before being deprived of his property (his green card). That's better, right? Except:

"[this] Act authorizing his deportation many years after his Communist membership [is intended] to punish in every way possible anyone who ever made the mistake of being a Communist in this country or who is supposed ever to have been associated with anyone who made that mistake. [...] A basic constitutional infirmity of this Act, in my judgment, is that it is a part of a pattern of laws all of which violate the First Amendment out of fear that this country is in grave danger if it lets a handful of Communist fanatics or some other extremist group make their arguments and discuss their ideas. This fear, I think, is baseless. [...] It is an unworthy fear in a country that has a Bill of Rights containing provisions for fair trials, freedom of speech, press and religion, and other specific safeguards designed to keep men free."

In 1960, the Supreme Court ruled that a law deporting anyone who had ever been a member of the Communist Party, even during the years when membership was not illegal in the US, was constitutional. The plaintiff hadn't even been trying to fight his own deportation directly: he only went to the Supreme Court trying to get his Social Security benefits, which he'd paid into for 19 years, to go to his US citizen wife. He lost. He was a green card holder with no other alleged violations of his status. (Flemming v. Nestor, 363 U.S. 603 (1960)). The US has been taking away people's green cards based only on their ethnicity or political speech for over 100 years.

It's absolutely right and appropriate to respond to Mr. Khalil's detention and removal proceedings as a crisis, and as an indicator of heightened fascism. I'm really glad that people are mustering outrage and resistance to the abuses of our white nationalist immigration system. In order to respond appropriately, I want to make sure that we understand the history of this system, and the context that Mr. Khalil and his lawyers will be working in. This administration has handed them a strong case to argue and inshallah they can defend him effectively and maybe even set some precedent for the rest of us, but getting the US courts to defend immigrants' constitutional rights is never easy or straightforward, no matter how clear-cut the case looks to people who aren't used to the shit the immigration system pulls.

(This is a gift article)

Due process is a cornerstone of democracy and the rule of law. Without it, anyone can be arbitrarily deprived of life or liberty. Leaders who aspire to absolute power always begin by demonizing groups that lack the political power to resist, and that might be awkward for the political opposition to defend. They say someone is a criminal, and they dare you to defend the rights of criminals. They say someone is a deviant, and they dare you to defend the rights of deviants. They call someone a terrorist, and they dare you to defend the rights of terrorists. And if you believe none of these apply to you, another category might be “traitor,” the label that Trump and his advisers, including the far-right billionaire Elon Musk, like to give to anyone who opposes them.

I would add that as this article went up, the Trump administration released a statement explicitly saying that Khalil is not being accused of any illegal activities and is being targeted because of his speech.

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Elon Musk attacked democracy defender and superstar court lawyer Marc Elias as “undermining civilization,” taunting him by asking if he suffered “generational trauma.”

Elias’s response was brilliant and worth amplifying:

Mr. Musk,

You recently criticized me and another prominent lawyer fighting for the rule of law and democracy in the United States. I am used to being attacked for my work, particularly on the platform you own and dominate.

I used to be a regular on Twitter, where I amassed over 900,000 followers — all organic except for the right-wing bots who seemed to grow in number. Like many others, I stopped regularly posting on the site because, under your stewardship, it became a hellscape of hate and misinformation.

I also used to buy your cars — first a Model X and then a Model S — back when you spoke optimistically about solving the climate crisis. My family no longer owns any of your cars and never will.

But this is not the reason I am writing. You don’t know me. You have no idea whether I have suffered trauma and if I have, how it has manifested. And it’s none of your business.

However, I will address your last point about generational trauma. I am Jewish, though many on your site simply call me “a jew.” Honestly, it’s often worse than that, but I’m sure you get the point. There was a time when Twitter would remove antisemitic posts, but under your leadership, tolerating the world’s oldest hatred now seems to be a permissible part of your “free speech” agenda.

Like many Jewish families, mine came to America because of trauma. They were fleeing persecution in the Pale of Settlement — the only area in the Russian Empire where Jews were legally allowed to reside. Even there, life was difficult — often traumatic. My family, like others, lived in a shtetl and was poor. Worse, pogroms were common — violent riots in which Jews were beaten, killed and expelled from their villages.

By the time my family fled, life in the Pale had become all but impossible for Jews. Tsar Nicholas II’s government spread anti-Jewish propaganda that encouraged Russians to attack and steal from Jews in their communities. My great-grandfather was fortunate to leave when he did. Those who stayed faced even worse circumstances when Hitler’s army later invaded.

That is the generational trauma I carry. The trauma of being treated as “other” by countrymen you once thought were your friends. The trauma of being scapegoated by authoritarian leaders. The trauma of fleeing while millions of others were systematically murdered. The trauma of watching powerful men treat it all as a joke — or worse.

As an immigrant yourself, you can no doubt sympathize with what it means to leave behind your country, extended family, friends and neighbors to come to the United States. Of course, you probably had more than 86 rubles in your pocket. You probably didn’t ride for nine days in the bottom of a ship or have your surname changed by immigration officials. Here is the ship manifest showing that my family did. Aron, age three, was my grandfather.

[see image in comments]

As new immigrants, life wasn’t easy. My family lived in cramped housing without hot water. They worked menial jobs — the kind immigrants still perform today.

Some may look down on those immigrants — the ones without fancy degrees — but my family was proud to work and grateful that the United States took them in. They found support within their Jewish community and a political home in the Democratic Party.

I became a lawyer to give back to the country that gave my family a chance. I specialize in representing Democratic campaigns because I believe in the party. I litigate voting rights cases because the right to vote is the bedrock of our democracy. I speak out about free and fair elections because they are under threat.

Now let me address the real crux of your post.

You are very rich and very powerful. You have thrown in with Donald Trump. Whether it is because you think you can control him or because you share his authoritarian vision, I do not know. I do not care.

Together, you and he are dismantling our government, undermining the rule of law and harming the most vulnerable in our society. I am just a lawyer. I do not have your wealth or your platform. I do not control the vast power of the federal government, nor do I have millions of adherents at my disposal to harass and intimidate my opponents. I may even carry generational trauma.

But you need to know this about me. I am the great-grandson of a man who led his family out of the shtetl to a strange land in search of a better life. I am the grandson of the three-year-old boy on that journey. As you know, my English name is Marc, but my Hebrew name is Elhanan (אֶלְחָנָן) — after the great warrior in David’s army who slew a powerful giant.

I will use every tool at my disposal to protect this country from Trump. I will litigate to defend voting rights until there are no cases left to bring. I will speak out against authoritarianism until my last breath.

I will not back down. I will not bow or scrape. I will never obey.

Defiantly,

Marc Elias

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It's a concrete action that doesn't involve picking up a phone!

It's not just removing the 'x' gender marker, it would also change the forms to ask for sex assigned at birth. If you scroll down the pages it details the proposed changes. Here are those links:

Passport Application Comment Form

Passport Renewal Comment Form

Name Change Comment Form

Just click the green "submit a public comment" button. Here's also a link to a reddit post that includes those links and some discussion of how to best phrase your comments. Deadline is March 17th.

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Another aspect of this economic dynamic is that it goes the other way too: people come to the US for work because of how much purchasing power US dollars have in countries whose currencies and economies have been sabotaged or disadvantaged globally. (That money is called "remittances" and it makes up over 25% of some countries' GDPs because of the types of currency inequalities that OP is excellently explaining.) US wages, even from a below-minimum-wage job, may have strong purchasing power when people send them back to their family and loved ones....but no one warned them they that don't have strong purchasing power in the US.

It is often a profoundly nasty shock to people who immigrate to the US for economic opportunity that they cannot work a job that affords them the basic necessities of life.

The propaganda that the US puts out globally about what life is like here creates a bait-and-switch situation, where people frequently bet their entire futures on immigrating, only to discover that they cannot achieve any kind of workable quality of life here. This locks them into a role where they struggle to survive and to navigate the immigration system, while their loved ones in their country of origin depend heavily on their remittances for survival and often do not know or understand why that money does not create security and stability for the person earning it.

It's isolating, it destroys people's bodies and mental health, and it makes them feel profoundly ashamed despite them often being extremely competent, skilled, and dedicated people.

None of this is to detract from OP's excellent point, just to add on to it regarding a way this currency inequality, and the intentional efforts to stop its true details from becoming well-known, harms people globally.

just saw a really stupid post on tumblr where someone showed the prices of vegetables in china and how, when converted to US dollars, only costs a couple of cents, and the post was like, "ugh why must us americans suffer such high prices when the rest of the world doesn't !!!" and it's like. you are aware that you come from a country with an extremely strong currency, yes ? and that, just bc a loaf of bread costs R20 (or 1.06 USD) here in south africa, that doesn't make it affordable to the average working class south african, just bc it seems cheap to you, yes ? u are aware that many ppl around the world make wayyyyy less than even the minimum wage american, yes ? that, even though you may be struggling financially in ur country, ur dollar still has significant power over the majority of the currencies around the world. yes ?

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Hope you don't mind me piggybacking on your post op! Cosigning all of this, AND:

Please consider becoming familiar with administrative policy, and in particular, the Notice and Comment process. Legislators draft and pass bills that become laws; administrative agencies (the ones currently experiencing the brunt of the attempted coup) draft and pass policies that distribute resources and enact power just like laws do.

Remain in Mexico (the shutdown of the US-Mexico border and blanket expulsion of asylum-seekers in 2018-19) was a policy, not a law. DACA was a policy, not a law. The regulations of greenhouse gasses are policies, not laws. Admin agencies make the regulations that have the most direct and immediate impacts on our society and economy, and they operate faster and with a much higher volume of changes per day than Congress.

Right now everything is happening via Executive Order instead of admin agency regulations because the coup isn't complete. Most agencies are being led by interim heads because the presidential appointees aren't in yet, and the career civil servants who do the day-to-day work haven't been successfully purged. So we haven't seen a lot of rulemaking yet. But we will.

And when we do, it will be time for everyone to become familiar with my close and personal friend the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946. MSN called her "obscure" and "wonky" recently (rude), but they also accurately reported that she is one of our best, most powerful tools in obstructing and reversing the fascist and genocidal agenda we're up against. If an admin agency doesn't follow the APA, their attempted action gets erased. Thanks for playing, try again from start.

So where do you, a person who is not an administrative law professional, come in here? My girl APA has a super annoying (complimentary) requirement for a lot of admin rulemaking: the Notice and Comment process. When an admin agency proposes a rule, they have to post that proposed rule in the Federal Register, and everyone gets to comment on it. Then, they have to review the comments, and in their final rule, adequately address the feedback. If they don't follow that process, and if their final rule doesn't adequately respond to the comments? APA lawsuit. Probably from one of those exact orgs that OP named above, who drafted the lawsuit and had it ready to go after the saw the proposed rule, and were just waiting for them to slip up procedurally somewhere.

So when you contribute to a comment pool on a proposed rule with a unique comment that raised specific problems with it, you've helped in a couple ways. First, someone has to read your comment. They have to aggregate it with others, collate the feedback, and give it to the rulemaking team. That takes time. It takes longer the more unique comments with unique criticisms they have to go through. Second, someone has to address the feedback. The more feedback, and the more unique things they have to address, the longer it takes. Third, your comment is the fuel in the lawsuit. Even if they manage to successfully follow the Notice and Comment procedure, APA also says that rulemaking can't be "arbitrary and capricious": it ostensibly has to have some kind of basis in some kind of evidence and logic. Your comment is evidence for the lawsuit that says that the rule makes no damn sense, and as proof, here's all these comments listing why.

When you see a news story or press release about some new horrible proposed policy that concerns something you care about, please take a little time to click through to the actual policy itself in the Federal Register and write a comment. It can become just as low-effort a habit as calling your legislator about a proposed bill, and it's another way to help.

Ok darlings.

The bad bills are coming and here.

It is good to fight them. DO!

But it seems like a lot of you are not thinking about opposition to bad bills outside of calls to reps. YOU SHOULD ABSOLUTELY CONTACT YOUR REPS.

But also there are loads of orgs like the ACLU and 350 who fight clearly corrupt and damaging bills. AGs fight bad bills. Mayors and judges. Hell, that bad anti-psych-meds bullshit? You know who’s gonna fight that? The American pharmaceutical industry. And there’s more money in American meds than there is in foreign oil. They are a powerful lobby. Often a powerful lobby up to bullshit but they do not want to loose out on those med sales. They will be front row fighting.

I’m not saying we as people living here shouldn’t call/email/protest. We need to do that.

But I am baffled by how many posts I see on here act like that is the only dam against the rising bullshit tide.

Vote in your local elections. Support good orgs when you can. And try not to spread misinformation that leads to panic and despair.

Look around for who else is fighting.

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I know so much better than to fall into the trap of trying to correct immigration system misinfo on the internet but just really really quickly:

A non-US-citizen is eligible for a Social Security number if they are a) a green card holder, b) authorized to work in the US, or c) have a non-work-related need for an SSN, usually connected to receipt of state-based public services. People in categories b) and c) may or also be under the "undocumented" umbrella in some respect, for example if they don't have a current status but have parole/deferred action/another kind of "non-status" that provides a work permit, or have a pending but not yet approved application for status. Undocumented is not the same as without an SSN.

Having an SSN means that someone's wages pay into social security, but it doesn't mean they can receive social security. In all three categories above, a huge number of people working with an SSN are paying into social security, but aren't allowed to claim SSI themselves.

This is because of "PRWORA", a 1996 piece of legislation that did widespread damage to the social welfare system in general, but targeted immigrants in particular, and made receipt of federal benefits much harder and almost impossibly complicated. Along with decreasing health insurance rates among immigrants by at least 10%, PRWORA made people ineligible for SSI benefits unless they were green card holders, asylees, refugees, or a couple other small categories, and made even those people mostly ineligible for the first 5 years after they entered the US.

So, to summarize: some undocumented people have SSNs and are paying their wages into social security, but all undocumented people, and the majority of immigrants with status including a large percentage of green card holders, cannot receive social security benefits. Immigrants are subsidizing your benefits, and all of the other government programs that are "borrowing" those SSI funds, while being locked out of receiving those benefits themselves.

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What can you do to prepare for ICE enforcement actions?

A lot of people who do not themselves have active immigration concerns want to know how they can support their friends, family, and community. A lot of people are sharing reports of alleged ICE actions: I'm inviting folks to consider other avenues, ones that are less likely to create misinformation and panic.

Credentialing: I'm an immigration lawyer, I've worked in immigration justice organizing for approximately a decade, I lead regular Know Your Rights trainings in my community.

Disclaimer: This is not legal advice. This is information about the US immigration system, and it may not be completely accurate to your specific location or situation. I am not soliciting clients on Tumblr. Do not message me confidential information about your, or anyone else's, immigration situation. If you need help with an immigration situation, the Immigration Advocates Network has a national database you can search by your location.

So, what can you do to help prepare for the event of an ICE enforcement action that impacts your community, friends, or family?

I. Assess risk

One of the most detrimental effects of the panic propaganda (which these constant threats of ICE raids absolutely are) is that it makes every single immigrant terrified, regardless of risk level. That saps the organizing power of immigrant communities and their supporters (like lawyers). You can help mitigate that effect by helping the people in your life and your community actually assess what their risk factors for targeting by ICE might be. This guide from 2017 for assessing risk from Immigrant Defense Project is a little dated at this point, but the basic information should be a good starting point.

Sometimes a risk assessment can help someone actually address some risk factors, like filing a renewal application, fixing their compliance with terms of their release before their parole is revoked, getting a lawyer to re-open their order of removal, or getting a criminal conviction mitigated/overturned. Even if it can't, it can help people have a more accurate picture of what their risk is, which people deserve to understand and to plan around.

II. Develop an emergency response plan

For people who are at risk of ICE arrest, detention, and potentially deportation, planning beforehand can make a huge difference. Immigrant Defense Project's guide to emergency preparedness is a great place to start. (Note: some of their linked resources are New York-specific. You may need to find ones for your state.)

If you're wondering how you can help the people you care about who are at risk, offer to play a role in their emergency plan. A great role for people who are fluent in English and familiar with US systems and structures is helping track someone through the detention system, and maintaining communications between them and their lawyer and outside community.

III. Prepare to document

Rapid response hotlines exist in all of the major cities on that list of potential targets. If they're not holding rapid response trainings right now, be patient: they probably will soon. Rapid response is often not about preventing an ICE enforcement action, it's about documenting it. It sucks that we often can't respond by stopping them from causing harm, but documentation provides leverage and opportunities for the people detained and for the community groups to use against ICE, which can win material victories, up to and including getting them to drop a deportation case and let someone go.

Do you film the police in your community, or otherwise document their actions? Documenting ICE works very similarly, they're just there less often and harder to identify. That means that you can train to document ICE by working with your local copwatch group. Learn how to generate good records, follow the local laws, store things securely, and connect with the people who can best use the data.

IV. Re-distribute resources

You know what really helps someone not get detained by ICE? Having the resources to avoid contact with them and with the criminal justice system. The most impactful detention prevention you can do with someone is to help them get their taillight fixed, secure a lease, pay for daycare for their kids, etc. Get people the money, access, and services they need to keep themselves safe! Do it now, and regularly: don't wait for someone to have an encounter that puts them on ICE's radar.

Can't afford to re-distribute resources directly? Most major cities in the US have "accompaniment" networks, where you can sign up to drive folks to get their licenses, and go with to the doctor, and help figure out how to get kids enrolled in school. This everyday, non-glamorous work is the most effective, meaningful, and useful thing you can do to help right now.

V. Collate and vet information

This isn't just about making sure what you share is verified (though it's significantly about that! I know the lure of chisme is so strong but please resist. Now more than ever, we have to take personal responsibility for not spreading misinformation!). It's also about something you, as a person reading this on the internet who therefore knows how to use at least one website, can do to be of service to the overwhelmed, scared, pissed off, and scrambling immigration justice groups right now. Find your local one, and ask: "Hey do you need more people finding news about immigration, checking it for reliability, and delivering it to you in one coordinated, easily-accessed place so you can decide how to disseminate it?" Not everyone needs that right now. But the ones who do will cry with gratitude. This is a particularly good role for folks who may have been feeling like their mobility or physical health meant they couldn't do anything to help against ICE--your skills are needed right now too, I promise.

Last note: I'm not going to tell you to calm down. It's reasonable and rational to be scared, and upset, and angry right now. But what I will say is: when the fear and outrage fade, the work won't end. I work with people who have been responding to ICE/INS actions for 40 years. A lot of this may feel brand new and terrifying to you, but to many of us, this is a familiar and known enemy that we spend our whole lives fighting.

It being familiar doesn't make it okay, or acceptable: it should all burn. But the organizing infrastructure to respond to this is here already. We're not helpless or surprised about what's happening, because we prepare for it every day. We're ready to fold you in with open arms whenever you want.

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Vent post

Me ten months ago: hey if we have a bad result in the 2024 election immigration is going to explode. Can we start coordinating response now?

Other orgs: wow we didn't think of that! that's scary haha *absolutely no follow-up*

Me three months ago: so we're fucked and now immigration is going to explode. here's my list of concrete questions and supports that we need in place before Jan 20th 2025. can we coordinate?

Other orgs: omg I'm so upset how could this happen *complete silence*

Now, other orgs: All eyes on ICE!!! We need to prepare to support immigrants!!!! Please come train us!!!!!!!! Can we meet?? Let's coordinate!!!!!!

Me: ....sure. That sounds great. Happy to have you. I just need to take a couple of really deep breaths first, for unrelated reasons.