In his first week in office, Trump has launched an inhumane mass detention and deportation agenda that will cause untold harm to immigrants and their loved ones, and to basic principles of human rights and due process — all while ignoring the root causes of migration and exacerbating inefficiencies and burden on our immigration system.

Now, Movement Voter Project’s local partner organizations around the country are on the frontlines of the fight to protect and support immigrant communities, through mutual aid, lawsuits, media campaigns, and more.

Here is just a small sampling of the work happening right now on the ground, gathered and shared by MVP’s team of State Advisors who interface closely with our local partners on a regular and sometimes daily basis.

We usually include photos and graphics to make our partners’ work more “real” for readers – but in this case in particular, we are going to include even more than usual. We want you to have as vivid an experience as possible of what is happening and what MVP partners are doing about it.

Arizona

Undocumented Arizonans and mixed-status families are at particularly severe risk due to the combination of the state’s newly-passed Proposition 314, the new federal Laken Riley Act, and the threat increased border militarization.

In response, organizations like Puente Human Rights Movement have launched “Know Your Rights” forums and “Migra Watch” trainings on how to report and respond to raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), while Progress Arizona has created Proyecto Progreso, partnering with local Spanish-language media to rapidly share vital information.

Puente Human Rights Movement in Arizona | “Migra Watch” training, January 28, 2025

Puente Human Rights Movement in Arizona | “Know Your Rights” training, January 27, 2025

Puente Human Rights Movement in Arizona | “Know Your Rights” training, January 27, 2025

Colorado

Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC), along with local partners, has launched the Keep Families Together Campaign, which includes Know Your Rights trainings, an ICE monitoring and rapid-response hotline, legal services, border separation and detention support, and policy advocacy. They are also amplifying immigrant stories to combat misinformation and shift the public narrative.

Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) | Immigrant rights press conference, January 22, 2025

Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) | Immigrant rights march

Florida

MVP youth organizing partners including Hope Community Center and Florida Student Power Network are mobilizing hundreds of students and young people to the state capitol in response to state leaders attempting to repeal in-state tuition and block access to public universities for 40,000 undocumented students. They trained dozens of student organizers to provide public testimony and are facilitating a demonstration against this bill by showing up in caps and gowns in the building and organizing a mock graduation. 

Along with other youth organizing partners in the state, they are engaging in strategic conversations with coalition partners and members about defense and response strategies to support directly-impacted immigrant students and young people.

Hope CommUnity Center in Florida | Mock Graduation & Press Conference on In-State Tuition Repeal for Undocumented Immigrants, January 28, 2025

Hope CommUnity Center in Florida | Mock Graduation & Press Conference on In-State Tuition Repeal for Undocumented Immigrants, January 28, 2025

Georgia

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) team has been participating in nationwide calls to prepare for the new Executive Orders, particularly those targeting immigrants. As a grassroots civil rights and advocacy organization, CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties organization and in Georgia, they have been fielding members’ questions about deportations and birthright citizenship from the moment the orders were announced.

Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Georgia | “Know Your Rights” tabling, January 27, 2025

Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Georgia | “Know Your Rights” training, January 22, 2025

Illinois

Muslims for Just Futures (MJF) has partnered with several immigrant and refugee-serving organizations to create, compile, and release a set of Know Your Rights (KYR) resources for Chicago and other locations, including posters, guidebooks, videos, hotline numbers, and other crucial resources. After weeks of advance preparation, MJF WAS able to make these resources available in multiple languages including Spanish, Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, and others.

Meanwhile, several other Chicago-based immigrant advocacy groups including MVP partner Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) have filed a federal lawsuit against the administration and ICE, alleging that the planned raids are “retaliatory in nature” against sanctuary cities, and infringe upon First Amendment rights. Fred Tsao, senior policy counsel at ICIRR, was quoted in local press coverage: “The efforts to make Chicago a welcoming place for all people speaks to the values that Chicagoans have held for centuries. We are committed to upholding our welcoming values, fighting back against Trump’s attacks on our movement, and ensuring Chicago remains a safe place for everyone.”           

Muslims for Just Futures (MJF) | Know Your Rights poster

Muslims for Just Futures (MJF) | Know Your Rights training, January 2025

Muslims for Just Futures (MJF) | Know Your Rights training, January 2025

Press coverage of federal lawsuit by MVP partner Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) and others | Screenshot, Fox 32 Chicago, “Chicago advocacy groups sue Trump administration, ICE over ‘retaliatory’ deportation raids”

Michigan

Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation has convened a statewide steering committee with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), ACLU of Michigan, and the Michigan League for Public Policy to respond to the attacks on immigrant communities. They are starting a migra watch; raising funds to pay for urgently needed immigration documents, legal assistance, and transportation; and providing staff for case management. They have also met with the state Department of Education and local school districts, and are in ongoing preparation and rapid-response meetings with educators and local business leaders.

Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation | Screenshot of Facebook post promoting immigration legal services, January 21, 2025

Nevada

Make the Road Nevada has been sharing “Know Your Rights” content with its membership and broader Nevada immigrant communities. In addition, they’ve developed an individual and family preparedness plan that they have been guiding members through to make plans for what will happen with their children, their pets, their assets, and other aspects of their lives — and what support they can draw on — if they are detained by immigration enforcement.

Make the Road Nevada | Immigrant rights demonstration, January 21, 2025

Make the Road Nevada | Immigrant rights demonstration, January 21, 2025

Make the Road Nevada | Immigrant rights demonstration, January 21, 2025

Make the Road Nevada – Deportation Family Preparedness Plan Questions, taken from Deportation Defense Manual

Make the Road Nevada – Temporary Guardianship Form, taken from Deportation Defense Manual

North Carolina

Siembra NC is organizing Latine immigrants and supporters to defend communities from immigration raids and mass deportations. They are holding regular trainings to teach people how to identify and report ICE activity, fundraise for immigrant solidarity, and organize in their communities. As part of their campaign, they published an op-ed in Teen Vogue and launched a new website which includes a workbook on how we all can come together to defend immigrant communities. 

Siembra NC | “Defend Your Rights” Facebook posts, January 29, 2025

Siembra NC | Instagram Screenshot of Teen Vogue op-ed by Siembra NC Co-Director, Nikki Marín Baena, January 22, 2025

Pennsylvania

In Pittsburgh, Casa San Jose is responding directly to the threats to their community by:

1. Holding “Know Your Rights” training sessions, both for individuals and for organizations that serve immigrants; 
2. Providing legal screenings to help people identify their legal needs and to connect them to the proper legal support; and 
3. Helping families prepare for the potential for family separations. 

On the advocacy front, they are working to get Allegheny County to adopt a comprehensive strategy to respond to deportations. This includes: 

1. Creating a county task force that would respond to any sort of raids and detentions;
2. Establishing a non-cooperation policy with ICE; and 
3. Establishing a universal representation policy, which would essentially guarantee that everyone facing deportation gets access to legal defense. 

They are also working with the county commissioner, with whom they have a strong relationship, to determine what responses she can initiate unilaterally — and if necessary, they will organize their members to push the county council to vote in favor of these policies.

Meanwhile, Make The Road Pennsylvania is organizing to get local governments to pass the Trust Act – legislation which prohibits municipalities from cooperating with ICE. (The Trust Act was enacted just last year in Lancaster, thanks to organizing by MVP partner CASA PA.) Make The Road is also responding to this moment by advocating for a statewide “safe zone” policy that would prohibit ICE from entering schools, offices, and other public places. They are also hosting workshops to educate the community on the legalities of immigration enforcement, publishing a “Know Your Rights Family Defense Manual,” and distributing Know Your Rights wallet cards.

Screenshot: City & State Pennsylvania, 1/28/25: “For PA immigrants, uncertainty, fear and resilience are the order of the day,” featuring MVP partner Make the Road PA

Make the Road Pennsylvania | Bearing witness at an ICE detention center after 7 Philadelphians were detained, January 28, 2025

Casa San José in Pennsylvania | Know Your Rights graphics

Tennessee 

The Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), the largest immigrant-led grassroots organization in Tennessee, is organizing “Know Your Rights” trainings in six counties across the state where they have a large membership base and where there are sizable immigrant communities. Their training includes information and resources on community responses to raids, legal services and support, and deportation defense. They are also hosting a roadshow across these counties to provide members with legislative updates on proposed immigration-related bills threatening to undermine the rights and safety of immigrant communities in Tennessee. 

Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) | Graphic for “Immigrants Belong” Rapid-Response Call, January 24, 2025

Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) | Promotion for “Learn, Act, Impact” Statewide Legislative Advocacy Tour, January 24, 2025

Wisconsin

Voces de la Frontera and Voces de la Frontera Action held their annual assembly of members, allied organizations, and supportive elected officials on the weekend of January 26. Nearly 600 people dedicated their Saturday to this gathering, in which the agenda featured presentations from local law enforcement (declaring “we will not cooperate with ICE in the city of Milwaukee”) and faith leaders sharing invocations around justice and collectivism. 

The most substantial portion of the day feature breakout sessions in which participants delved into different pieces of Voces’ campaign work, including:

• Their statewide Drivers Licenses for All campaign;
• Their legal clinic for DACA recipients;
• Their New Sanctuary Network of faith institutions defending immigrant families;
• Their Sanctuary in Schools program;
• Efforts to defend immigrant communities from ICE raids; and
• Local policies and resolutions for a pro-immigrant agenda, including a potential push to pass alternative identification cards in municipalities across the state.

See press coverage here and here.

Voces de la Frontera in Wisconsin | Nearly 600 members attend Voces’ Annual Assembly, January 25, 2025

Voces de la Frontera in Wisconsin | The “New Sanctuary Movement,” calling on faith institutions to defend immigrant families

Virginia 

In Virginia, CASA is organizing a strong community response in the face of increased ICE activity. They are hosting Know Your Rights, family preparedness, and bystander intervention training sessions. They are directing members and the broader community to their Know Your Rights Toolkit and their raid tip hotline to report any ICE activity. They will also continue to offer citizenship education, mentoring and interview preparation, application assistance, and post-naturalization support. 

CASA | “Know Your Rights” toolkit

Regional & National Partners

NAKASEC, with affiliates in Texas, Illinois, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York, worked with multiple partner organizations to launch Know Your Rights resources via posters, a 24/7 hotline, and even a smartphone app, all in English and Korean. The app’s multilingual functionality means non-English speakers can use it to make sure they are voicing their rights to ICE or other law enforcement in the event of interactions with them. 

NAKASEC | “Know Your Rights” resources

And, in a powerful new collaboration, MVP partners Make The Road States and CASA, which together have 265,000 members across 8 states, have come together in a joint effort to: 

• Advance state and local policies safeguarding immigrant rights; 
• Disseminate know-your-rights material to over 250,000 people; 
• Push local, state, and federal leaders to adopt solutions that defend immigrants from deportation; 
• Expand and strengthen legal capacity to meet a surge in demand for deportation defense; 
• Change the public narrative by leading efforts to shift public opinion through storytelling and other creative interventions that spotlight the contributions of immigrants and counter xenophobic rhetoric; and 
• Protect organizations during this time of increasing political and legal attacks, by conducting comprehensive reviews, building a broad coalition of allies, and sharing lessons learned with partners to ensure their ability to continue their vital work.

Now is the time for solidarity in action.

If you have read through even half of the stories above and stopped to think about the human beings behind the words, you may be feeling several things simultaneously.

It is absolutely heartbreaking to think of the babies, the children, the students, the parents, and the families whose idea of “home” has now been uprooted, whose everyday lives have become upended, and whose livelihoods and very survival are now threatened. Simply and plainly: It is unbearable. It is a moral insult, and it is an outrage.

And, at the same time, it is difficult not to also be heartened and moved by the incredible courage and leadership being shown right now by immigrants, organizers, and communities around this country. One cannot read these stories and think, “why is nobody doing anything in the face of these attacks?” The truth is, hundreds of organizations and countless thousands of people are taking direct action to stem the damage of this administration’s indefensibly cruel actions. What they need most are the resources to continue their efforts.

This work is one of our key funding priorities for MVP in the first 100 days of this new administration. and we invite you to join us.