How Will You Fight Trump's Authoritarianism Next Week?
NY21 Democratic Candidate Forum for Indivisibles
Unite with Indivisibles, friends, and interested Democrats who are fired up to attend a virtual forum to meet and hear how the NY21 Congressional candidates are going to address the local issues! This is our first step in taking back NY21 and finally having our voices heard.
Join us at our NY21 Democratic Candidate Forum by Indivisibles on Tuesday, February 10th from 6:45-8:45pm on Zoom. Register here. Log on and listen to the three candidates answer the questions that you, our members, have submitted. Submit your questions here by Feb 7th. Each candidate will be allotted 30 minutes for the question/answer period.
Date: Tuesday, February 10th
Time: 6:45-8:45pm
Zoom Link: https://indivisible.zoom.us/meeting/register/IIa66qj_R-a7LTKrzMQnMg
Invited: Indivisibles, friends and interested Democrats in NY21 who want to hear from the candidates themselves on issues affecting residents in New York Congressional district 21.
Submit questions here through Feb 7.
IMV Immigration Law Workshop Feb. 11
IMV has invited Oneka Roach-Campbell, Esq., to provide a workshop for us over Zoom about immigration law and what is happening right now with ICE. She will cover Know Your Rights and what we can do in this moment to help our immigrant neighbors.
Oneka has practiced immigration law in the Utica area and also practices in Florida. She is not providing legal advice, of course, but can share her experience and insights with us. There will be time for Q & A. Please let us know your questions when you register for the Zoom.
Wednesday, Feb. 11
7:00-8:30 pm
Register for the Zoom now
Keep the Pressure on Congress to Reign in ICE Terror
Tell your Members of Congress: The DHS budget must halt ICE's terror, and not hand it more money. Last week, the Senate blocked the House’s Homeland Security appropriations bill that shoveled more money into ICE and CBP while doing very little to stop these agencies’ abuses. Now, we have to keep up the pressure and demand that any bill that replaces it enact ironclad policy accountability measures, and doesn't add one penny more to ICE’s budget.
Resist and Unsubscribe
"Americans are feeling powerless to thwart the Trump administration’s assault on our nation’s values. Praised by tech CEOs, surrounded by sycophants, and enriched by his return to the White House, the president’s actions march on unchecked. Americans, however, have a powerful weapon that has been hiding in plain sight.
First, we must recognize that the president is unfazed by citizen outrage, the courts, or the media. He responds to one thing: the market. The most potent weapon to resist the administration is a targeted, month-long national economic strike — a coordinated campaign that attacks tech companies and firms enabling ICE — to inflict maximum damage with minimal impact on consumers. In sum, the shortest path to change without hurting consumers is an economic strike targeted at the companies driving the markets and enabling our president.".– Scott Galloway
In just the first few days of Feburary, the economic non-participation movement launched by Scott Galloway from a website, Resist and Unsubscribe, is growing. If you agree with using this powerful tactic against the Trump regime's pillars of support, then don't "Like and Subscribe." Instead, "Resist and unsubscribe."
Rallies Coming Up
Thanks to the 90+ people who came out in the bitter cold last Saturday in Rome and yesterday in Utica. Tremendous job, friends!
Here's what some of you said about why rallies matter in repsonse to our question on the IMV Facebook page.
Saturday, Feb. 7, 12 noon-1:30 pm Protest the Corrupt Trump Regime Rome Rally, (Black River & Erie Blvd near Fort Stanwix). This one is going to be very cold. So far, it has not been cancelled, but keep an eye on the IMV Facebook page.
Thursday, Feb. 12th, 3:30-4:30 pm, We Love Democracy Rally in Utica (Valentine's edition of the weekly protest), Pirnie Federal Building, 10 Broad Street, Utica. Bring signs (we have plenty of extra signs) to protest Trump's authoritarianism and budget cuts and the complicit Republican Congress, judges, and corporations. Dress for the weather. If there’s a cancellation, that will be posted on the IMV Facebook page at least an hour or two beforehand.
Friday, Feb. 13th, 3-4 pm, Rally on the Clinton Village Green, Hosted by Kirkland Town Democrats. Bring your signs about Trump’s MAGA lawlessness, ICE, and more.
Saturday, Feb. 14th, 12 -1:30 pm, We Love Democracy Rally in Rome! Black River & Erie Blvd near Fort Stanwix, We love democracy! We love America's Constitution! We love first amendment rights! We love due process! We love our neighbors! We love immigrants! Let us know you're coming: https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/898169/
Go Fund Me Campaigns for Our Neighbors
We are sharing two GoFundMe campaigns started recently for local neighbors kidnapped by ICE. Both have been shared with us by the coordinator of the verification network for which a number of our IMV members are volunteering (checking out whether ICE is actually or is still at a location and sharing accurate information on social media). These are our Utica area neighbors. Any amount you can contribute is appreciated.
Hamoodi: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-free-hamoodi-from-ice-detention
Daniel: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-free-daniel-from-detention
February IMV meeting Sunday Feb. 22
You're invited to join IMV for our February 2026 Meeting. We'll be preparing for the 2026 election (petitioning, primaries, and more!) and for No Kings 3 on March 28, plus we'll talk about how we can protect our neighbors from ICE terror, defend constitutional rights, and build a movement to defeat Trump's authoritarianism.
IMV February 2025 Meeting
Sunday, Feb. 22
2-4 pm
Jewish Community Center
2310 Oneida Street, Utica
Sign up here to let us know you're coming: https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/897541/
Jon Lipe: Running for NYS Assembly 119th
Thanks to all who came out on Sunday for Jon Lipe's announcement that he is running for NY State Assembly in the 119th district, the seat currently held by Marianne Buttenschon (previously by Anthony Brindisi) who is not running for re-election. Jon helped us start IMV early in 2017, helped us flip NY22 in 2018, and has been a friend to IMV ever since, even while he has worked for both Congressman Brindisi and Congressman Mannion. Jon's campaign launch event was positive and exciting. He will do a fabulous job representing us! But first we need to help him win the primary election.
Here's how you can help: If you live in Utica, Rome, Whitestown or anywhere else in the 119th, please give at least $5 right now to Jon's campaign. This is critical to build momentum and use the small dollar donation public funding provided by NYS. Even if you live in another district, please contribute what you can. Here's the website to learn more about Jon and donate to his grassroots campaign: https://www.lipeforassembly.com/
Reign in ICE: Call and Email Today
On Tuesday, the House passed a package of six funding bills, ending the partial government shutdown and temporarily funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through February 13.
This vote buys time to negotiate a DHS funding bill that protects communities from two DHS agencies that have been terrorizing and brutalizing our communities: ICE and Border Patrol.
It’s critical we use that time to put pressure on every Member of Congress -- especially Democrats -- to insist on real guardrails that put an end to ICE and CBP’s lawless thuggery and get them out of our cities. We can’t settle for insufficient reforms like body cams -- we’ve all seen that Trump’s goons are perfectly happy to gas, tackle, and kill innocent people on film.
Whether or not you’ve already called or emailed: We need EVERYONE to be loud over the next nine days and make capitulation politically impossible.
More often than not, we’ve seen Congress fail to stand up to Trump with Republicans falling in line with his cruel agenda, and Democrats forfeiting their leverage in critical funding fights. But there have also been moments where the grassroots pressure and the public backlash have been so strong that Democrats find their spines and Republicans start to peel away from the regime.
We saw this when Congress defied Trump and passed a bill requiring the release of the Epstein files. We saw it again last month (at least initially), when five Republican senators joined with Democrats to advance a war powers resolution after Trump’s invasion of Venezuela.
The killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti has created a backlash against ICE that spans parties. And if we keep up the pressure, we could see Congress defy Trump again and rein in his lawless secret police force.
And whether or not Republicans listen to their constituents who are clamoring for action, DHS funding cannot pass without Democratic votes.
There are only nine days to go, so we need to act quickly. Contact your Members of Congress and demand they vote no on any DHS funding bill unless, at a minimum, it:
Pulls ICE and Border Patrol out of Minneapolis and the rest of our communities
Prevents ICE or Border Patrol enforcement at designated "sensitive locations" such as houses of worship, day cares, and hospitals
Restricts ICE and Border Patrol’s ability to target people based on their race, language or accent, place of employment, or location at the time of the apprehension
Ends the administration’s unlawful practice of warrantless home entry and arrests
Use our updated call scripts and email tool to contact your Members of Congress today:
Email your Members of Congress to drive the point home.
Check out the Indivisible explainer for the latest updates, our full list of demands, and answers to common questions about ICE/CBP funding and a potential shutdown.
Ultimately, there’s no reforming ICE. When we regain power, we need to strip the entire Department of Homeland Security down to the studs. But we don’t have to wait that long to rein in ICE and CBP. We have a chance to do it now, and we have to take it.
Sum Up and Inspiration
The weather is brutal this weekend. If you can't join the rally in Rome on Saturday because of cold, then make your calls now to Congress about ICE, and then sign up for our Zoom meetings on Tuesday (NY21 candidates) and Wednesday (Immigration Law).
A team is meeting tomorrow from 9-11 am to start planning No Kings on March 28 for the Mohawk Valley. Make sure you have that date marked on your calendar!
Thank you to those of you who are working on action teams, showing up for poster making partries, and assisting with ICE verification. Thanks for supporting Democratic candidates and immigrants and refugees financially. In the coming weeks we will need to show up even more for our neighbors and for the candidates fighting for democracy on the front lines.
We are living under an authoritarian regime. It's easy to despair. But "Action Absorbs Anxiety." That means our IMV political action community is the right place for you to be.
We were made for this moment. Our Indivisible movement was made for this moment. IMV was made for this moment.
As we begin Black History Month in 2026, let's recall that our forebearers have experienced all the inhumanity, corruption, injustice, and authoritarian white Christian national supremacy we are seeing now and worse,...and that their vision and action serve as a guide and inspiration for us.
"Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. Ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part."
― John Lewis on movement building in Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America
Don't give up. Join with others and become helpers for neighbors and democracy. Show up for each other.
Courage is contagious.
Website: indivisiblemv.org
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