Call City Hall and D.C!

At least it's Friday, Dear Activists! 

Thank you for being in this with us.  

On the good news front, there is new legislation in City Council that will prohibit the city government from collaborating in any way with ICE and provides more protections for our immigrant community members.  We need to make calls to make it get passed.  

Also, we had nearly 300 people sign up for our new Detention Camp Labor letter writing program!  You can join the team too to write a couple of letters a week to the companies we are focusing on. Sign up here and we'll give you all the information you need!  You can see the project's background at this link. 

Finally, here is a wonderful video put out by our own Visit Philly and we think it's as a result of the removal of the items from Washington's House at Independence Mall, honoring and educating about the enslaved people he brought to Philadelphia.  Watch to the end and enjoy (or wipe a tear).

CALL CITY COUNCIL

ASK THEM TO VOTE YES ON THE NEW ICE OUT! LEGISLATION

Council Members Brooks and Landau are introducing the ICE Out! Bill Package. You can read what it contains here (gift article).  

The ICE Out! Bill Package will strengthen Philadelphia’s laws by expanding protections for immigrants from ICE’s illegal practices. The package will prohibit any form of collaboration with ICE by our city government.

Passing these protections through ordinances will ensure permanence and accountability that Philadelphia families deserve.

So far, a veto-proof majority have signed onto it, joining Council member Brooks and Landau in introducing this package!  The vote is still to come.

Call your District Council member and all of the city-wide members too and thank them for signing onto it and tell them you want them to vote YES on this bill.  Find all the contact info here. 

KEEP CALLING AND EMAILING OUR SENATORS

You probably know that the DHS funding part of the funding bill was stripped out so the government would shut down.  BUT there is likely to be a vote on it again early next week.  Senator Fetterman voted NO on the overall bill so that those negotiations would  play out, and so that's where we are now. So it's not over and we need to keep calling every day.  See our earlier email at this link for why we were asking for their NO votes on any extra DHS funding without limitations on ICE actions. 

Here is a script that you can modify as you want.

Dear Senator,

I urge you to vote only for legislation for the Department of Homeland Security that reins in ICE and Border Patrol and protects our communities. 

I ask you to use your vote to limit the administration's abuse of power by:

🔵  Refusing to vote for any FY2026 appropriations bill that includes increased funding for ICE or Border Patrol, including funds for detention. 

🔵  Refusing to vote for any appropriations bill for DHS unless it: 

    Strengthens restrictions on ICE and Border Patrol’s ability to conduct dragnet arrest operations and target people based on their race, language or accent, etc.

     Ends Border Patrol deployment to our cities.

     Limits DHS's reprogramming and transfer authority.

You must insist on real limits and accountability before any funding is approved. I hope to see you standing up for the safety, dignity, and rights of all people in our communities.

Here are the contacts to call and write:

Sen. McCormick – Phila office 215-405-9660; D.C. office 202-224-6324; email link

Sen. Fetterman – Phila office 215-241-1090; D.C. 202-224-4254; email link

For outside PA:  Find your senators’ phone numbers and emails at this link.

TODAY - PROTEST AT CITY HALL AT 4:00

National Day of Action

Join a group of immigrant activists at City Hall to protest against ICE and to support our immigrant communities in this national Day of Action. All of the many protests around the city are helping! 

BECOME A PEACEKEEPER - HERE'S A TRAINING

It's important we train to de-escalate during our rallies, marches and any outdoor actions. In these days of  heightened tensions, it's key to know the steps to keep people calm so we can move our mission forward and not become the issue that media and others will focus on instead of the regime's violence.  

So learn the techniques to do just this!  You'll be with like-minded folks who want to do take the right actions at the right time.  

Where:  Unides para Servir Norristown, 335, W. Marshall Street.  Carpooling offered.

When: Sunday, February 1, 1:00 PM

You can sign up here if you are on Signal.  If not on Signal, send an email here to join in. 

MORE YOU CAN DO

WRITE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Join this team and learn the best techniques for getting your views published.  Three more of our LTE writers just had their letters published.  We've had many, many letters published recently and we can do more!  Thank you to the team for your letters!

You can write that it's time for everyone to get engaged after we see what the regime is doing.  We'll give you a lot of topical ideas and tips to effectively send your thoughts to folks willing to consider another point of view. 

Even if you're just not sure if you want to join, you can sign up and find out more to make your decision.  Sign up here.  

Or just get answers to your questions by emailing us here. 

MORE PROTESTS YOU CAN JOIN

1.  Springfield protest - Every Saturday, 1:00 - 2:00 at the intersection of Baltimore Pike and PA Route 320.  Bring your signs on your favorite topic!  

2. Tesla Takedown Protest - Every Saturday - 11:00 - Noon

Tesla Takedown Devon - At the Tesla showroom, 470 Lancaster Ave, Devon, PA 

3. Every Friday -- 11:15 am- Join Fridays@Fetterman's for the weekly Friday vigil for peace in Gaza/Palestine outside of Senator John Fetterman's office at 200 Chestnut Street from 11:15 am to 12:15 pm. Register here  

4.  Fitz Friday - 4:00 - 5:00 pm -- Protest at Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick's office at One Summit Square, Langhorne, PA. Bring signs about whatever you want. There's a lot to complain about!

5. Every Wednesday 5:30 - 6:30 pm -- Join this resistance group at #WeThePeopleWednesdays for Singing for Sanity at Unitarian Universalist Church, 6900 Stenton Avenue.  More information is here.

6.  Every Wednesday at noon - Outside the Philadelphia ICE Office, 114 N. 8th Street.   Sponsored by New Sanctuary Movement.  This is a 40-week series of Interfaith Prayer Vigils.  

7. Every Monday at Noon - Monday at McCormick's -- Join our friends at Peace, Justice, Sustainability NOW for Monday's at McCormick's, in front of Senator McCormick's office at 20th and Market Streets.

8.  Every Monday at 11:00 AM - Vigil outside the ICE office, 114 North 8th Street, Phila. sponsored by State Senator Art Haywood and led by local clergy.

9. Are you outside the Philadelphia area?  You can see all the protests planned by Indivisibles in your area at this link. 

And One More Thing:

We can send you our No Kings t-shirt!  First, make a donation of $35 . Then, check out the t-shirts, sign up for your choice and we'll send it to you to wear any time! 

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