Mass deportations. Book bans. Pregnant women detained at state borders. Doctors arrested for providing basic healthcare. This is the future we're barreling toward. And every single one of these attacks on human rights will be enacted by targeting people with digital surveillance.

With Congress largely captured by Trump loyalists, traditional tools for fighting back are limited. We need to get strategic—and fast.

Fight for the Future has a plan to throw sand in the gears of Trump’s deportation machine and make it much harder for his administration to carry out the widespread human rights abuses they’ve promised: we’re launching a nationwide campaign pushing for “Surveillance Sanctuaries.” And we need your help. Will you read more then pitch in to defend our communities against surveillance-driven crackdowns?

I'M IN

You’ve probably heard of “Sanctuary Cities,”¹ towns that have ordinances preventing local police and government officials from helping federal agencies like ICE target vulnerable populations. But in the age of digital surveillance—where ICE agents can purchase cell phone location data² and federal agents have access to facial recognition³—existing sanctuary city laws aren’t enough to protect people.

That’s where we come in. During the last Trump administration, Fight for the Future played a crucial role supporting frontline local activists in getting anti-surveillance measures like facial recognition bans passed in nearly a dozen US cities.

Now we need to double down on that strategy, and get as many cities and states as possible to adopt strong laws cracking down on government surveillance and corporate data harvesting. If we can kneecap Trump’s surveillance capabilities, it will dramatically slow down and hamper the government’s ability to target immigrant communities, LGBTQ folks, activists, and journalists.

We need to move fast. And this work is going to require resources. We’ve set a goal of raising $500,000 to get this campaign launched within the first three months of the Trump administration. Can we count on you to give any amount—big or small—to get this urgent campaign off the ground ASAP?

DONATE NOW

Foundations generally can’t fund work that counts as “grassroots lobbying.” But people like you can. Most of our work pushing for and against specific laws is funded through modest one-time donations and everyday people chipping in $5 or $10 per month.
Your support will allow us to:

• Dedicate two full time campaigners to organizing at the national level to make “Surveillance Sanctuaries” a success that can be copy-and-pasted across the country
  

• Hire and pay local organizers to coordinate grassroots lobbying, direct action protests, letter writing campaigns, and testimony at hearings in key cities
  

• Build a national coalition of human rights, civil liberties, immigrants rights, LGBTQ+, and civil rights groups pushing for Surveillance Sanctuaries
  

• Design and develop an action toolkit to make it exponentially easier for local activists to plug in and push for their city to adopt Surveillance Sanctuary policies
  

• Support local activists in pitching media outlets, placing op-eds and letters to the editor, and organizing attention-grabbing stunts to build public support for Surveillance Sanctuary ordinances at the local and state level

Progressive leaders in cities, towns, and states will be looking for ways to show they are resisting Trump’s attacks. Let’s give them something actually effective to do rather than hot air and posturing. We’ve thought hard about how we can have the biggest impact in this moment and help prevent the worst harms to the most number of people. We feel confident this strategy will work.

We’re asking because it’s urgent. Will you chip in to support our Surveillance Sanctuaries campaign? Or better yet, sign up to become a monthly donor?

START A MONTHLY GIFT

This is not about political party. The mass surveillance apparatus in this country has been built up under both Democratic and Republican leadership. Still, we need to be clear-eyed about how the incoming administration intends to use these dangerous tools of totalitarian control.

We’re ready to hit the ground running in the new year. Can we count on you to help?
We know not everyone can give—and staying ready to act is just as vital. Join our urgent actions Signal chat or subscribe to our newsletter to keep updated in the fight for surveillance sanctuaries.⁴

Thanks for all you do,

- Evan at Fight for the Future

Footnotes:

1. Global Refuge: https://www.globalrefuge.org/news/sanctuary-cities-explained/

2. Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/federal-agencies-use-cellphone-location-data-for-immigration-enforcement-11581078600

3. ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/fbi-has-access-over-640-million-photos-us-through

4. Stay updated and support: https://links.fightforthefuture.org/