Dear John,
Yesterday, a shameful and deplorable policy went into effect forcing many of our family, friends, and neighbors to register with the federal government, or face harsh criminal prosecution - all because they were born elsewhere.
This order means that, for now, people will have to turn over their personal information and fingerprints to the government for surveillance. Our friends, neighbors and loved ones will be forced into an impossible choice: take the extremely dangerous step of handing over their information to an administration known for using violence to disappear community members, or face possible criminal prosecution.
Even more chilling, the order requires people to carry and provide proof of their status at all times or be charged with a crime for failure to do so. That doesn’t just endanger immigrants—it puts anyone who “looks like” an immigrant at risk of profiling, harassment, and criminalization.
This is yet another dangerous attack by the Trump administration against this country’s fundamental values, enshrined in the Constitution, of freedom, due process and justice for all.
All this while we hear inhumane accounts every day of plainclothes secret police targeting and attacking members of our community, including children, and disappearing them into horrifying detention facilities without due process: the fundamental right to refute the accusations they are being charged with.
Trump campaigned on the promise of mass deportation for millions of people. He’s fulfilling that promise by targeting soccer loving dads with tattoos, elementary school children, gay barbers, caretakers, and students with visas. The vast majority of people he sent to El Salvador prisons have no criminal record.
From apartheid South Africa to Nazi Germany, history tells us that registries like these have been a cruel step towards the violent persecution of marginalized groups.
This is also an assault on who we are as Californians. Over 10 million Californians were born somewhere else. Almost half of the children in California have an immigrant parent. We have the largest immigrant population in the country.
Our rich mix of cultures, languages and traditions and our shared commitment to building a better future for our families is what has powered California to be the 5th largest economy in the world and a global center of innovation, creativity and culture.
This is an attack on all of us. And this is the moment when we must resist. Injustice grows in silence. But we have the power to call out these attacks on our values and rights.
We must stand strong alongside our immigrant neighbors, who make California a special place, and say: No Hate, No Fear, Immigrants are Welcome Here!
Here are 3 ways that you can support your immigrant neighbors today:
Sign up for your local May Day march. May 1st is an international day for working class people to join actions, marches, and protest in support of workers’ and community rights. We’ll be hosting We Are CA contingents at rallies across the state, stay tuned as we announce those contingents for opportunities to join us
Share this resource from Chirla to inform your family, friends, and neighbors who may be impacted by this registry requirement.
Support We Are California partners leading the work to push back against harmful orders like these: Donate to Chirla |Donate to the California Immigrant Policy Center
This is an attack on all of us. Our message is clear and unequivocal - we stand up for one another. We will not stand idly by while billionaires, bigots and bullies try to take our rights to advance their agenda of hate.
In Rage,
We Are California
We Are California is a movement of organizations and people across the state, including California Calls Action Fund
