In this issue:
Come to the anti-ICE Human Banner at Ocean Beach on Saturday, Jan 31 at 11:30 AM!
TOMORROW, 5:30 PM: Join our Immigration Team and Faith In Action to stop SFUSD Budget cuts at SF International High School.
We Won't Stand For This: Pro Peace Vigil with Spiritual Friends Sangha tomorrow at City Hall at noon!
CALL TODAY: Rein in ICE/CBP! No Funding for Political Murders!
DUE TOMORROW: Submit Comments on Proposed “Streamlining” of Termination Appeals by New Federal Agency Employees
Tell Sacramento: Pass AB 1537 and Keep Cops Out of ICE
Halt Deportation of Gay Men to Iran: it’s a death sentence!
Demand Accountability — File an Ethics Complaint Against US Attorney Bill Essayli
Solidarity Doesn’t Rest: Keep Adopt-a-Corner Strong
Speak Out for HIV Equity Programs!
A weekend of protest, power, and persistence
Indivisible SF met with District 4 Supervisor Candidate Natalie Gee
No More Euphemisms for Racial Cleansing: Our Duty Is to Name It and Talk About It
Is America being propelled into a Civil Rights 2.0 era
Want to help us do this work?
Upcoming events: Find them on our Events page!
Come to the anti-ICE Human Banner at Ocean Beach on Saturday, Jan 31 at 11:30 AM!
Join peaceful people from San Francisco Bay communities and all walks of life for a family-friendly, inclusive and peaceful event where our friends at Human Banner will create a new beautiful work of human art together on Ocean Beach. Nobody said that the revolution couldn't be fun!
Come to Stairwell 17 at Ocean Beach. Be there at 11:30 AM - the aerial photographs start at NOON sharp.
Sign up on Mobilize.
TOMORROW, 5:30 PM: Join our Immigration Team and Faith In Action to stop SFUSD Budget cuts at SF International High School.
As immigrant families and educators, leaders with Faith in Action Bay Area need your help. Immigrants are under attack in Minneapolis and beyond, and now we’re devastated to learn that here in our Sanctuary City, the San Francisco Unified School District is slashing budgets for programs serving immigrant students, without any consultation with families or educators.
Please join us at a community meeting this Thursday at 5:30 pm at SF International High School (655 De Haro St) to call for a pause of at least one year on any cuts to programs serving immigrant students, and a commitment from SFUSD leaders to work with families and educators if changes to programs are needed.
We Won't Stand For This: Pro Peace Vigil with Spiritual Friends Sangha tomorrow at City Hall at noon!
Join our friends at Spiritual Friends Sangha on Thursday, Jan 29 at Noon at City Hall for a vigil of the ongoing tragedies. Augusta, a lay ordained member of Thich Nat Hanh's Order of Interbeing, will lead a 20 minute, minimally guided meditation, followed by a supportive gathering to connect, as desired. All who wish to ground in peace are welcome.
See their website for more details.
CALL TODAY: Rein in ICE/CBP! No Funding for Political Murders!
The vote on the DHS funding bill is taking place within the next day. Call ASAP.
Congress can end deployments of ICE and Border Patrol, restrict their dragnet operations, racial profiling, mass surveillance, and brutality, and prevent these agencies from stealing funds from other programs to run their mass deportation machine.
They are currently considering an appropriations bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which includes both ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the parent agency of Border Patrol. Congress could include provisions that would do the above, with real benefits to people across America—but none of them are included in this bill.
Congress has to summon enough political will to step up and demand accountability. They can only do that by taking some demonstrable ACTION that says ENOUGH!
Tell our Members of Congress: Block the DHS Appropriations bill until it contains real, substantive reforms that rein in ICE and CBP.
DUE TOMORROW: Submit Comments on Proposed “Streamlining” of Termination Appeals by New Federal Agency Employees
In addition to other legislative, policy, financial, and law-enforcement attacks on our democracy, the MAGA Regime is engaged in a systematic campaign to replace the professional, apolitical, federal Civil Service established by law with a subservient bureaucracy loyal to the President. Under the guise of “streamlining”, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is now proposing yet another rule to limit the rights of federal employees and the unions that protect them.
You can help to oppose this latest anti-employee, anti-union effort by submitting a comment on the proposed rule by this Thursday (tomorrow).
Tell Sacramento: Pass AB 1537 and Keep Cops Out of ICE
Supervisor Bilal Mahmood (D5) is backing AB 1537, a new state bill by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan and the ICE Out of CA coalition that would bar California peace officers from taking side jobs with ICE or other agencies that detain and deport our immigrant neighbors. This bill would help ensure local officers focus on real community safety instead of immigration enforcement, and strengthen trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities.
Now is the time to make your voice heard in Sacramento.
Call your State Assemblymember and ask them to support AB 1537 so that local cops can’t moonlight for ICE and quietly participate in deportations.
Halt Deportation of Gay Men to Iran: it’s a death sentence!
The Trump Administration is planning to deport over 40 people back to Iran amidst an ongoing crisis resulting in the Iranian government killing thousands of protesters in the streets to mitigate the continuation of the protests. Two of the men being deported are gay and came to the US to escape a death sentence if they are arrested. It is illegal to be gay in Iran and the mandatory punishment is death.
Contact your Members of Congress and demand that our Department of Homeland security grant the men asylum and allow them to remain in the United States.
Demand Accountability — File an Ethics Complaint Against US Attorney Bill Essayli
In recent reporting by L.A. TACO, First Assistant US Attorney Bilal “Bill” Essayli (CalBar #273441) publicly encouraged people to “provide inaccurate information” to Southern California community hotlines that protect immigrants during ICE enforcement actions. These hotlines—run by trusted local organizations like CHIRLA and the OC Rapid Response Network—have since reported harassment, disruption, and intimidation resulting directly from this statement.
We must hold public officials accountable when they misuse their authority or spread misinformation that endangers vulnerable populations.
The State Bar of California has jurisdiction over Mr. Essayli’s conduct as a licensed attorney in California. Please file an ethics complaint through the Bar’s online system.
Follow the instructions on our web page to files an ethics complaint.
Solidarity Doesn’t Rest: Keep Adopt-a-Corner Strong
The resistance of Minnesotans against ICE occupation is built on community members looking out for their neighbors and alerting each other to ICE presence.
There is an Adopt-a-Corner program that does this here—but across San Francisco, participation in Adopt-a-Corner has begun to dip, with some shifts going unfilled and single volunteers covering corners on their own.
These volunteers are doing heroic work. One volunteer at Bayshore and Paul shows up week after week, and brings groceries to share with day laborers — a simple act that means so much to neighbors struggling to feed their families and longing for connection.
You can be a part of San Francisco’s resistance against ICE. Adopt-a-Corner remains a vital way to stand in solidarity, build trust, and provide companionship to those who may feel unseen. By maintaining an active, visible presence, we strengthen local resilience — and if/when federal actions return to the Bay Area, established relationships will help us do even more good. “If we STAY ready, we won’t have to GET ready.”
If you’ve participated before, consider signing up again or bringing a friend. If you haven’t yet, now’s a great time to start. Join Adopt-A-Corner today.
For more info, please visit:
Adopt-a-Corner Flyer
Adopt-a-Corner FAQ
If you’d like more background on Adopt-a-Corner or want to influence others to join, please join the mass call held by The National Day Laborer Organizing Network on its Adopt A Day Labor Corner program and other ways we can help push ICE out of our communities, Wednesday, January 28th at 7 PM ET—sign up to join here.
Speak Out for HIV Equity Programs!
From the HIV Advocacy Network: The SF Department of Public Health has just announced cuts to key funding that threaten critical HIV health equity initiatives. While LGBTQ+, Black and POC communities continue to face disparities, these cuts would reduce capacity building support for black and trans led organizations to serve their communities. Similarly these cuts would undermine the pipeline that trains and employs LGBTQ, BIPOC and other community-centered frontline staff from the communities most at risk
These cuts are moving forward within the next week. We need your voice to protect these programs:
Advocate Training: Stop Cuts to HIV Equity
When: Thurs, Jan 29, 6:30–7:30pm
Where: 940 Howard St, Group Room 2-A
Join us to learn what’s being cut, why it matters, and how you can take action to defend the programs that serve our communities. RSVP here.
Speak Out for HIV Equity: SF Health Commission Public Comment
When: Mon, Feb 2, 4–5:30pm
Where: City Hall, 1 Carlton B Goodlett Pl, Rm 408
The Health Commission will hear these proposed cuts—and your testimony can make a real difference. Show up to speak out for all of the capacity building and workforce development programs that help deliver care for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities. RSVP here.
A weekend of protest, power, and persistence
The last five days have seen a nearly continuous stream of protests against ongoing ICE and CBP lawlessness and violence, from the homicide on January 7 of Renee Good to the killing January 23 of an ICU nurse who worked for the VA.
Indivisible SF has been active in bearing witness to the atrocities and the lives of the victims, as well as the growing demands to defund and abolish ICE. We want to share with you the actions we shared with attendees at some of this weekend’s events.
Read more in our blog post: A weekend of protest, power, and persistence
Want an “ICE Out for Good” window sign? If you want one of our “ICE Out for Good” protest/window signs, come to the Trump Regime Takedown—every Saturday from noon to 2 PM at Van Ness and O’Farrell—or sign up for a delivery via this form.
Indivisible SF met with District 4 Supervisor Candidate Natalie Gee
Last week, members of Indivisible SF met with District 4 Supervisor Candidate Natalie Gee. We discussed the upzoning plan, the fiscal cliff that our public transit faces and the service issues in District 4, the overpaid CEO tax (which Natalie supports), and the impacts of the RV two-hour parking limit. Natalie’s years of experience as aide to D10 Supervisor Walton shone through: her responses were intelligent, well-reasoned, and grounded in facts. Anyone interested in meeting her in person can join her campaign launch this Saturday.
Our State and Local team meets regularly with representatives at all levels of local and state government. This year we’re also meeting with people running in the various Supervisor elections. If you’re interested in attending a meeting, please email [email protected] to find out how to join the team. No prior experience or knowledge of state and local politics is needed, and training will be provided.
No More Euphemisms for Racial Cleansing: Our Duty Is to Name It and Talk About It
White America has a history of using euphemisms as code for things that make us emotionally uncomfortable, but not uncomfortable enough to take action. We call certain neighborhoods “sketchy” without talking about how our redlining practices segregated them and keep their residents in a cycle of poverty.
White liberals often say they are “colorblind,” and while that sounds like equity, it actually erases the reality of racialized treatment and maintains the status quo by refusing to see inequity. Those with racial privilege living under this authoritarian regime can easily fall into naming the harm done by ICE, our American Gestapo, as merely “immigration enforcement” when their lawless actions are actually an attempt at racial cleansing.
We need to start calling things what they are. Read more about it in our blog.
Is America being propelled into a Civil Rights 2.0 era
During the Civil Rights era, America came to learn of the brutal murders of two Jewish white men, and a black man at the hands of white supremacist ‘gang members’ known as the Ku Klux Klan. It was a wake up moment for the country at the time, unaccustomed to hearing of such horrors through news coverage reflected on their TV screens. Will the killing of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good by white supremacists ICE criminal “gangs” be the catalyst for a new era of civil rights in American history? Only time will tell.
Read more about it on our blog.
We need you. We have ways you can help.
Your skills can help us grow our power to resist the MAGA regime.
If you would like to join and do important work with us, we welcome you! Currently we are in need of volunteers to help with the following:
Making artwork for our calls to action, blog posts, and other projects.
Maintaining our website, newsletter, and Zoom account.
Posting on our social media channels. We’re on Mastodon, Bluesky, TikTok, Meta, and more. You don’t have to do all of them—do what you’re comfortable with.
Joining our on-the-ground flyering team. We’re distributing information on our events and other ways people can help in the real world. We want people who can print and post flyers around their neighborhood. It’s a great way to get your steps in.
Publishing this very newsletter! We meet Tuesdays at 5 PM to put this together.
Recording or live-streaming our events. We have the equipment. If you can stand in one spot for an hour, you can do this!
No experience is needed; we will train you and provide everything you need. If you would like to help us, please contact us at [email protected].
