Build the Resistance Newsletter #4

Two featured actions, two resources, and a win to help you build the resistance this week.

May 14, 2025

Dear Friends,

We’re coming to you this week with two actions, two resources, and a recent win in the fight against authoritarianism, fascism, and plutocracy in the USA.

This Thursday, May 15, is the International Day of Families, a lesser-known yearly observance established by the UN to raise awareness of issues affecting families around the world. This year, the Trump administration is at war with working families— especially immigrant families who make this country great.

Since April, ICE has arrested over 150,000 immigrants and American citizens in a mad rush to deliver on Trump’s vow to carry out “the largest deportation operation in American history.” The result has been a period of deep fear and uncertainty for thousands of separated families.

On 21 April, Mahmoud Khalil missed the birth of his first child. Khalil, a Columbia University student and Palestinian refugee, is a political prisoner, detained by the U.S. government for exercising his 1st amendment rights to speak out against the genocide of his people.

From his cell, Khalil writes “Like other Palestinian fathers, I was separated from you by racist regimes and distant prisons.” In this letter to his son, Deen, he continues, “The tyrants want us to submit, to obey, to be perfect victims. But we are free, and we will remain free.”

The Administration’s family-separation policies were some of their least popular in Trump’s first term. Experts are sounding the alarm that already in this term, there are thousands of cases of families being torn apart, their constitutional rights ignored.

Our win this week celebrates the release of Mohsen Mahdawi, another Columbia University student and green card holder, from an ICE detention center on April 30th after being illegally detained there for two weeks. Upon his release, Mahdawi spoke to supporters, affirming that “we, the people, will hold the Constitution accountable for the principles and values that we believe in.”

We couldn’t have said it better. Let’s keep building the resistance together.

-BtR Team

We are open-sourced and volunteer-run — your submissions to our databases are the fuel for this people-powered engine. Keep ‘em comin!

FEATURED RESOURCES

Toolkits, trainings, databases, and guides to help you engage in everyday resistance.

Know Your Rights App. It takes ten times the resources for ICE to detain someone who knows their rights than someone who doesn’t. The Know Your Rights App allows you to immediately access information and resources about your basic rights protected by the Constitution and immigration law.

ImmigrationLawHelp.org. This is a searchable online directory of over 1,000 free or low-cost nonprofit immigration legal services providers in all 50 states.

FEATURED ACTIONS

You don’t have to be an activist to take action. Here are two calls to action that you can take part in this week.

Write to your representatives and senators to cut funding to the Department of Homeland Security immigration enforcement, one of Trump’s key resources for carrying out his mass deportation plans. The ACLU has a ready-to-send script that you can use.

Donate to organizations that are working to reunite immigrant families, like the National Immigrant Justice Center. Donating to organizations currently serving the immigrant community can reunite a family, free a detained asylum seeker, or save the life of an individual who faces deportation to a life-threatening situation.

FEATURED WIN

Resistance is working. Let’s celebrate our wins– big and small.

Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia student and activist, was released from federal immigration custody

Mohsen Madawi was detained by DHS agents last month while completing his naturalization interview in Vermont. He was held in a state prison for two weeks without charge until April 30th, when a judge ordered his release. He has now joined Vermont public officials in launching the Vermont Immigration Legal Defense Fund, with the goal of improving access to legal advice for immigrants and creating stronger legal infrastructure to protect immigrants within the justice system.