This Week’s Actions
Action 1: Time-sensitive: Support low-income families hit hardest by Texas floods by Aug. 6.
Thank you to the 54 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
141 subscribers have donated to support low-income families displaced by the devastating flash floods in Central Texas. Our allies at GiveDirectly are providing them with cash to meet their urgent needs with dignity.
Donate: to GiveDirectly’s cash relief program to support low-income survivors.
Source: GiveDirectly
Action 2: Urge the Miami-Dade mayor to shut down the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention camp.
Thank you to the 342 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Contact: Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava via phone: 305-375-5071, email: mayor@miamidade.gov, or mail: Office of the Mayor, 111 NW 1st Street, Miami, FL 33128.
Script: Hello, my name is ____, contacting you from [ZIP], to express my deep concern about the people in unsafe, inhumane conditions in your county detention camp. Detained people—most with no criminal history—are confined in cramped, cage-like units with mosquito infestations, inadequate food, temperature extremes, and no reliable medical care. While actively violating national and international detention standards, Florida state party leaders mock this “Alligator Alcatraz” built on land managed by Miami-Dade County. I urge Mayor Levine Cava to take immediate legal action to shut it down and prevent further suffering.
Source: Florida Immigrant Coalition
Action 3: Oppose social media shadowbans censoring Indigenous voices.
Thank you to the 163 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
“Shadow banning” refers to the practice by social media platforms of selectively hiding or amplifying posts to limit the visibility of a user’s content without their knowledge, which can be used to manipulate and polarize public opinion. Indigenous Women Rising is experiencing limitations on its ability to post and share Instagram content and needs support to reach the 85,000 people who depend on them for critical information.
Take Action: Like, comment, and share IWR’s post on Instagram, and follow their account to increase exposure.
Donate: Support IWR’s fundraising efforts and share their fundraising information with others.
Source: Indigenous Women Rising
Action 4: Demand protection from ICE raids at domestic violence shelters.
Thank you to the 216 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Contact: Your two senators and one House representative (call, write, or email).
Script: Hello, my name is _____ and I’m reaching out from [ZIP] in support of the WISE Act (H.R. 2851), which prohibits ICE activity at domestic violence shelters and similarly sensitive locations. People who have experienced abuse deserve safety from the people who harm, threaten, or try to control them, regardless of their immigration status. I’m calling on [Sen./Rep. NAME] to loudly support the WISE Act so it can be brought to the floor for a vote.
Source: AoCC
Action 5: Support dignified progress in immigration reform.
Thank you to the 142 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Contact: Your one House representative (call, write, or email).
Script: Hello, my name is _____ and I’m contacting you from [ZIP] to urge you to support The Dignidad (Dignity) Act (H.R. 4393). This bipartisan bill would provide some aspiring Americans with work authorization and protection from removal proceedings, countering some of the current administration’s harmful policies. While it is not a perfect piece of legislation, I’m asking Rep. [NAME] to co-sponsor H.R. 4393 and help move this sweeping measure of immigration reform forward.
Source: American Immigration Council
Action 6: Demand the Department of Homeland Security stop collecting DNA from minors.
Thank you to the 59 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Contact: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem by phone at 202-282-8495 or by mail at Secretary of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528.
Script: Hello, I’m contacting you from [STATE] to express my disgust at recent reports that Customs and Border Protection has taken genetic samples from approximately 133,000 children and teenagers for a criminal forensic database. Storing these minors’ DNA in an FBI database means their profiles will regularly appear in federal criminal searches, and law enforcement will treat them as suspects in all future investigations. This practice is horrendous and invasive. You must put an end to it.
Source: AoCC
Action 7: Urge congressional resistance to an aggressive and inhumane deportation agenda.
Thank you to the 135 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Contact: Your two senators and one House representative (call, write, or email).
Script: Hello, my name is _____ and I’m reaching out from [ZIP] to oppose the administration’s expansion of our immigration detention system. The recent budget bill provides $150B for ICE to target, detain, and deport as many people as possible—an amount that exceeds most nations’ military budgets. I’m urging [Sen./Rep. NAME] to take any action necessary to defend our communities and deny the administration the necessary resources to carry out their mass deportation agenda.
Alternate: Sign the DWN petition to stop ICE detention expansion (click Edit Subscription Preferences and uncheck the box to avoid being subscribed).
Source: Detention Watch Network
Action 8: Tell your MoCs: Recess isn’t a holiday—it’s accountability time.
Thank you to the 20 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Contact: The local (non-DC) offices of your two senators and one House representative (call, write, or email).
Script: Hi, my name is _____ and I’m a constituent from [ZIP]. Especially since the House adjourned early to avoid voting on motions regarding the Epstein files, would you please tell me when [Sen./Rep. NAME] is holding town hall meetings during the August work period?
If no meetings are planned, say: It’s an important part of [Sen./Rep. NAME]’s job to meet with constituents in their home districts, and I have questions I’d like to ask [them]. Will you take my information to let me know when they hold the next town hall?
If meetings are planned, ask: Would you give me the location and details? Will there be an opportunity to ask questions? Thank you.
Source: AoCC
Action 9: Help organizations dedicated to ending homelessness.
Thank you to the 21 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Contact: Secretary Scott Turner by phone at 202-402-3815 or by mail at U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th St. SW, Washington, DC 20410.
Script: Hello, my name is _____ from [STATE]. With homelessness reported at record highs, it’s vital to support front-line service providers in helping our fellow Americans get off the streets. Yet despite a bipartisan agreement for a two-year Continuum of Care funding process, HUD plans to reinstate the time-consuming annual application, pulling resources away from the crucial work of housing people. Please honor your commitment to a two-year Notice of Funding Opportunity for FY2025.
Alternate: Use the NAEH’s letter to Secretary Turner.
Action 10: Protect the right to vote.
Thank you to the 95 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
The SAVE Act was passed by the House of Representatives on April 10, and will next be considered in the Senate.
Contact: Your two senators (call, write, or email).
Script: Hi, my name is _____ from [ZIP], asking you to oppose H.R. 22, the SAVE Act, which would enact broad purges of voter rolls and force voters to prove their citizenship when registering. It could silence millions of voters, including married women, students, trans people, Native Americans, and naturalized citizens, and would end online and mail-in voting for active duty military and citizens abroad. I am asking Sen. [NAME] to use procedural tools like the filibuster to block the unnecessary SAVE Act, and to vote “NO” if this harmful voter suppression bill comes up for a vote. Thank you.
Source: The Brennan Center
Action 11: Get ready for the 2025 Elections.
Thank you to the 81 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Ensure that you are ready to vote for the more than 100,000 seats up for election in 2025, including governors, municipal governments, school boards, and more.
- Confirm that your voter registration is still valid (or register to vote for the first time by your state’s deadline).
- Update your address or re-register if you’ve recently moved.
- Make a plan to vote by mail or in person, whether early or on Election Day.
- Find out who and what is on your ballot.
- Ask two friends to register to vote or to verify their registrations. Studies show that people are more likely to vote if they are encouraged by someone they know.
Source: Rock the Vote
Action 12: Empower 2.2 million young people to register to vote.
Thank you to the 13 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Contact: High school educators and students returning to school in August/September.
Voter registration rates for 18-year-olds are lower in years without congressional midterm elections. Print and share this flyer (color/b&w) to encourage your local high school to hold a Voter Registration Week when school starts this fall. Encourage teens and educators to use The Civics Center’s free trainings to make youth voices heard at the ballot box.
Bonus: Donate to The Civics Center to support their nonpartisan voter outreach to teens nationwide.
Source: The Civics Center
Action 13: Have a brave conversation.
Thank you to the 10 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Many people feel disconnected, unheard, or overwhelmed by today’s political climate. Why? We won’t know unless we ask. Living Room Conversations offers free, simple guides to help you have open, respectful conversations with people who think differently. Together, you can explore big questions like: What concerns you most about the future of our country? or What values shape your worldview?
Check this box if you’ve had an open, curious conversation with someone different from you in the past two weeks.
Source: Living Room Conversations
Action 14: Take action in your own community.
Thank you to the 73 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
It’s our hope that using the Checklist inspires you to become more involved in specific issues and/or local action. In the last two weeks, did you volunteer, do service, advocate, or support a local or state cause? Check the box to let us know!
Source: AoCC
Acts of Gratitude
We believe in gratitude as a tool for change. We will print a letter of thanks from Americans of Conscience with your signature and mail it to the recipient. Your information will be removed from this website no later than four weeks after the Checklist’s publication date.
Thank Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) for providing financial support to aspiring Americans who had to miss work due to fear of ICE activity.
If you’d like to mail your own personal expression of gratitude, use this address: City of Los Angeles, 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Thank you to the 121 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Thank the Pittsburgh City Council for safeguarding the city’s LGBTQ+ residents from medical and other forms of discrimination.
If you’d like to mail your own personal expression of gratitude, use this address: City of Pittsburgh, 414 Grant St., Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Thank you to the 116 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Good News
If you find good news for democracy, equality, and the planet, share it with us here!
Good news: Wins for democracy, equality, kindness, and planet.
- 252 people who were unjustly deported by the U.S. to El Salvador are released from the inhumane Salvadoran prison where they were confined for months.
- A second appeals court affirms that an attempt by the administration to eliminate birthright citizenship is unconstitutional.
- Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar (R–FL) and Veronica Escobar (D–TX) introduce legislation that would provide legal status and work authorization for certain aspiring Americans, thus lessening the threat of deportation.
- A federal court issues restraining orders against the administration after finding that its immigration raids in southern California and its denial of access to counsel for those in custody likely violated the Constitution.
- The Dept. of Defense withdraws 2,000 National Guard troops who were unnecessarily and potentially unconstitutionally deployed to Los Angeles following anti-immigration enforcement protests.
- A U.S. district court orders Kilmar Abrego Garcia to be released from criminal custody while his case proceeds, and a second court bars ICE from immediately re-detaining him.
- The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals determines that there is no need to detain Georgetown researcher Badar Khan Suri while the government’s unfounded deportation case against him carries on.
- Madonna “Donna” Kashanian is released from ICE custody and can reapply for asylum after being denied in the past.
- Following the administration’s attempt to cancel their Temporary Protected Status, a court rules that people from Haiti living in the U.S. will have their TPS extended to February 2026.
- The Dept. of Education will release $1.3B in previously withheld grant money for after-school and summer programs.
- The Government Accountability Office finds that the administration violated the Impoundment Control Act by withholding congressionally appropriated funding for the Head Start program.
- A second federal district court orders the administration to reinstate laid off AmeriCorps workers and restore $400M in funding.
- A U.S. district court rules that the administration violated federal law by removing the Office of Management and Budget website that showed how funding is apportioned to government agencies and orders that the site be reinstated.
- Funding for PEPFAR, the U.S. program to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS worldwide, will remain in place.
- The Dept. of Veterans Affairs partially reverses course on a plan to lay off 83,000 personnel.
- The district court for Washington, DC permanently blocks the administration from unconstitutionally retaliating against the law firm Susman Godfrey.
- A federal court in Boston temporarily blocks the government from cutting Medicaid payments to certain Planned Parenthood organizations.
- Employees of the National Science Foundation sign a public letter outlining how the presidential administration is politicizing the agency and impeding scientific innovation.
- CA supports transgender women athletes by refusing to comply with a Dept. of Education request attempting to ban them from playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity.
- CA currently uses 40% less natural gas to generate electricity than it did in 2023.
- CO parents with babies in neonatal intensive care will be able to access 12 additional weeks of parental leave.
- FL: A federal court temporarily blocks some parts of a new state law that makes it much harder to get citizen-led initiatives on the ballot.
- ID: A federal court temporarily blocks a law that would have required those seeking HIV medications through a federally funded program to verify their immigration status.
- KS: A federal district court rules that a law banning prefilled mail-in ballot applications is an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment.
- MD: Due to decades of conservation efforts, the state is now home to one of the largest populations of bald eagles in the U.S.
- NH: Gov. Kelly Ayotte vetoes several bills that would have censored library materials, discriminated against transgender people, and implemented sexual education materials in schools without local districts’ input.
- NM implements automatic voter registration for all eligible residents interacting with Motor Vehicle Division field offices.
- NY: The Northern District of New York declines to permanently appoint the interim U.S. attorney in Albany, determining that he is inappropriate for the position.
- NY’s shield law once again protects a local doctor from out-of-state legal attacks against abortion access.
- PA redesigns provisional ballot envelopes to make them clearer, avoid technical errors, and cut down on rejections.
- RI becomes the first state to mandate workplace accommodations for employees experiencing menopause symptoms.
- RI bans the sale of certain assault-style weapons.
- RI closes a loophole that allowed predatory payday lending.
- RI: A recently passed law will keep medical debt off residents’ credit reports.
- RI will require the overdose prevention medication Narcan in college dorms.
Need inspiration?
- Read the latest message from AoCC’s Founder and Director, Jennifer Hofmann: 5 Signs Our Democracy Can Heal
- How Did We Get Here—and How Do We Get Out of This?
- Why Every Action Counts, Big or Small
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The Americans of Conscience Checklist features clear, well-researched actions for Americans who value democracy, equality, voting, and decency. We are a big tent for all people who want a kinder, flourishing nation.