This Week’s Actions
Action 1: Insist on an investigation into possible war crimes committed by the U.S. military.
Thank you to the 298 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Contact: Your two senators and one House representative (call, write, or email).
Script: Hello, I’m ______ from [ZIP], calling to ask you to investigate Defense Secretary Hegseth’s alleged illegal orders to kill survivors in a second strike on a boat in the Caribbean. If the U.S. military has committed war crimes, the current administration has broken international and U.S. law. Please safeguard the rule of law and our country’s international reputation by investigating these orders. Thank you.
Source: AoCC
Action 2: Advocate for policies that provide SNAP for our neighbors.
Thank you to the 171 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Contact: Your two U.S. senators and one House representative (call, write, or email) and your state’s Governor (look up).
Script: Hello, I’m ______ from [ZIP]. Due to the passage of the president’s budget, the following communities are now ineligible for food assistance: refugees, asylees, survivors of human trafficking, survivors of domestic violence, and other noncitizens. The U.S. has long provided SNAP support to those fleeing persecution in their home countries. I urge [NAME] to ensure that our neighbors receive the support they were promised and need.
Source: USCRI
Action 3: Protect science-based decision making for climate and habitat.
Thank you to the 172 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Four proposed rule changes to the Endangered Species Act would corrupt science-based decision-making with considerations that favor habitat-destroying industries. These proposals would cause irreparable harm to at-risk species and essential habitat and worsen the biodiversity and extinction crisis. Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to uphold the ESA’s mission by rejecting these changes. Write a comment in your own words opposing the four proposed changes at Regulations.gov. Comment period closes 12/22/25.
Comment:
- FWS–HQ–ES–2025–0039 (Section 4)
- FWS–HQ–ES–2025–0044 (Section 7)
- FWS–HQ–ES–2025–0029 (Section 4(d))
- FWS–HQ–ES–2025–0048 (Section 4(b)(2))
Alternate: Use the Sierra Club form to submit your comments (you will be automatically signed up to receive email and text updates).
Source: Sierra Club
Action 4: Provide food to refugees and asylees losing SNAP benefits.
Thank you to the 98 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
The U.S. has a long history of providing refuge and support to those fleeing persecution in their home countries. But this administration changed eligibility requirements for SNAP, meaning that many of our neighbors, including refugees, asylees, survivors of human trafficking, and survivors of domestic violence, are now ineligible for food assistance. Join with the many organizations providing food and assistance to asylum seekers and aspiring citizens who depend on SNAP to feed their family.
Donate to support our neighbors through any of the following organizations:
- Your local food bank (click to look up).
- Your local refugee office (click to look up).
- The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, to support their network of partners providing emergency food assistance and advocating for policies that ensure refugees and asylees can rebuild their lives.
Action 5: Speak out against USCIS policy changes that harm refugees.
Thank you to the 112 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Contact: Your two senators and one House representative (call, write, or email).
Script: Hello, I’m ______ from [ZIP], expressing my deep concern over the USCIS’s racially motivated plans to terminate TPS for several countries and its plan to reevaluate thousands of already vetted refugees. These actions would retraumatize already welcomed refugees and put lives in danger. Please urge this administration to stop these harmful and unnecessary policy changes, to keep refugee status intact, and to ensure a path to permanent residency.
Bonus: Use Global Refuge’s letter campaign to send an additional letter to your U.S. senators and representative.
Source: Global Refuge
Action 6: Ensure access to housing for vulnerable Americans.
Thank you to the 89 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Contact: Your two senators and one House representative (call, write, or email).
Script: Hello, I’m ______ from [ZIP] reaching out with concern for the 170,000 Americans who may lose supportive housing due to drastic changes in the FY 2025 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Continuum of Care (CoC) Program. Funding cuts and administrative uncertainty will endanger seniors and disabled people who’ve found stability with permanent housing. Please act now to protect expiring CoC grants and ensure resources for this essential program. Alternate: Use the NAEH form to email or call your members of congress (omit your phone number to prevent receiving periodic text messages).
Source: NAEH
Action 7: Respect tribal sovereignty in Indigenous education.
Thank you to the 36 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Contact: The U.S. Department of Education by mail at
Attn: Linda McMahon
Secretary of Education
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202
Script: Hello, I’m ______ contacting you from [STATE] about the Department of Education’s failure to consult with tribes before transferring Native American education programs to other agencies as part of an initiative to dismantle the DoE. This violation of Executive Order 13175 disregards tribal sovereignty and undermines the vision of Native tribes for their children’s education. Please consult immediately with tribes about changes that affect the well-being and success of their children and youth.
Source: NCAI
Action 8: Demand answers and justice for those disappeared to CECOT.
Thank you to the 101 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Contact: Your two senators and one House representative (call, write, or email).
Script: Hello, I’m ______ from [ZIP], expressing opposition to the U.S. government’s disappearing hundreds of men, a war crime, to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison. This administration secretly sent men there without due process. They suffer ongoing abuse today. I am asking you to demand the administration provide a full list of people sent there, to guarantee no further disappearances to CECOT, and to hold government officials accountable for these war crimes. Please demand justice and full transparency today.
Bonus: Through the National Immigration Law Center’s online form, send an additional letter to your U.S. senators and representative. (Uncheck the box if you do not want to be added to NILC’s mailing list.)
Source: National Immigration Law Center
Action 9: Increase voter turnout by consolidating local election dates.
Thank you to the 31 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
If you live in AL, CT, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, MA, MI, MO, MT, NH, NM, NC, ND, NY, OH, PA, UT, VT, WA, or WI: Contact your two state legislators (look up). Your state holds municipal elections out of sync with federal elections, which has been shown to lower voter turnout.
If you live in AK, CO, DE, FL, LA, MN, NE, NJ, OK, SC, SD, TN, or TX: Contact your city council or other local governing body. Your state allows cities to consolidate local election dates with statewide and federal elections, but has not yet chosen to do so. Making this change would increase voter turnout.
Script: Hello, I’m ______ from [ZIP], calling to urge you to pass legislation to require municipal elections to be held on the same dates as federal elections. Consolidating elections is a proven nonpartisan way to increase voter turnout, save taxpayer dollars, and result in more representative local democracy. Thank you.
Source: AoCC
Action 10: Help Americans get the ID they need to vote.
Thank you to the 16 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Requiring voter ID is a discriminatory barrier to voting. More than 21 million U.S. citizens do not have qualifying government-issued photo identification. Voters of color and married women who have changed their names are particularly impacted. Even when IDs are free, the documents needed to request one are not. It costs about $36 to get an ID. Do you know who helps Americans obtain IDs? Our longtime allies at Spread the Vote and their Project ID!
Donate: Boost voter empowerment by giving to Project ID. And if you do, mention that you’re from AoCC!
Source: Spread the Vote
Action 11: Prevent unsafe and discriminatory uses of AI in your state.
Thank you to the 30 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
If you live in AR, FL, IN, LA, MO, MT, NY, ND, OH, OK, PA, TN, TX, WI, or WY: Contact your state’s attorney general (look up). These attorneys general did not sign the bipartisan letter urging Congress not to block state AI laws.
Script: Hello, I’m ______ from [ZIP], contacting you because people in [STATE] deserve strong protections against unsafe and discriminatory uses of artificial intelligence. A bipartisan group of attorneys general from 35 states and D.C. urged Congress not to follow the president’s stated desire to block state AI laws so states can protect residents from scams, discrimination, and privacy violations. Please join this effort and support strong safeguards for people in [STATE].
If you live elsewhere: Contact your state’s attorney general (look up) to thank them for signing the bipartisan letter urging Congress not to override state AI laws.
Source: AoCC
Action 12: Practice essential democracy skills.
Thank you to the 11 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Our democracy has a better chance when we practice civil debate, active listening, and mutual respect. With better skills we can reunite our nation, one conversation at a time.
Will you practice better democracy? Participate in groups like Braver Angels, Crossing Party Lines, Make America Dinner Again, or Reunited States of America.
Source: AoCC
Action 13: Help grow a community grounded in fairness and compassion.
Thank you to the 56 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
You look to the Americans of Conscience Checklist for clear, trusted actions that move democracy, equality, and decency forward. Following AoCC on social media helps you stay informed between checklists, makes it easier for others to find reliable guidance, and amplifies our shared values. Each new follower expands the reach of fairness, compassion, and responsibility.
Follow @aocchecklist on: Instagram, Facebook, Threads, and BlueSky.
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 Armed Services Committee Chair Sen. Roger Wicker (R–MS) and ranking member Sen. Jack Reed (D–RI) for conducting oversight into the Defense Secretary’s ordering of unlawful follow-on strikes on survivors in the Caribbean.
If you’d like to mail your own personal expression of gratitude, use these addresses:
RW: U.S. Federal Courthouse, 501 East Court Street, Suite 3-500, Jackson, MS 39201
JR: U.S. District Courthouse, 1 Exchange Terrace, Suite 408, Providence, RI 02903
Thank you to the 149 Americans of Conscience who completed this action!
Thank Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia (D–CA) for launching a dashboard to track incidents of abuse and misconduct committed by federal immigration personnel.
If you’d like to mail your own personal expression of gratitude, use this address: 415 West Ocean Blvd., Suite 2803, Long Beach, CA 90802
Thank you to the 127 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.
- Following intense public backlash, the Social Security Administration abandons plans to block thousands of older Americans from qualifying for disability benefits by changing eligibility determination factors.
- In the wake of the DOJ’s unnecessary intrusion into their medical records, a federal court upholds the privacy rights of children and youth receiving gender-affirming care at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
- A federal court bars the IRS from sharing tax return information that immigration officials planned to use to target people for deportation, finding that the practice violated taxpayer confidentiality law.
- A federal court orders the presidential administration to end National Guard deployment in Washington, DC.
- Due to public pushback, the Coast Guard reclassifies particular imagery as hate symbols.
- National Guard members Staff Sgt. Demi Palecek and Capt. Dylan Blaha publicly commit to refusing orders to deploy in Chicago as part of the administration’s unjust immigration enforcement policies.
- Lawmakers from both major parties voice support for congressional investigations into the Dept. of Defense’s unfounded military strikes on Venezuelan boats in the Caribbean.
- Though the administration attempted to eliminate such protections, a federal court rules that young people immigrating to the U.S. who have suffered abuse or neglect can apply for protections from deportation.
- MN’s political and community leaders show support for the state’s Somali community members in the face of the president’s dehumanizing insults.
- NJ: A federal appeals court affirms a lower court ruling that Alina Habba is disqualified to serve as the state’s top federal prosecutor after her interim appointment expired and she was not confirmed by the Senate.
- NY: A U.S. district court dismisses the administration’s legal challenge to policies that block immigration officials from arresting people at state courthouses.
- Tens of thousands of Charlotte-area students stage walkouts and plan absences to protest Border Patrol operations, including deportations of their fellow students and community members.
- Santa Fe, NM aims to counter high rents by tying minimum wage increases to consumer prices and fair market rental prices.
- A federal bankruptcy court formally approves a plan to settle thousands of opioid-related lawsuits, requiring members of the Sackler family to contribute up to $7B over 15 years toward governmental and other programs intended to address the harms caused by the opioid crisis.
- Grocery chain H-E-B donated $6M to Texas food banks and Meals on Wheels while SNAP benefits were held back amid the government shutdown.
- The United Farm Workers union sues the administration to block them from lowering farm workers’ pay.
- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issues a Special Message urging compassion, dignity, and the upholding of human rights in the nation’s immigration policies.
- Immigration rights advocate and whistleblower Alma Bella Bowman is freed from ICE detention after eight months.
- Jackie Merlos reunites with her children four months after she and her family were detained by immigration enforcement at the U.S.-Canada border.
- Former senior DHS official Miles Taylor launches a web tool to plan protests against unpopular, unjust, and unlawful administration policies.
- Musical artist Sabrina Carpenter denounces the White House’s use of her song in a social media video promoting ICE detentions and deportations.
- 15,000 acres of the Adirondack forest leave private ownership and will be open to the public for the first time in 100 years.
- Insect-eating bird populations in France show signs of increasing numbers after the country banned bee-harming pesticides.
- Animals at the Chicago Zoo enjoy fresh snowfall.
Need inspiration?
- Read the latest message from AoCC’s Founder and Director, Jennifer Hofmann: The Day the Phones Changed History
- Amy’s Story: How One Citizen’s Efforts Kept Local Democracy Alive, by AoCC volunteer Julie Mathison
- Signs of Renewal in a Weary Nation
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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.