One of our immigration team researchers recently attended a presentation by ProPublica that laid bare stark realities of how our nation is managing immigration. I can’t stop thinking about it.
As ProPublica journalists documented hundreds of immigration cases, unmistakable patterns emerged. Their report illuminated a truth that many Americans still don’t grasp: our government is deliberately using fear as a governing tactic.
ICE raids by mask-wearing agents are staged to intimidate entire neighborhoods. A detention center in the Florida Everglades bears the chilling name of “Alligator Alcatraz.” Federal funds once dedicated to helping refugees rebuild their lives are now used to pressure people into leaving their communities.
Like Americans of Conscience, ProPublica is non-partisan. They’re not trying to get anyone elected. They are simply documenting facts drawn from government records and first-hand testimony. What they’ve uncovered and documented is not law enforcement. It’s intimidation. It’s bullying. It’s aggressive, lawless, and frightening.
And it’s happening on our watch.
U.S. Immigration Tactics Endanger Everyone
The current administration is diverting unrelated federal services into immigration enforcement. More than 20,000 officers from agencies such as the FBI, Secret Service, and DEA have been forced away from their critical duties in order to assist ICE.
As a result, the administration stalls ongoing investigations into real threats of terrorism, drug trafficking, and human trafficking. White-supremacist networks, for instance, grow as the capacity to track them shrinks. These decisions target supposed “illegal” people, but make the general public more vulnerable.
Citizen or not, the justice system is denying people their rights to fair and prompt hearings. Our country is holding nonviolent people in detention centers without access to essential medical care, separating families to “punish them,” and inflicting violence—without recourse.
ProPublica documented more than 600 complaints of abuse and neglect that have been allowed to continue in the absence of a functioning process for accountability. These cases–violations of basic decency, inflicted on human beings–vanish into silence.
The Rise of Hate and the “Othering” of Neighbors
The administration’s anti-immigrant sentiment is powerful and persuasive. Politicians, pundits, and online influencers spread narratives that equate migration with criminality. This trick is effective, priming ordinary people to support enforcement and look away from cruelty. Rhetoric that justifies harsh immigration policies also emboldens hate groups. Under the guise of patriotism, ICE is terrorizing our neighbors based on their appearance.
We have been sold the story that immigration is a straightforward issue: either people are “legal” or “illegal.” This simplistic tale conceals complex realities. For example, if seeking asylum is an international and constitutional right, but the administration forbids it, does that make the people currently in the U.S. seeking asylum “illegal”? The definitions are bureaucratic, but when our government harms and disappears people, it’s a shell game with real life-or-death consequences.
None of Us Is Immune From Hate
When a government normalizes dehumanization, it rarely stops with one group. The same power structure that grants passport-carrying citizens superiority over temporary residents won’t stop there. It will also assert that men are superior to women, white people are superior to people of color, straight people superior to queer, able-bodied people superior to disabled, and eventually take bold moves to legislate these hateful views into law.
Oppression is a single system wearing many masks. None of us is safe from its reach.
This administration must be held to account for its actions, both for its current crimes against humanity and the increasing aggression by ICE toward all people.
Finding Courage to Act
Amid ICE’s cruelty, immigrant communities themselves are showing extraordinary courage. Local organizations are running know-your-rights workshops, establishing rapid-response networks, and opening houses of worship for sanctuary during ICE raids on communities. Ordinary people are supporting one another, reminding us what moral clarity in action looks like.
At AoCC, we regularly speak up in solidarity with immigrant communities because we recognize our similar struggles and shared dreams. The people that our nation is detaining, deporting, and dehumanizing are our neighbors, coworkers, classmates, and friends. They are the heartbeat of our communities. They are us, and we are them.
Turning Solidarity Into Action
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We are called to defend the rights and dignity of those our administration would deem “least.”
At Americans of Conscience, we continue to meet this moment together. In this week’s Checklist, you can take five concrete actions to speak up for the rights and dignity of those ensnared by ICE and for justice in U.S. immigration policy:
- Print and share Red Cards so everyone knows their legal rights.
- Help fund legal representation for people navigating immigration courts alone.
- Urge Congress to stop diverting national security officers to ICE duty.
- Demand renewed oversight of how pregnant and postpartum immigrants are treated.
- Call on DHS to end the detention of pregnant and nursing people.
These are difficult issues. However, every action we take shines light into the lives this administration wants to erase. Each action is our way of saying, We see you. You matter.
Let’s work together until justice is a reality. Here’s a link to this week’s Checklist.
You’re invited: Sunday Steadies with Jen Hofmann and the AoCC community
Most of us don’t need another meeting—we want our time to matter and actually make a contribution.
This Sunday, we’re gathering for a calm, focused Zoom session for anyone who cares about justice to take real action together. No speeches. No pressure. We start with a few minutes to settle our nervous systems, then spend a 20-minute quiet work block taking actions from the Americans of Conscience Checklist. We then share wins and gratitude, and leave feeling lighter and more connected.
Come as you are—for camera-optional, introvert-friendly, focused activism. You choose the actions that fit your capacity, taking them side-by-side with people from all over the country so we carry the reality of this moment together. We have clear scripts and encouragement at the ready.
Sunday Steadies: Join us this Sunday, October 26, 2025 at 3:30pm Eastern/12:30pm Pacific for about an hour. Leave having accomplished something that will make a difference and provide a steadier start to your week.
- Join us for Sunday Steadies at this Zoom link:
- Passcode: 494123
- Meeting ID: 898 0350 2869
Together, We Can Turn Concern Into Impact
Thank you for caring, showing up, and taking action. Your participation truly matters. I hope to see you on Sunday.
Warmly,
Jen Hofmann
Founder and Director
Americans of Conscience