The ever-reliable GOP strategy: when backed into a corner by their own incompetence and cruelty, they triple down on racism and hope no one notices the bodies piling up at the border, in detention centers, or under their own boot.
Let’s talk about what’s really happening here. The new wave of immigration activists isn’t playing the old game of "please, sir, may I have a scrap of humanity?" They are not politely waiting for lawmakers to find their moral compass (spoiler: they won’t). They are meeting power where it lives, on social media, in direct action, and in viral movements that make even the most comfortable politicians sweat.
Flor Martinez Zaragoza and Carlos Eduardo Espina are not waiting for some backroom handshake deal that might help a sliver of people while leaving millions to rot. They are mobilizing, educating, and calling out the system for exactly what it is: corrupt, inhumane, and designed to treat immigrants as disposable labor instead of human beings with rights.
And, of course, as soon as this kind of activism gains traction, the usual suspects, Trump’s bootlickers, and the NRCC’s keyboard racists, lose what’s left of their minds and start screaming "illegal" at anyone who doesn’t fit their vision of a lily-white America. Representative Adriano Espaillat has been a U.S. citizen for four decades, but to them, he will never be "American enough." Because this isn’t about legality; it is about supremacy.
So what’s the move? We back the activists. We amplify their voices. We refuse to let right-wing mouthpieces control the narrative. Support grassroots immigrant justice organizations, share these stories, and show up when these fights happen in the streets if you can. Because these people aren’t just fighting for their communities. They are fighting for all of us.
As I sit here reading this excellent piece a crew of men is putting a new roof on my house above me. Most are from Guatemala but several countries are represented. I'm in southwest Florida and my home sustained significant damage from hurricane Milton, as did many homes in my neighborhood and throughout the area. During the course of clean up and repair hard-working people from Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Brazil, Haiti and many other countries have had a hand in putting my home back together. They have been working all over the neighborhood; replacing pool cages, repairing and replacing roofs, rebuilding in so many ways. How the hell does anybody in their right mind think we can live decent lives without these people to help us? I won't even start about all the unseen workers in kitchens throughout the country and, of course, in the fields. I've lived in Texas and Florida for the past forty years or so and the immigration scam has always been here and always been wrong but if these jamokes in the regime actually carry their bad dream through to reality, we're all in big trouble.
Thank you, Steve, for this real-life report. Many of our Latino neighbors are hard working & skilled tradesmen. Some claim that their labor is at the expense of other Americans (which usually seems to mean much paler) - yet I know from experience looking to get home projects done in So AZ, not many anglos answer a phone or show up to give a bid - for roofing, landscaping, concrete, painting... Of course, my area was Mexico longer than it's been USA so our mix of cultures is like the scenery - just the way things are here.
Clearly, the country needs to clean up its act. I'm tired of all the immigrant and DEI hate that Congress finds acceptable. Am I the only one who notices that at least half our baseball players are Latino descent? I fought this battle in the 60's and hate having to keep doing it.
Karen - we gotta keep fighting cuz the fight's not over yet. The zombie of hate and jealousy keeps coming back. Remember back in 1992, salsa became more popular than ketchup in the US? In 2008, America elected a Black man president! We thought we were getting comfortable with a multicultural society. Whoa... psych!
My heyday was in the '70s, now I'm in MY 70s 😊 Things we thought we'd contributed to improving are sliding back. We may be older, amiga, but we got plenty of spirit left!
“I know how much work and sacrifice goes into feeding this country as its lowest-paid labor force,” Martinez Zaragoza, who is from San Jose, told The Bulwark. She recalled how she used to pick grapes for California wineries. “They feed all of us, yet they get disrespected and dehumanized so it’s important we change the narrative. It’s harsh on their bodies, but is very skillful work, you have to know the plant.”……
Nathan - absolutely. What shall we call a human characteristic that embodies self-discipline & self-sacrifice? Stamina & dedication to stay at the task? Mastering not just the plants but the weather, the physical demands, the aches? Then go home spent after a longer day than most of us would tolerate, and come back tomorrow to persist again?
Anyone who minimizes this kind of relentlessly difficult work probably has had precious little contact with it in their own life.
I have no doubt at all that if it were up to Trump every Hispanic person in the country would be evicted. He is even sending back people legally in the country from Ukraine. He has visions of a country of completely white people who speak nothing but English.
With Musk's money, Trump rallied many voters with minority interests; now it's time for the majorities to respond - even though it's late.
Besides those concerned about dreamers and immigrants, we have other major players and they will get involved because we are not a nation of hate no matter what MAGA says.
How do we stimulate mothers vs guns, blacks, native Americans, the LBGTQ,, the doctors that know abortion is health, the lawyers that have ethics, the CPA's that are sitting?
BTW -I am an ethical CPA that has written the AICPA- we must tax tips or everyone will bill with a suggested tip and we must demand the reinstatement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act - bribes
must remain illegal.
The ethical lawyers need to help - Thomas cannot have Leonard Leo bribes - a corrupt SCOTUS could continue to take freedoms- including social media.
Remember - Trump likes the Russian, Egypt, and North Korea models.
Larry - "we are not a nation of hate" - I'm with you, brother. I know there's haters around. NOT gonna let them commandeer the whole story.
You're right on the tip thing - you understand better than I, but even without an accounting course I know that low-wage tipped workers likely pay no/little income tax in the first place, and the wealthy will figure how to use a blanket pass on tips to convert all their fees to "tip income" so they can exploit that loophole. Similar to how agri-biz lobbyists exploit the image of "family farm" to get tax breaks for giant corporations
I just love this newsletter. You cover something so important but I’m not seeing it anywhere else on a regular basis. Thank you so much for bringing this important information to readers like me!
How would these young activists recommend Democrats win back the sizable number of Latino voters who changed parties and supported Trump in 2024? They were apparently won over by his anti-immigrant rhetoric, so traditional Democratic messaging on immigration did not work for them.
George - you're asking an important question. Are you reading Mike Madrid? He has a point of view and some research to back it. Latinos aren't all alike so he's likely not the only answer. We all have to keep asking and listening to different voices cuz obviously there was a significant shift in 2024 that hurt our country - ALL of us.
Yes, I wondered about that too. How is it that these Latino voters changed and supported Trump? What could possibly have run them over about the anti-immigrant rhetoric? That they are immune just because they’re legal? Obviously this story puts the lie to that!
Pam - listening to Sarah's focus groups, I keep learning how little many of our fellow citizens pay attention to the details of news & politics. This is really hurting us in this new world where Trump/MAGA is perfectly willing to lie so often. People are gullible. Only paying attention to part of what they hear. Wishful thinking. Focusing only on one aspect of the situation (he'll bring back the glory days of 2017-19 when things were cheaper) and not paying attention to the crazy promises (deport 15 million who are eating the dogs & cats).
As you concluded: many are gonna get a rude wake up call
Ok. They stayed home and didn’t vote for Harris. Great. Now why should I, a Democrat, support them? The real world doesn’t work with perfection. You have choices to make, and sometimes you do the best you can. They made a choice not to support Democrats. Not voting for Harris was the same as voting for Trump.
Surely most "asylum seekers" are economic migrants or people fleeing the generalized violence of failed or near-failed states. It's not our responsibility to admit them as asylum seekers when they don't meet the legal definition.
P.S. the Democratic party is often likened to herding cats, well what do cats do? They get all around to places ya wouldn't think of. So let's cruise around to those places and get the message out. Wouldn't hurt.
Inspirational 🥰 wow!
That was encouraging at a time when encouragement is in short supply. Thanks.
The ever-reliable GOP strategy: when backed into a corner by their own incompetence and cruelty, they triple down on racism and hope no one notices the bodies piling up at the border, in detention centers, or under their own boot.
Let’s talk about what’s really happening here. The new wave of immigration activists isn’t playing the old game of "please, sir, may I have a scrap of humanity?" They are not politely waiting for lawmakers to find their moral compass (spoiler: they won’t). They are meeting power where it lives, on social media, in direct action, and in viral movements that make even the most comfortable politicians sweat.
Flor Martinez Zaragoza and Carlos Eduardo Espina are not waiting for some backroom handshake deal that might help a sliver of people while leaving millions to rot. They are mobilizing, educating, and calling out the system for exactly what it is: corrupt, inhumane, and designed to treat immigrants as disposable labor instead of human beings with rights.
And, of course, as soon as this kind of activism gains traction, the usual suspects, Trump’s bootlickers, and the NRCC’s keyboard racists, lose what’s left of their minds and start screaming "illegal" at anyone who doesn’t fit their vision of a lily-white America. Representative Adriano Espaillat has been a U.S. citizen for four decades, but to them, he will never be "American enough." Because this isn’t about legality; it is about supremacy.
So what’s the move? We back the activists. We amplify their voices. We refuse to let right-wing mouthpieces control the narrative. Support grassroots immigrant justice organizations, share these stories, and show up when these fights happen in the streets if you can. Because these people aren’t just fighting for their communities. They are fighting for all of us.
This is a great comment, thank you!
Brava!
It sounds like Miss Zaragoza is this generation's Caesar Chavez. Keep it going and keep the dream alive.
As I sit here reading this excellent piece a crew of men is putting a new roof on my house above me. Most are from Guatemala but several countries are represented. I'm in southwest Florida and my home sustained significant damage from hurricane Milton, as did many homes in my neighborhood and throughout the area. During the course of clean up and repair hard-working people from Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Brazil, Haiti and many other countries have had a hand in putting my home back together. They have been working all over the neighborhood; replacing pool cages, repairing and replacing roofs, rebuilding in so many ways. How the hell does anybody in their right mind think we can live decent lives without these people to help us? I won't even start about all the unseen workers in kitchens throughout the country and, of course, in the fields. I've lived in Texas and Florida for the past forty years or so and the immigration scam has always been here and always been wrong but if these jamokes in the regime actually carry their bad dream through to reality, we're all in big trouble.
Thank you, Steve, for this real-life report. Many of our Latino neighbors are hard working & skilled tradesmen. Some claim that their labor is at the expense of other Americans (which usually seems to mean much paler) - yet I know from experience looking to get home projects done in So AZ, not many anglos answer a phone or show up to give a bid - for roofing, landscaping, concrete, painting... Of course, my area was Mexico longer than it's been USA so our mix of cultures is like the scenery - just the way things are here.
Clearly, the country needs to clean up its act. I'm tired of all the immigrant and DEI hate that Congress finds acceptable. Am I the only one who notices that at least half our baseball players are Latino descent? I fought this battle in the 60's and hate having to keep doing it.
Karen - we gotta keep fighting cuz the fight's not over yet. The zombie of hate and jealousy keeps coming back. Remember back in 1992, salsa became more popular than ketchup in the US? In 2008, America elected a Black man president! We thought we were getting comfortable with a multicultural society. Whoa... psych!
My heyday was in the '70s, now I'm in MY 70s 😊 Things we thought we'd contributed to improving are sliding back. We may be older, amiga, but we got plenty of spirit left!
“I know how much work and sacrifice goes into feeding this country as its lowest-paid labor force,” Martinez Zaragoza, who is from San Jose, told The Bulwark. She recalled how she used to pick grapes for California wineries. “They feed all of us, yet they get disrespected and dehumanized so it’s important we change the narrative. It’s harsh on their bodies, but is very skillful work, you have to know the plant.”……
…Low wage doesn’t mean low skill.
Nathan - absolutely. What shall we call a human characteristic that embodies self-discipline & self-sacrifice? Stamina & dedication to stay at the task? Mastering not just the plants but the weather, the physical demands, the aches? Then go home spent after a longer day than most of us would tolerate, and come back tomorrow to persist again?
Anyone who minimizes this kind of relentlessly difficult work probably has had precious little contact with it in their own life.
I have no doubt at all that if it were up to Trump every Hispanic person in the country would be evicted. He is even sending back people legally in the country from Ukraine. He has visions of a country of completely white people who speak nothing but English.
With Musk's money, Trump rallied many voters with minority interests; now it's time for the majorities to respond - even though it's late.
Besides those concerned about dreamers and immigrants, we have other major players and they will get involved because we are not a nation of hate no matter what MAGA says.
How do we stimulate mothers vs guns, blacks, native Americans, the LBGTQ,, the doctors that know abortion is health, the lawyers that have ethics, the CPA's that are sitting?
BTW -I am an ethical CPA that has written the AICPA- we must tax tips or everyone will bill with a suggested tip and we must demand the reinstatement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act - bribes
must remain illegal.
The ethical lawyers need to help - Thomas cannot have Leonard Leo bribes - a corrupt SCOTUS could continue to take freedoms- including social media.
Remember - Trump likes the Russian, Egypt, and North Korea models.
Larry - "we are not a nation of hate" - I'm with you, brother. I know there's haters around. NOT gonna let them commandeer the whole story.
You're right on the tip thing - you understand better than I, but even without an accounting course I know that low-wage tipped workers likely pay no/little income tax in the first place, and the wealthy will figure how to use a blanket pass on tips to convert all their fees to "tip income" so they can exploit that loophole. Similar to how agri-biz lobbyists exploit the image of "family farm" to get tax breaks for giant corporations
That "fire and ice" shot is spectacular. I absolutely love your work Adrian and I'm really glad you're here.
Keep fighting and winning!!!!
I just love this newsletter. You cover something so important but I’m not seeing it anywhere else on a regular basis. Thank you so much for bringing this important information to readers like me!
This was just a superb piece! Thank you.
Check out these resources for immigrant rights / ICE raids and more.
People Over Papers: Crowdsourced ICE Watch Map
https://thedemlabs.org/2025/01/31/people-over-papers-crowdsourced-ice-watch-map/
How to set up a PRIVATE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM to warn your community of danger
https://thedemlabs.org/2025/01/27/how-to-set-up-a-private-emergency-alert-system/
See how Democratic governors like Pritzker, Newsom, Hochul and others have geared up to protect their people with this interactive map.
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/11/13/democratic-governors-gear-up-to-protect-their-people-against-maga-fascism/
Free app of resources for immigrants to understand their rights and find help.
https://8gssb.glideapp.io/dl/d0a5f4
Thank you Deepak! Useful info to share. Bulwark & especially Adrian's articles can help spread your info.
How would these young activists recommend Democrats win back the sizable number of Latino voters who changed parties and supported Trump in 2024? They were apparently won over by his anti-immigrant rhetoric, so traditional Democratic messaging on immigration did not work for them.
George - you're asking an important question. Are you reading Mike Madrid? He has a point of view and some research to back it. Latinos aren't all alike so he's likely not the only answer. We all have to keep asking and listening to different voices cuz obviously there was a significant shift in 2024 that hurt our country - ALL of us.
Yes, I wondered about that too. How is it that these Latino voters changed and supported Trump? What could possibly have run them over about the anti-immigrant rhetoric? That they are immune just because they’re legal? Obviously this story puts the lie to that!
Pam - listening to Sarah's focus groups, I keep learning how little many of our fellow citizens pay attention to the details of news & politics. This is really hurting us in this new world where Trump/MAGA is perfectly willing to lie so often. People are gullible. Only paying attention to part of what they hear. Wishful thinking. Focusing only on one aspect of the situation (he'll bring back the glory days of 2017-19 when things were cheaper) and not paying attention to the crazy promises (deport 15 million who are eating the dogs & cats).
As you concluded: many are gonna get a rude wake up call
Ok. They stayed home and didn’t vote for Harris. Great. Now why should I, a Democrat, support them? The real world doesn’t work with perfection. You have choices to make, and sometimes you do the best you can. They made a choice not to support Democrats. Not voting for Harris was the same as voting for Trump.
Surely most "asylum seekers" are economic migrants or people fleeing the generalized violence of failed or near-failed states. It's not our responsibility to admit them as asylum seekers when they don't meet the legal definition.
P.S. the Democratic party is often likened to herding cats, well what do cats do? They get all around to places ya wouldn't think of. So let's cruise around to those places and get the message out. Wouldn't hurt.