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Indivisible’s weekly newsletter for January 26, 2026 Indivisibles,
This is an important week to talk about how to make political violence backfire. So let’s get to it.
On Friday, Minneapolis pulled off a citywide strike with massive protests in subzero temperatures. For those of you wondering when general strikes in opposition to the regime are going to come and what they'll look like, Minnesotans are showing us the way. It was hundreds of businesses and thousands of clergy and school teachers and neighbors showing up in a nonviolent and powerful display of opposition to a secret police force that has been terrorizing the Twin Cities and surrounding communities for weeks. Hundreds of protests joined in solidarity across the state and around the country all without incident.
Then the next day, the secret police force responded by murdering Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old VA hospital ICU nurse, in broad daylight surrounded by witnesses filming the event. He was in the midst of helping a woman who’d been shoved to the ground and pepper-sprayed; his last words were “Are you OK?”
Why the regime’s lies matter. Just as they labeled Renee Good a domestic terrorist, the regime immediately went to work slandering Pretti. Before his parents even got word of his death, the regime was lying about him to Fox News.
You should read Pretti’s parents’ statement on his murder. They have one request: “Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.” The murder is heinous. The slander is chilling.
Make no mistake: The regime is sending a message. It’s a message to ICE and CBP agents that they can continue their reign of lawlessness, because this regime will protect them from any consequences. As you read this, the secret police who murdered Pretti are still roving the streets.
How we make this political violence backfire. A couple weeks ago I posted to Bluesky about a useful playbook for responding to political violence. If you don’t want to read the 123-page guide, I’ll just tell you why it’s relevant for this moment. The regime is trying to dissuade people from doing what Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and thousands of patriots are doing: exercising their First Amendment rights to protect their communities from DHS. The regime wants us to obey, and they are trying to bully us into submission with threats and violence.
The absolute worst message for us to send is that their tactics are working. Instead, we need to massively increase the number of trained ICE observers in our communities. Here’s the good news: Tonight the No Kings coalition is hosting Eyes on ICE, which is set to be the largest ICE watch training in history.
The way that political violence backfires is when it prompts more people to get involved, not fewer. So I hope you’ll join and share this with friends and family who ask what they can do now.
Now is the time for action, even as we build for bigger scale events. That means Congress too, where we’ve seen precious little momentum. But that may be changing.
Congressional leadership responds, finally, to the people’s organizing. Just last week, Hakeem Jeffries declined to whip House Dems on the DHS funding. He said the Party is not a “cult” and therefore would not be unanimous. Seven House Dems then voted for the DHS funding bill, providing the necessary margin to send the funding bill to the Senate:
- Henry Cuellar (Texas)
- Vicente Gonzalez (Texas)
- Tom Suozzi (New York)
- Laura Gillen (New York)
- Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Washington)
- Jared Golden (Maine)
- Don Davis (North Carolina)
These seven Dems are often on the Trump side of history, but the problem is not only with them. This was bad leadership from Leader Jeffries and Whip Katherine Clark whose job it is to unify the Dem caucus on key votes. While House Republicans continue to act like the cowards and fascist sycophants they are, House Dems missed a real opportunity to push back because of that failed leadership.
This isn't a “we told ya so moment.” It’s important for us to recognize when congressional leadership has failed, and when they have moved. And we’re seeing some movement now.
Over the weekend, Senate Dems from across the political spectrum started promising to vote against any funding for ICE and DHS. Chuck Schumer -- no popular figure in Indivisible circles -- is promising that this DHS funding bill will not pass.
This is good. It has taken too long. It is not enough. But it is real, and it is progress, and we should celebrate it while holding them to it.
We’ve got a busy week closing out a month that has been a combination of traumatic, depressing, existential and -- at times -- inspiring and hopeful. For Thursday’s What’s the Plan discussion and the new Friday podcast, we’ll be talking to famed social movements expert Erica Chenoweth to ground ourselves in where we are and where we’re going. One foot in front of the other -- we’re moving forward together.
In solidarity,
Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible
Your weekly to-dos
- Tell your senators to BLOCK more funding for ICE and Border Patrol. After the killing of Alex Pretti by CBP agents, Chuck Schumer announced that "Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included." Now we have to ensure that Democrats hold the line. Demand that your senators vote against legislation that gives ICE and CBP more money while doing precious little to rein in their brutality. (More info here).
- Then email your senators to underscore your point: Not another dime for ICE and Border Patrol. Use our email tool to demand that your senators reject any DHS budget that puts more money into Trump’s deadly deportation machine, and share with friends to ask them to do the same.
- Join tonight’s No Kings Coalition Mass Call: Eyes on ICE. Tonight at 8pm ET, the No Kings coalition is hosting a training on how to exercise your right to monitor ICE, CBP, and other law enforcement agencies as they terrorize our communities. Over 100,000 are already signed up to join us. We hope you’ll be there, too!
- Plan an ICE Out action at your senators' home offices. Our calls and emails are critical, but it's also very important that we turn up the pressure on senators publicly, in their home states. We encourage you to plan creative, nonviolent, and lawful actions that honor the lives taken and highlight our demand to rein in ICE.
P.S. Over the past few weeks, Indivisible helped lead the ICE Out For Good weekend of action and Friday’s national solidarity events with Minnesota. These major mobilizations are only possible because of grassroots donations, but because we’ve been focused on organizing these days of action and putting pressure on Congress, we've had something of a pause on fundraising. So: We’re asking everyone reading this -- if you can, please consider chipping in to help us continue leading in these moments and organizing the ever-growing opposition to the Trump regime.
Stand with Minnesota
Despite constant teargassing, brutal detentions, and the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Minnesotans have stood up against Trump's invasion of their state in remarkable numbers and with tremendous courage. Braving frigid temperatures, they've been demanding Minnesota's corporations stand with their customers and staff and demand that ICE and Border Patrol leave the state; yesterday, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce released an open letter that failed spectacularly to meet residents' courage with anything like their own.
Minnesota organizers have asked that the rest of us help turn up the heat on the state's biggest regime-friendly corporations. Call or email Target, Hilton, Enterprise, Home Depot, and Delta Airlines to demand they take action to get ICE out of our communities FOR GOOD.
Whether they’re actively cooperating or keeping quiet in the face of ICE and Border Patrol brutality, each of these corporations is standing by as armed, masked secret police terrorize the communities in which they operate. We need to make sure they know: It's got to stop.
Fight Back With Friends
Want help activating your community? Fight Back With Friends is a monthly program that equips Indivisibles with the tools they need to connect anyone who might need a little support getting civically engaged.
On the fourth Tuesday of every month, we highlight a major action you can take and invite others to join. We provide talking points, useful resources, and general guidance on helping those new to activism get involved. This month (tomorrow, if you’re reading this Monday), we'll be talking about the DHS appropriations bill that would give even more money to ICE and CBP, and how to keep pushing back.
Here’s how Fight Back With Friends works:
- Sign up for the Fight Back With Friends call on the fourth Tuesday of every month.
- Download the Empower App on your phone or tablet. Want to learn about the Empower app? Join the call!
- Use the ready-to-go messaging and resources to take action and invite friends, neighbors, and family to join you.
Pro-democracy activism depends to a tremendous degree on personal connections. People are far more likely to trust folks they know over any other source when making sense of what’s happening and, more importantly, what they can do about it. Fight Back With Friends empowers you to help empower them. Join us tomorrow and on the fourth Tuesday of every month and become their trusted messenger!
IndivisiWIN of the week
For weeks, Indivisible Brooklyn has defied the bitter cold to protest outside Chuck Schumer’s home and office to demand that he use his position as Senate minority leader to rein in ICE. They spent the past week, every single day, loudly demanding that he block the upcoming DHS appropriations bill that would provide Trump's secret police with more funding instead of more guardrails.
On Saturday, following the killing of Alex Pretti, Schumer announced he was prepared to do just that. Crucially, his statement didn’t just say he’d vote against the funding; it made clear he would work to unify the caucus against it.
Indivisible Brooklyn has been sowing the seeds of this critical development with creativity and tenacity. And they're not stopping! On Sunday they were out in the snowstorm to make sure Schumer knows they're going to hold him accountable.
This is what effective organizing looks like! Indivisible Brooklyn won't let up until this fight is won, and neither should we; head back up to the to-dos to call and email your senators if you haven’t already!
Upcoming Events for you
These nationwide events, calls, and training sessions are coming up soon. For even more Indivisible happenings, check our national calendar and get in touch with Indivisible groups near you!
Follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads to keep up on the latest information, and text “INDIVISIBLE” to 59798 to opt-in to our text messaging program, where we send rapid response actions a few times a month. 
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