Thank you for signing the petition to end Trump's mass deportation of immigrants.  My goal is to get 200 million signatures - to demonstrate that the majority of Americans insist that this ends NOW.     

Trump is ramping up his detainments and deportations, he has lied about who he is deporting, and he has falsely claimed that he has a "mandate" to put immigrants in third world countries, or flown to countries they're not from - regardless of if they speak the language, or will face persecution. And the Trump administration is intentionally and unconstitutionally denying due process.

We demand that this ends NOW.

We can have a strong border while also honoring human rights, and understanding that immigration has been a part of our history, for which we have thrived.  When Trump says "criminals," he is talking about people who have been invited to be here by both Republicans and Democrats. Former President Ronald Reagan encouraged immigration throughout his entire career.  He said that diversity is our country's greatest strength, and that without it "our leadership in the world would soon be lost."  

Trump is not imprisoning criminals.  How can we not honor the basic dignity of human beings who solely wanted to come to this country to work hard, and to create a better life.  That is their "crime," and we all have benefitted from it.  Immigrants have grown and cooked the food you eat, they have built the buildings you stand in.  These people are our neighbors, and they deserve our support and a better way forward.

Please read on to learn more about how to correct GOP lies with the truth.   

The big GOP lies that "immigrants hurt our country":

The GOP lied to the American people and claimed that illegal immigrants are voting in federal elections (FALSE),  stealing our benefits (FALSE - the opposite is true.  Immigrants greatly contribute ),  and Trump lied when he said that "they have sent their worst," and "immigrants cost our country billions" (FALSE -the opposite is true.  Immigrants greatly benefit our economy).  Please read on, or click on the links to read the facts.

Trump's lies about immigrants being criminals:

Trump stated that our country was rot with criminal illegal immigrants, and that he would deport them.  Firstly - immigrants are far less likely than Americans to commit crimes.  You used to be able to view the statistical data on a Department of Justice .gov site, but the Trump administration took it down.  Google search: percentage of immigrants that are criminals versus American citizens.  Plenty of websites and articles still house the information - be sure to check that out.  Data from multiple sources and studies (on the federal level and state level) clearly demonstrate - immigrants are far less likely to be criminals than people who are born in this country.  

Sadder still, the majority of people Trump is deporting DO NOT have criminal records:

Trump lied when he said they would be deporting illegal immigrants who are criminals.  Over 70% of people* currently held in ICE detention have no criminal records.   Of the < 30% of individuals in ICE detention that do have a "criminal" record, the vast majority of those have only been convicted of minor offenses like traffic violations or immigration-related offenses, rather than serious violent crimes (only 8% of people currently being held).  *The number of people detained without a criminal record is growing all the time.  Trump's chief of staff Stephen Miller has set a horrific goal with an impossible quota (timeline and detention rate), and ICE is financially incentivized to meet it.  That's also why - 

ICE is capturing, detaining, and deporting, people who DO have a legal right to be in this country, and Trump gave ICE permission to detain anyone they want to.

ICE has detained and deported immigrants who applied for asylum and were on a legal path towards citizenship, as well as people who are here legally with green cards. 

ICE has also deported American citizens, and now those people are stateless. 

The Trump administration has also ended asylum for previously protected groups, including people from Afghanistan (who helped us in the fight against the Taliban, only for Trump to return the Taliban to power and to return these people to be persecuted, tortured, or killed for aiding us).

About the FALSE claim that immigrants steal benefits like social security from the American people:

Immigrants greatly increase the social security fund yet have barely any access to its services (only if they're in a protected class, which is incredibly rare).  In 2023,  immigrants paid 652 Billion dollars in taxes, with undocumented immigrants paying 90 billion .  (See image below, configured by the American Immigration Council)

Please note, in 2023 immigrants paid 215.8 Billion in Social Security taxes when they have little to no access to that money.  In 2023 they also paid 232.1 Billion in state and local taxes.  (We are talking about a single year of tax payouts, y'all.)  To put it all in context, immigrants have greatly contributed to our country's gross revenue (though they receive far less in return, as compared to American citizens).  

In essence, the "cost" of immigration is Trump's ICE campaign, his militia of ICE, and his detention centers.  All of it is absolutely unnecessary and cruel.   "You’re talking about people who work for very low wages and are excluded from nearly all social services. It takes a real act of will to say 'they're exploiting us.'"  (David Dyssegaard Kallick - Fiscal Policy Institute)

Trump's lies about illegal immigrants voting: 

The data shows that the claim that illegal immigrants vote is an outright lie.  (There are less than 0.000001% cases of it happening, and it's mainly incredibly isolated incidents where in a green card holder mistakes their rights.)  But it's most important to address why Trump wants people to doubt their election's integrity.  Not only has he lied about stolen elections, the GOP party want to institute the S.A.V.E act so that everyone is burdened by proving their citizenship, even though the incidents are so incredibly rare.  State governments already use system redundancies to ensure that all voters are citizens, and the data proves that illegal immigrants do not risk jail time and deportation to vote.  It's also important to understand that proving citizenship in person with paperwork is not as easy as it sounds.  Married women would have to have court papers detailing their change of name.  Anyone adopted would have to acquire a lot of paperwork, etc.  But further than that, it costs money and time to secure documents - even birth certificates.  So who does this burden?  People with low incomes, people with disabilities, married women, people in rural areas who have a far drive to state offices, etc.  The burden is completely unjustifiable, but the GOP seeks to limit people's access to democratic elections.  Let us remember the most important thing for American citizens in a democracy - VOTING IS A RIGHT, not a privilege.

This is about so much more than immigration - this is about freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and common human decency.

“In Germany, the Nazis first came for the communists, and I did not speak up, because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak up, because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak up, because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak up, because I was not a Catholic. Then they came for me … and by that time, there was no one to speak up for anyone.”
—Martin Niemöller

We can stand up for our immigrant population and create a change in policy together. 

We don't create change by staying silent, we create change by speaking now.  That's why I named my organization Speak Now, Democracy, and I created its logo based on the symbol for the Allied Forces in WWII.  

I designed my symbol to mean - When I speak the Truth, I have your back.  And when you speak the Truth, you have my back.  And together we are the force that changes the world.

Never ever underestimate the power of your voice.  People have fought and died for the freedoms that we must now defend together. We have to have each other's back now.  Thank you for everything you are doing to protect the United States of America and its people.