For the second video in our #LocalStory series, we’re delving into the single issue echoed throughout every interview and conversation we had at our national convening: immigration. From the small town of Meadville, Pennsylvania, to the sprawling skyscrapers of Los Angeles, our members have shared stories of communities in fear and neighbors disappearing at the hands of this federal administration. The second Trump administration has let ICE run rampant throughout communities large and small, urban and rural, across this country, and our members are experiencing it firsthand.
Since Trump took office, it’s estimated that ICE has deported close to half a million people – almost double what occurred in 2024. This staggering number masks the real human impact of this deportation scheme. From people like Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, an innocent El Salvadorian man sent to a concentration camp in the jungle based on an administrative error, to Mahmoud Khalil, a legal resident threatened with deportation for exercising his First Amendment right, each of these harrowing stories includes members of our communities.
Across our network, our members see and feel these human stories firsthand. They are seeing the long-held American tradition of due process under the law swept aside, and the Constitution, which our members all took an oath to uphold, completely disregarded. Neighbors and staff were swept up in racist immigration raids designed not to keep communities safe but to instill fear in innocent people.
From the hours of footage collected, this edit features some of the most honest and emotional moments that our members graciously shared with us. As many of our members are immigrants or the children of immigrants themselves, this work is deeply personal. The fear they feel is not only for their communities, but for many, it is also for themselves and their families. As our member and a Chicago Alderwoman shares, the brutality of the family separations we are witnessing across the country is far too much for any one person to bear.
However, while this moment is shrouded in darkness, our conversations with our members are a reason enough to inspire hope.
Across the various localities facing increased immigration enforcement, our members report that they are witnessing community resistance like never before. People are stepping on the basic community level to protect their neighbors, step in when people need help, and put their bodies on the line between our immigrant communities and ICE.
Earlier this year, two of our members were arrested by federal authorities in relation to immigration. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested trying to inspect an ICE facility, which he was legally allowed to enter. ICE agents arrested New York City Comptroller Brad Lander for walking with an immigrant New Yorker from his hearing out of the building. In both cases, these men were held for hours without any information simply because they had the bravery to stand up for our immigrant communities.
This federal administration would rather local elected officials stay silent and comply with the horrific directives from ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This administration wants to erase the contributions of immigrants from our nation’s history, but our members refuse to let that happen.
From participating in community solidarity to passing new and innovative local ordinances to protect the rights of our immigrant neighbors, Local Progress members are on the frontlines of the fight to maintain our multicultural and multiracial democracy. We know that immigrants make our communities stronger, and it’s the diversity they bring to our nation that makes us a better place to live. But most importantly, our members know it’s not because of what immigrants add to our communities that makes them worth fighting for – it is simply because they are human and part of our communities that makes them worth defending.
This video is a strong message to local leaders across the country that your experience seeing families ripped apart is not only commonplace but must be opposed. The second Trump administration has sent its Gestapo into every corner of this country and will bulldoze due process wherever they can. Our network will continue to stand up for the rights of immigrants and share stories of our members fighting back.
You can share and watch our video on social media using the links below.