For Immediate Release:
April 22, 2026
Media Contact:
Washington, D.C. – Ivan Luevanos-Elms, Executive Director of Local Progress responds to the targeted intimidation and silencing of historic civil rights group, Southern Poverty Law Center:
“As the Trump administration continues its attacks on our democracy through violence against protestors and threats to local officials for simply doing their jobs, it has yet again gone to an extreme and unconstitutional length to silence critique by attacking a civil rights institution simply for being in opposition to its authoritarian agenda hell bent on eroding civil rights.
As a network of local elected officials fighting for racial and economic justice nationwide, today and everyday, we stand in solidarity with the Southern Poverty Law Center – their decades of civil rights work have transformed communities across the American South and made our country a safer and more equitable place for all of us.”
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Local Progress is a movement of local elected officials advancing a racial and economic justice agenda through all levels of local government. We are elected leaders who build power with underrepresented communities, share bold ideas and policy among our network, and fight to reshape what is possible in our localities all across the country.