<![CDATA[SURJ Bay Area

<![CDATA[SURJ Bay Area - Blogs]]>Fri, 15 May 2026 12:55:00 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Leveling Up: Inside SURJ’s Shift in Non-Profit Status]]>Thu, 30 Apr 2026 05:24:47 GMThttps://www.surjbayarea.org/blogs/leveling-up-inside-surjs-shift-in-non-profit-statusBy Felicia Gustin

When SURJ Bay Area launched in 2015, it operated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit. This structure helped build a solid foundation for education, organizing, and fundraising. But as political conditions shifted and the stakes for racial justice work intensified, SURJ made a bold move: we are now a 501(c)4 organization taking over the work of our previous 501(c)3. What does this actually mean? And how will it change the way SURJ shows up in movements for justice? I sat down with Natalie from SURJ Bay Area’s Finance Crew to unpack the shift and its deeper purpose.

A SURJ member, a white woman with light brown hair, wearing a SHOWING UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE t-shirt speaks with an older white-haired white woman.

Felicia: Natalie, for those who don’t “speak IRS,” what’s the actual difference between a 501(c)3 and a 501(c)4 nonprofit?

Natalie: When you hear “501(c)3” or “501(c)4,” you're hearing sections of the tax code—that’s basically how the IRS categorizes how an organization is or isn’t taxed. A 501(c)3 exists exclusively for what the IRS calls “charitable” purposes. Because of that, donations are tax-deductible for donors. A 501(c)4, on the other hand, isn’t just limited to charitable activities. It can also be involved in more political activities and it has much more flexibility. Efforts can range from lobbying elected officials to actually endorsing candidates. And c4s have the freedom to talk about why a certain candidate does or doesn't align with our vision and goals for the world.

Felicia: So with a c4, donations are no longer tax-deductible to donors. But the tradeoff seems pretty significant, right?

Natalie: Exactly. The decision to operate as a c4 non-profit came out of SURJ reflecting on our role—and the role of white people—in shifting where and how power sits in our communities.

When you're talking about moving and building power, you have to talk about elections, elected officials, and how policies get made. Elections are one of the key places where power moves in real time so it became clear that we needed the flexibility to engage with power in that way.

Also, a lot of our people-of-color-led coalition partners are already 501(c)4s and we, as white people, want to show up alongside them fully and unapologetically, without worrying about bumping into 501(c)3 barriers.

Felicia: What are some examples of work SURJ can now do that weren’t allowed under c3 rules?

Natalie: We can actively advocate against harmful recall campaigns targeting progressive officials, for example. We can proactively support local, state, or national progressive candidates. We can align ourselves, to whatever degree we choose, with political parties or partisan work.

Even if we're not directly doing electoral work ourselves, we are free to tell our members about electoral work and campaigns in our weekly newsletter or publicizing info across SURJ social media.

Our c3 status only allowed us to work on strictly non-partisan getting out the vote efforts, but operating as a c4, we can promote voting for specific candidates. We can canvass for candidates and even mobilize people to travel out of state to support a campaign.

Felicia: And this matters even more now, given current Trump administration policies that run counter to everything SURJ stands for.

Natalie: Absolutely. This change gives us more freedom to do the work that actually needs to get done to shift power. Everything we’ll be doing in the electoral arena as a c4 is ultimately about building power to resist and block the Trump administration’s immoral and illegal policies.

There’s also a particular wrinkle: it’s very possible Trump will use nonprofit status as leverage to silence opposition. There have already been threats to challenge the 501(c)3 status of foundations like the Open Society Foundation and Ford Foundation, as well as organizations doing Palestine solidarity work. By operating as a c4, we’ll be a bit more protected. We’re not as vulnerable to being targeted simply because we’re speaking out.

Felicia: SURJ’s current work focuses on two campaigns—Palestine Solidarity and Invest in Community, our campaign for reimagining public safety. We’re also involved in immigrant support efforts. All of this requires funding. Will SURJ still be fundraising for its own work?

Natalie: Yes—absolutely. By operating as a c4, we’re essentially starting from scratch with our fundraising. We need to be able to cover our monthly expenses: things like our website, database, tech tools, meeting and event spaces, and the basic costs of running campaigns and putting on events. Donations to SURJ will fund our organizing infrastructure and our campaigns—everything required to keep our work going and growing—while moving as much as we can to our BIPOC-led partner organizations.

Felicia: And if people want to support SURJ’s new c4?

Natalie: Please donate! Truly—every contribution matters. To educate, engage, and bring more white people into the multiracial movement for justice, we need support from everyone who shares our mission and values.

Felicia: Thanks, Natalie. And to our community: this is a pivotal moment for SURJ and we’re asking you to help us build the foundation of our c4 from day one. By clicking the donate button below, you can be one of the first contributors powering SURJ’s c4 work.

As Natalie emphasized, every single dollar fuels the organizing, education, and action needed to confront this political moment with courage and integrity. We’re deeply grateful for your partnership as SURJ embraces this bold next step.

DONATE

]]><![CDATA[Why We’re All In This May Day]]>Sat, 25 Apr 2026 05:51:55 GMThttps://www.surjbayarea.org/blogs/why-were-all-in-this-may-dayBy Felicia Gustin

“This May Day is more than just a march. It is the refusal to comply with a violent regime and its billionaire backers. It’s choosing our families and our neighbors over their fortunes. Our futures over fascism.“
-- Bay Resistance, a Bay Area network of community groups, faith organizations, unions, and neighbors standing together to defend our communities

May Day is just days away and across the country, thousands of organizations and millions of people are coming together with a common purpose: using non-cooperation to stand together against the billionaires waging war on working people. We’re calling for a day of No Work. No School. No Shopping.

To better understand why, here are the voices of just a few of the coalitions, organizations, unions, and individuals who are showing up this May Day, International Worker’s Day 2026.

“We make this country run and we know how to take care of each other. Our families and our freedoms need defending. Together we will ensure access to opportunity and a better life for all.
Our Demands to Build the Society We Deserve:
• Tax the Rich: Our families, not their fortunes, come first.
• No ICE. No war.
• No private army serving authoritarian power.
• Expand democracy, not corporate power. Hands off our vote.”
— May Day Strong, a coalition of hundreds of national organizations, trade unions, community groups, and local coalitions

Building on the Legacy of Worker Organizing
This year, May Day is building on a long history of labor struggles and organizing that led to the establishment of International Workers’ Day in 1889. From 2006’s “Day Without an Immigrant” boycott and strike in over 200 U.S. cities, to the Black-led campaigns against corporations like Target when they abandoned DEI, we are witnessing people power in action.

“May Day comes out of a long history of workers standing up and risking everything for our basic rights that we take for granted every day, like the eight-hour workday and the week-end … And this year Mayday is no different. It’s being led by the people who have the most at stake … working-class people, immigrant and undocumented communities, who are continuing to put their livelihoods and their lives on the line.

And that matters to me. I’m showing up because I want to be in solidarity with and fighting alongside people who are leading this fight. I’m showing up because Trump and his billionaire agenda are betting on our fear, our exhaustion, our overwhelm, our despair, and our silence.”
— Corri Frohlich, Leadership Team, SURJ Bay Area

Resisting ICE’s War on Our Communities
ICE has encountered powerful resistance across the country. And non-cooperation took center stage when, on January 23, 2026, a massive general strike and "ICE Out of Minnesota" protest drew some 100,000 people in Minneapolis, despite -10°F temperatures.

Still, as of mid-January, some 73,000 immigrants are being imprisoned in facilities operated by private prison corporations who are raking in billions. According to Time Magazine, the two largest operators, GEO Group and CoreCivic, both surpassed $2 billion in annual revenue last year and project their 2026 revenue to reach between $2.9 billion and $3.1 billion. Those are our tax dollars! Those are our neighbors!

“It is on each of us to take action at this moment … We want to make sure that this is our largest antiwar mobilization yet. Members of Congress, corporate actors, and billionaire profiteers who are making violence possible against our communities here and abroad must hear from us.“
— Rising Majority, a coalition birthed by the Movement for Black Lives along with a multiracial network of organizations serving communities on a wide range of issues

The High Cost of Wars Abroad
Our tax dollars are financing Israel’s war on Palestine and Lebanon. Trump’s own Department of State estimates that the U.S. provides $3.8 billion annually to Israel.

And the daily cost of Trump’s violent escapade against Iran? According to CNN, it’s somewhere between $500 million and over $1 billion per day. The Harvard Kennedy School puts the costs even higher, in some cases hitting $2 billion per day. Our pockets!

What could these dollars be used for instead? The same programs being slashed to pay for these wars at home and abroad: affordable housing and health care, initiatives that address the ravages of climate change, equity programs for those who’ve been marginalized, and free education from pre-school through university level, to name a few.

“On May 1, 2026, educators will join workers, parents, students, and community members to rise up for dignity, justice, and public investment in our lives, not in billionaires' profit margins … May Day is one of many opportunities we will seize to make our voices heard. We won't be silent or ignored. There's too much at stake.”
— National Education Association, the largest labor union in the United States, representing some 3 million teachers, faculty, and staff

Photograph of people at a protest holding signs with statements such as

We also cannot forget the human costs of these wars. According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, over 3,600 people have been killed thus far in Iran, including 1,701 civilians (254 of them children). In Lebanon, some 1,500 deaths have been reported.

And the death toll in Palestine continues to soar: the Gaza Ministry of Health reports that as of April 2026, over 72,000 Palestinians have been reported killed in Israel’s most recent war on Palestine, with thousands more still under the rubble.

We have to remember that it is our government waging these wars in our name and it is on us to raise an anti-war message in all our organizing. Global solidarity must mean more than how a foreign war is impacting our gas or grocery prices.

Photograph of two federal immigration officers in tactical gear with their faces partially covered.

The Threat to the Elections
Given his unpopularity, this year's midterms are a looming threat to Trump’s agenda. His remedy? Trump is pushing several bills that would tilt the elections in his favor.

The SAVE (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) America Act that’s making its way through Congress would require those registering to vote to produce a passport or birth certificate—documents that, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, over 20 million Americans of voting age do not have access to.

Then there’s the Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act, which would eradicate universal mail-in voting and take election administration away from the states and put it in the hands of the federal government.

“May Day offers us an opportunity to test our movement’s ability to do nonviolent, economic disruption. We need to gauge our strength, identify what power we still need to build, and implement a collective plan to get there. We can’t wait to figure this out after Trump has stolen an election—that work must happen now, before it’s too late.”
— Indivisible, a nationwide movement organizing to stop the rise of authoritarianism and build democracy

The worse-case election scenario takes on even more ominous possibilities, like the deployment of ICE agents to polling places to intimidate voters (remember how many legal immigrants and even citizens have been harassed or picked up by ICE?) along with dispatching the National Guard or federal agents from the Department of Justice to seize ballot boxes, declaring the elections rigged. May Day gives us the opportunity to flex our collective muscles as we prepare for Trump’s attack on democratic elections.

SURJ Is Showing Up Across the County
SURJ Bay Area is just one of some 175 chapters nationwide that’s all in this May Day. Bringing more white people into the multiracial movement for economic and racial justice requires sustained on-the-ground organizing, like having one-to-one conversations with neighbors, friends, family members, and networks, and providing ways we can all be in solidarity with each other.

“Organizing for May Day, SURJ Bay Area members are inviting white folks into practicing non-cooperation and being in solidarity with working class people, with immigrants, with undocumented people, who are leading this May Day and the fight against the authoritarian machine. This May Day is so important because we’re showing this regime—this billionaire class—that we have the power: we the people, the consumers, the workers, who make the system run. We also have the power to shut the system down.”
— Mack Boyle, Leadership Team, SURJ Bay Area and the chapter’s representative to Bay Resistance

There are so many ways that you too can make history! You can decide to not go to work or school, or not to shop. If you take even one of these actions, you’ll be joining the nationwide movement sending a powerful message to the billionaires running our government.

We the People aren’t just a few words at the top of one of this country’s founding documents. It is each and every one of us, joining together collectively, to insure that authoritarianism’s stranglehold on this nation is dismantled.

What are you willing to do? What are you willing to risk to stop fascism?
__________________________________________________________________

Sign the May Day Pledge!

Learn more about the Oakland Mobilization led by Sin Fronteras. Follow Sin Fronteras on Instagram

Join the SURJ Contingent at May Day in Oakland!

Learn about the San Francisco Mobilization from Bay Resistance.

Not in Oakland or San Francisco? Find a Mobilization Near You

]]><![CDATA[The Radical Origins of May Day, International Workers’ Day]]>Sun, 19 Apr 2026 17:07:17 GMThttps://www.surjbayarea.org/blogs/april-19th-2026By Felicia Gustin
Millions of people and hundreds of unions and organizations across the U.S. are gearing up for a massive May 1st day of non-cooperation—No Work! No School! No Shopping! In our previous blog, we explored what non-cooperation means and laid out the goals of May Day, International Workers' Day 2026.

As we look to the future, it’s worth revisiting the roots of this day and how it still inspires movements across the globe. Sparked by the state killing of U.S. labor leaders in the fight for the 8-hour workday, May Day continues to be celebrated nearly 150 years later, even without recognition as an official holiday in the U.S.

Drawing of Haymarket massacre - image show;s dozens of police shooting at the crowd, a bomb blast in the background and speaker Samuel Fielden raising his fist from the wagon that served as a stage.

Chicago 1887

“If you think by hanging us, you can stamp out the labor movement, the movement from which the downtrodden millions who toil in want and misery, expect salvation—if that is your opinion, then hang us! Here you will tread upon a spark, but there and there, behind you and in front of you, and everywhere, flames blaze up. It is a subterranean fire. You cannot put it out.”

Those words of labor leader August Spies were uttered from the gallows where he and three others—George Engel, Albert Parsons, and Adolph Fischer—were hung in Chicago on November 11, 1887.

Their deaths did, in fact, ignite what today is celebrated worldwide on May 1st as International Workers’ Day.

It all began in Chicago when labor leaders and anarchist organizers held a protest in Haymarket Square on the evening of May 4th, 1886. Several thousand people showed up to denounce the police killings of six striking workers at a McCormick Harvesting Machine Factory the day before.

That strike was part of a growing labor movement for better working conditions that emerged in the years following the Civil War. At the time, workers in the U.S. averaged 10-hour workdays and labored six days a week, often for very low pay and often in dangerous conditions—injury and death were common."

There were widespread strikes and slow-downs as the demand for the 8-hour day spread across the United States. The response from employers was brutal. Union supporters were fired, lockouts were widespread, and strikebreakers were brought in. Police, along with private security forces like the Pinkertons, were used to violently break up strikes. Newspapers amplified the anti-worker positions of the bosses. In Chicago, tens of thousands of German and Eastern European immigrant workers fueled labor’s demands for better working conditions.

Haymarket Square
It was against this backdrop that the Haymarket Square protest was called. It was peaceful, with a number of speakers addressing workers’ grievances from a wagon that served as the stage. A large group of police watched from the periphery. As the final speaker, Samuel Fielden, was addressing the dwindling crowd, the police marched into the square, demanding that people disperse. “But we are peaceful,” Fielden pleaded, just as someone threw a bomb into the ranks of the approaching police, killing a sergeant. Police then opened fire on the crowd, killing 11 people (seven of them policemen), with as many as 70 people reported wounded.

A brutal anti-union hysteria followed, with police raiding homes and offices of dozens of labor and anarchist activists. Many people were arrested without any connection at all to what went down at Haymarket Square. Newspapers whipped up sensationalist stories about anarchist bombers who sought to undermine civil society.

A drawing of the seven men who were charged in the Haymarket bombing.

In the end, seven men were charged for the death of the one policeman killed by the bomb, even though only two of them had even been present when the bomb went off: Samuel Fielden and August Spies. The others—Albert Parsons, Michael Schwab, Louis Lingg, George Engel, and Adolph Fischer—were indicted for their associations and known militant radicalism.

On November 11, 1887, after many failed appeals, Parsons, Spies, Engel, and Fisher were hung to death. Lingg reportedly committed suicide in his cell, and the remaining organizers were pardoned six years later thanks to a worldwide movement on their behalf.

The Haymarket affair sparked protests across the country. There was a funeral march of 25,000 in Chicago alone. As the late historian Howard Zinn wrote in his seminal book, A People’s History of the United States, “It seemed that the weight of Haymarket had not crushed the labor movement. The year 1886 became known to contemporaries as ‘the year of the great uprising of labor.’”

International Workers’ Day Goes Global

It wasn’t just in the United States that the Haymarket martyrs inspired the workers’ movement. On July 14, 1889, leaders from organized labor and socialist movements from 20 countries meeting in Paris, the “Second International,” voted to designate May 1, 1890, as International Workers’ Day, calling for worldwide demonstrations for the 8-hour workday.

The resolution also honored the memory of the Haymarket martyrs. International Workers’ Day, May Day, was officially born: the following year, demonstrations took place in dozens of countries where it became an annual event, still celebrated to this day.

A woman, depicting liberty, has her arms outstretched in the middle of a wreath filled with flowers and with banners that list workers' aspirations such as shorter work days and no child labor.

“The time will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today!" August Spies’ prophetic words from the gallows still ring true across continents and decades.

May Day 2026
Over a century later, millions of us have pledged to continue the struggle for social, racial, and economic justice, incorporating non-cooperation into May Day. This year we’re flexing our collective muscle by committing to the call—No Work! No School! No Shopping! Together we’ll send a message to the Trump regime that the spirit of the Haymarket martyrs lives on and that people power is taking on the billionaires. Join Us!

Sign the May Day Pledge!

Learn more about the Oakland Mobilization led by Sin Fronteras. Follow Sin Fronteras on Instagram

Join the SURJ Contingent at May Day in Oakland!

Learn about the San Francisco Mobilization from Bay Resistance.

Not in Oakland or San Francisco? Find a Mobilization Near You.

]]><![CDATA[Keep on Keepin’ On: Onward to May Day!]]>Sun, 12 Apr 2026 00:40:30 GMThttps://www.surjbayarea.org/blogs/keep-on-keepin-on-onward-to-may-dayBy Felicia Gustin
After last month’s No Kings protests, many are asking, “So what?” But for those who see such outpourings as pointless or at best, merely symbolic, there are some important factors to consider. First and foremost: we need to grow our movement for racial and economic justice—we need more people! So a mobilization like No Kings is an entryway for people coming out for the first time, for people who are yet to be engaged. It’s a first step, and it’s our responsibility, as organizers, to move them to the next step.

SURJ members holding a banner at No Kings March in Oakland: No to War, Racism, Fascism.

Protests like No Kings also bring us inspiration: the chanting and singing, the bands and banners, the signs and speeches. Joy is inspiring as we join with the thousands of others (or in a small town, dozens of other like-minded people), who have come out because they share our opposition to the Trump regime and our vision for a society that does better for all who live in it.

Protests inspire us and give us courage to carry on, to talk to family and friends, and to perhaps even begin working with an organization—a community or political home to ground and guide us is really important. SURJ is just one of hundreds of organizations that provide such a place.

So after No Kings day, instead of asking, “So what?,” the better question is, “What now?”

And indeed, across the nation, hundreds of organizations and millions of people are preparing to come together with a common purpose: to stand against the billionaires who are waging war on working people in the United States and abroad.

This May 1st or May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, will be more than just another day of protest against Trump’s authoritarianism or a symbolic outpouring of solidarity for working people; it will be a day of non-cooperation, a day when people heed the call: No Work! No School! No Shopping.

What is Non-Cooperation?
Bay Resistance, a powerful local network of community organizations, unions, and neighborhood groups, has been providing trainings here in the Bay Area on non-cooperation as a precursor to May Day 2026. A mass training was held at Oakland Technical High School last October, and again at Mission High School in San Francisco this past March, each attracting some 1,000 participants.

Bay Resistance defines non-cooperation as “the deliberate withholding of labor, buying power, or other forms of participation in a government or other authority.” At the national level, May Day Strong, a coalition of dozens of organizations and unions, amplifies the call for a day of “No School, No Work, No Shopping” to “disrupt the violent billionaire takeover of our country and to put working families first.”

We can see examples of non-cooperation throughout history: from the early 1900s, when non-cooperation helped build a fledgling labor movement, to the multiple times it was used during the Civil Rights movement, and to the anti-war movements from Vietnam to Iraq.

More recently, we saw it in 2006, when a “Day Without an Immigrant” boycott and strike in over 200 U.S. cities brought sectors of the economy to a standstill as millions turned out for massive demonstrations and work stoppages. These non-cooperation actions breathed new life into International Workers’ Day, bringing home the holiday that’s celebrated around the world each year but was “Made in the USA.”

May Day: International Workers’ Day 2026

In that spirit, our next mass mobilization is centered on “No Work! No School! No Shopping!” What does that mean for each of us? It may mean stepping outside of our comfort zone. It may mean taking a risk. We first have to ask ourselves, “What are we willing to do to topple fascism?” And this isn’t just a rhetorical question.

There are consequences for our inaction: from the continued bombing of Iran to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and now its destructive incursion into Lebanon; from the makeover of the U.S. military into evangelical crusaders to the dismantling of long-standing U.S. educational, health, legal, and cultural institutions that impact millions of lives here at home. Our economy is in shambles (but not for the billionaires). ICE is violently tearing apart families and communities. Most of our elected officials have proven useless or unwilling to challenge Trump as he breaks laws regularly and espouses his hopes to inflict war crimes and genocide.

So again, the question: “What are we willing to do to topple fascism?”

On Friday, May 1st, workers across the country are being asked to take the day off. Leading this effort are folks who have the most at stake—working class communities of color, immigrants, undocumented people. They are most at risk and yet they’re taking this risk by exercising non-cooperation. Can their courage inspire us to stand in solidarity with those most directly impacted by Trump’s policies and authoritarianism?

We realize that in some cases taking the day off may not be feasible. But have you ever called in sick? Did your work place carry on without you? And if you can’t take the whole day off, can you take off a half day so you can join marches or rallies in the afternoon?

Likewise, students and educators are also being asked to not go to school or hold classes on that day. Again, there are many ways to do this. For example, we know that school funding is based on average daily enrollment. Maybe Friday can be a class fieldtrip. We have to think creatively. We have to think about what it’s going to take and how each of us are going to help our movement get there.

Many have said it’s going to take a General Strike. But that can’t happen overnight. And it can’t happen in a vacuum. We have to build for it, step by step. Action by action. Think of May Day 2026 as the opening salvo; we have to begin taking the steps to challenge ourselves to challenge the Trump regime.

And if you really can’t consider No Work or No School, everyone is capable of No Shopping—withholding our buying power for just one day.

If millions of people do at least one of these things, the day will be more than a symbolic gesture against the rise of authoritarianism and the demise of democracy—it will shut things down and be felt across workplaces, schools and universities, government offices and businesses nationwide.

The May Day Strong coalition reminds us, “Today, when the billionaires break every rule, it’s going to take more than a rally to stop them.” This International Workers’ Day, we will be flexing our collective muscle in a tremendous day of non-cooperation—showing our unity and strength through a day of no work, no school, no shopping. We will be saying: Workers Over Billionaires!

On that Friday, the Oakland Sin Fronteras coalition will be organizing an East Bay march and resource fair.. In San Francisco, Bay Resistance will be mobilizing people. Actions are in the works for other Bay Area cities as well as across the state and the nation. This 2026 May Day mobilization must be massive. Not just in its turnout, but also in its impact as non-cooperation delivers a mighty message of people power to the billionaires who rule this country. It’s up to every one of us! Let’s do this!

]]><![CDATA[No More Euphemisms for Racial Cleansing: Our Duty Is to Name It and Talk About It]]>Mon, 02 Feb 2026 02:42:37 GMThttps://www.surjbayarea.org/blogs/no-more-euphemisms-for-racial-cleansing-our-duty-is-to-name-it-and-talk-about-itBy Erica Wang, SURJ San Francisco

White America has a history of using euphemisms as code for things that make us emotionally uncomfortable, but not uncomfortable enough to take action.

We call certain neighborhoods “sketchy” without talking about how our redlining practices segregated them and keep their residents in a cycle of poverty. White liberals often say they are “colorblind,” and while that sounds sincere, it actually erases the reality of racialized treatment and maintains the status quo by refusing to see inequity. Those with racial privilege living under this authoritarian regime can easily fall into naming the harm done by our American Gestapo as merely “immigration enforcement” when actually it is an attempt at racial cleansing.

PictureAn ICE agent holds onto the backpack of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos as he is detained with his dad on January 20th in Minnesota. He is wearing a blue knit

Photo credit: Ali Daniels

If the actions in Minneapolis, Portland, Los Angeles, Chicago, and many other cities across the nation were just about unlawful immigration, we wouldn't be seeing US citizens and green-card holders taken, birthright citizenship challenged, and so many atrocities against all people of color, regardless of citizenship or lawful residency.

Under the guise of enforcing immigration laws, federal agents have committed homicides, kidnappings, maimings, thefts, civil rights violations, and a host of other crimes. Euphemistic phrases such as “enhanced enforcement,” “security operations,” or “public safety” mask these abuses and make it easier for elected officials to justify them or dismiss them as “training issues.”

Sadly, America has a long history of deliberately racializing groups of people based on skin color or ethnicity or country of origin and then removing or excluding them from the territories where they reside, most visibly Indigenous peoples and Black Americans.

Native nations were pushed off ancestral lands through warfare, treaties made under duress, broken agreements, and settlement policies that transferred their land to white settlers and confined them to shrinking territories. The 1830 Indian Removal Act authorized the forced removal of tens of thousands of Native people from the Southeast to “Indian Territory,” producing the Cherokee “Trail of Tears” and other death marches in which many thousands died or were killed.

“Sundown towns” emerged across much of the United States—places that expelled Black people each night or barred them from living there by threats, racist ordinances, and violence. In her pivotal Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, Isabel Wilkerson notes that Nazi officials in the 1930s closely examined American Jim Crow laws and other race statutes as a model system when they drafted the Nuremberg Laws that stripped Jews of rights and banned “mixed” marriages. But even these officials balked at the extreme US standard of the one-drop rule and declined to copy it. Take that in. The German Nazis thought our American White Supremacist System was too extreme.

Rarely do we talk about America’s white supremacist history in “polite company” or name the ways it continues today, let alone work in allyship with those who have felt state violence for generations.

Under our current fascist government, it is getting harder and harder for white Americans NOT to talk about these blatant atrocities, but we must unmask not only America’s secret police but also our own vocabulary, engineered to keep the powerful comfortable. When we name this oppression as racial cleansing, people might better see the moral stakes for what they truly are and resist the normalization of these brutal acts.

Naming alone does not stop federal raids, murders, kidnappings, or deportations, but it does shape public consciousness. We must continue to support local immigrant justice organizations, show up to court or community defense, and contact our representatives repeatedly. And it is imperative that we share accurate information, change our everyday language, challenge euphemisms in conversations, and center the experiences of those most harmed.

_______________________________

This blog was originally published by Indivisible SF. Think about sharing and talking about it with 3-5 friends. Spread the word — this is how we change the narrative.

]]><![CDATA[California law forbids ICE from making arrests at courthouses. Officers are showing up anyway.]]>Fri, 10 Oct 2025 05:13:51 GMThttps://www.surjbayarea.org/blogs/california-law-forbids-ice-from-making-arrests-at-courthouses-officers-are-showing-up-anywayby Nigel Duara, CalMatters.

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

In summary

A California law bans immigration enforcement at courthouses. ICE under the Trump administration is detaining people there, anyway, arguing it’s a safe place to apprehend someone.

The Fresno County Courthouse on Sept. 17, 2025. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

Jennifer isn’t saying her brother is a saint. Far from it. He was convicted of domestic violence last year and entered a one-year intervention program. He graduated July 23 in a Fresno county courtroom where a judge told him he had done a good job.

Minutes later, while leaving the courthouse, five men and one woman in plain clothes approached him.

“Someone came up to him, got in his face and said his name,” said Jennifer, who did not want CalMatters to use her last name because she was concerned about immigration enforcement agents targeting other relatives. “And they grabbed him, and I tried to get between them.”

Her brother, who is undocumented, didn’t provide them with an identification.

“They shoved him in this car, which was a plain, beat-up van,” Jennifer said. “Then one of them asked if they should wait for ‘the other guy,’ and a different person said ‘we’re good with this one,’ like he was just part of their quota that day.”

Her brother is already back in Mexico.

Social media is awash with videos of federal agents making arrests at immigration court hearings, which are on federal property, inside federal courthouses.

What’s different about the detention of Jennifer’s brother is that it took place on the grounds of a state courthouse. Local media have reported the detention of at least two dozen other people on the grounds of California court buildings in Stanislaus, Glenn, Los Angeles and Fresno counties, and NPR reports federal immigration detentions in state courthouses across the country, from the Chicago suburbs to a county south of Boston.

During the last Trump administration, California Democrats were so concerned about ICE making arrests at superior court buildings and potentially discouraging witnesses from testifying that they passed a law to forbid that kind of enforcement.

Picking people up at a courthouse can have a “potential chilling effect” on witnesses, victims and even suspects who are afraid to show up for court, California Supreme Court Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero said earlier this summer.

“Making courthouses a focus of immigration enforcement hinders, rather than helps, the administration of justice by deterring witnesses and victims from coming forward and discouraging individuals from asserting their rights,” Guerrero said.

By waiting outside the courthouse, immigration agents appear to be complying with California law, though it’s unclear whether the word “courthouse” in the law includes the grounds outside the courthouse. Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office wouldn’t provide what it a spokesperson called “legal analysis” of those actions when CalMatters asked about them.

But at least one immigration enforcement action was a clear violation of state law.
In Butte County, immigration enforcement agents conducted an operation inside the county’s Oroville courthouse on July 28. State law forbids civil arrests “in a courthouse while attending a court proceeding or having legal business in the courthouse.”

“As far as the court is aware, ICE had not conducted enforcement actions inside one of its courthouses prior to Monday, July 28th,” Butte County Superior Court executive officer Sharif Elmallah said in a statement.

“The court is concerned by the potential chilling effect and other potential adverse impacts on participation in the legal system that may occur due to these enforcement actions being conducted in and around courthouses.”

As with the package of bills Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Saturday meant to keep immigration enforcement agents out of schools and hospitals, it’s unclear what California law enforcement can actually do to enforce the law forbidding immigration agents from making arrests inside courthouses.

The state Justice Department’s guidance to state courthouses provides some latitude to immigration enforcement agents. They may make arrests inside a courthouse if the case involves a national security threat, someone’s life is in danger, evidence is in danger or agents are in “hot pursuit.”

Failing all of that, under California law, immigration agents can enter a courthouse to detain someone whom they believe poses a danger to public safety if they can’t find an alternate location and they have the approval of a federal immigration enforcement supervisor.

ICE defends courthouse arrests

Jennifer believes immigration agents ran her brother’s name through their own database when it was posted on the Fresno County Superior Court’s public online court docket, then waited for him to appear.

In response to questions from CalMatters, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement responded with a July quote from a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson which asserted the agency’s right to make arrests of “a lawbreaker where you find them.” The spokesperson also said the arrests are safer for immigration agents, since the people they’re arresting have been through security.

Policies on courthouse arrests have seesawed through Democratic and Republican administrations.

The Obama administration in 2011 designated schools, hospitals and religious buildings as “sensitive locations” where immigration agents need permission to operate. ICE at the time said the list of sensitive locations was longer than those three types of places and urged agents to get permission from higher-ups before making arrests at any organization assisting “victims of crime.”

Trump undid that policy in 2018 with a directive instructing ICE agents to make arrests at state and local courthouses. They proceeded to do so, even in California. In 2021, the Biden administration reversed that guidance, putting courthouses mostly off-limits.In May, Wired reported that the new Trump administration went even further than its 2018 directive, explicitly removing instructions to agents that they should respect local laws that would prevent them from arresting people.

Are immigrants avoiding court?

Jennifer said word has already gotten out among the immigrant community in Fresno to stop attending court. Family members even tried to discourage her brother from appearing on the day he was detained.

“In general, people are just avoiding going to the courthouse, even after meeting with groups who inform them that there’s consequences to not showing up,” said Nora Zaragoza-Yáñez, a program manager for the Valley Watch Network, an immigrant rights group.

A Fresno County Superior Court spokesperson said the court hasn’t seen a change in the number of people appearing, but noted that in a county of 1 million people, such shifts among a relatively small population would be hard to notice.

The state Department of Justice said it’s aware of the courthouse arrests. As a former member of the Assembly, Bonta, now the state attorney general, was a co-author of the law that was meant to deter immigration enforcement at California courthouses.

“We are very concerned with the Trump administration’s actions, which make our communities less safe by deterring victims or witnesses of crimes from coming forward out of fear of getting caught up in the President’s mass deportation dragnet,” the California Department of Justice said in an unsigned statement to CalMatters.

]]><![CDATA[Behind the masks: Who are the people rounding up immigrants in California?]]>Mon, 28 Jul 2025 02:34:31 GMThttps://www.surjbayarea.org/blogs/behind-the-masks-who-are-the-people-rounding-up-immigrants-in-californiaThis story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

A group of law enforcement officers in full riot gear stands in formation at night, illuminated by bright vehicle headlights behind them. The officers wear camouflage uniforms, helmets with visors, gas masks, and carry batons. A police vehicle is partially visible in the background.

A line of federal immigration agents and protesters stand-off near the Glass House Farms facility outside Camarillo on July 10, 2025. Protesters gathered after federal agents conducted an immigration raid earlier in the day. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

By Michael Lozano , CalMatters.

They appeared in plain clothes outside a San Diego hotel, wore camouflage as they raided a Los Angeles factory and arrived with military gear at a Ventura County farm.

The presence of thousands of hard-to-identify federal agents is a new fact of life in Southern California this summer as the Trump administration carries out the president’s promised deportations.

Many residents may assume these masked agents are officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). But that’s not always the case.

Many of them belong to the Border Patrol, the agency that traditionally has policed the nation’s border with Mexico. But the Trump administration sent officers from other agencies to Los Angeles, too, including the FBI and special tactical teams from the Department of Homeland Security not widely seen until now.

Democrats in California’s Legislature have proposed measures to unmask the federal agents.

Senate Bill 627, the “No Secret Police Act,” seeks to prohibit all local, state and federal officers from using masks with some exceptions. SB 805, the “No Vigilantes Act,” would require that officers clearly display their name or badge number. It’s disputed whether the state can regulate federal officers and law enforcement agencies are lobbying against the proposals.

Federal regulations state that ICE and Border Patrol agents should identify themselves when arresting someone “as soon as it is practical and safe to do so.”

And the public is allowed to ask federal agents to identify themselves.

But David Levine, a professor at UC Law San Francisco said, “they can ask but it doesn’t mean they’ll get the information.”

The number of sweeps and detentions appeared to slow this week after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order, finding that agents stopped people based on someone’s race, language, accent, presence at a specific location or job. For ensuing stops, agents must have “reasonable suspicion” that doesn’t consider those factors “alone or in combination,” according to the judge’s order.

While ICE is a different agency than Border Patrol, both are part of the Department of Homeland Security and carry out immigration enforcement.

The difference may not always matter much, but misidentifying an agency can confuse the public, as it did with the sighting of federal agents outside Dodger Stadium in June. The agents reportedly had no visible names or badges and attempted to enter the stadium’s parking lots. The Dodgers put out a statement that “ICE agents” had been denied entry to the stadium. ICE denied it was ever there; the Department of Homeland Security then clarified that it had been Customs and Border Protection agents at the venue.

Images on social media show a constellation of federal agencies supporting immigration sweeps in Southern California. Here’s how you can identify them.

Border Patrol far from the border

Three heavily armed U.S. Border Patrol agents in tactical gear stand outside in a city setting with palm trees and buildings in the background. All are wearing helmets, face coverings, and body armor. A zoomed-in inset highlights a round shoulder patch with yellow text reading “U.S. Border Patrol” over a blue map of the United States. The photo is black and white, except for the yellow and blue colors of the patch in the inset.

Federal agents descend on MacArthur Park in Los Angeles on July 7, 2025. Photo by J.W. Hendricks for CalMatters

Border Patrol agents often wear green uniforms and “Border Patrol” and “U.S. Customs and Border Protection” might be labeled on their badge, vest, shoulder, back, bucket hat or cap, and usually in yellow text over blue.

Their marked vehicles tend to be white with a green slash, reading “Border Patrol” on the side.

Some might confuse Border Patrol with Customs and Border Protection officers. Those officials wear blue and usually stay stationed at ports of entry.

A group of heavily armed federal agents in tactical gear and face coverings stand together during a law enforcement operation on a sunny street lined with palm trees. The agents wear vests labeled “POLICE” and carry rifles. A highlighted inset shows a tan patch on one agent’s sleeve that reads “U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Department of Homeland Security,” surrounding an eagle emblem. In the background, a crowd of onlookers watches from the sidewalk. The image is in black and white, except for the brown and tan patch shown in color in the inset.

People clash with U.S. Border Patrol after a traffic collision with one of their vehicles during an immigration raid in Bell on June 20, 2025. Photo by Carlin Stiehl, Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

You may be wondering why Border Patrol agents are conducting immigration operations deep into Los Angeles neighborhoods, rather than staying closer to the border.

Border Patrol agents can search vehicles without a warrant throughout much of the country. They’re allowed to operate 100 miles from any edge of the country and coastline, reaching roughly two-thirds of the U.S. population, according to a CalMatters investigation and documentary produced in partnership with Evident and Bellingcat.

Since its creation by Congress in 1924, the Border Patrol’s role has been to prevent unauthorized entry into the United States. The agency polices trade, narcotics, contraband and combats human trafficking.

A group of U.S. Border Patrol agents in tactical gear stand among a crowd of civilians during a public demonstration or event. The agents are wearing camouflage uniforms, tactical vests labeled “POLICE,” and some have their faces covered with masks or balaclavas. A prominent yellow patch on one agent’s vest reads “POLICE – U.S. BORDER PATROL,” highlighted in a color inset that zooms in on the patch for clarity. The crowd around them includes people holding signs and an American flag, with various expressions ranging from curiosity to concern. The image is black and white except for the color inset

Residents confront federal agents and Border Patrol agents as residents scream over their presence in their neighborhood on Atlantic Boulevard in the city of Bell on June 19, 2025. Photo by Genaro Molina, Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The agency has a SWAT-like unit known as BORTAC, or Border Patrol Tactical Unit, which has also been documented in immigrant hubs such as MacArthur Park, Los Angeles’ Toy District, and Bell. Border Patrol sources describe the unit’s use for “high-risk” purposes.

In fatigues, the unit wears a “BORTAC” patch on the left shoulder with, at times, black undershirts.

Customs and Border Protection also deployed its tactical Special Response Team in Los Angeles’ North Hills late June, executing a federal search warrant at a “human smuggling hub” tied to national security threats, arresting two, according to the agency.

ICE in police vests
ICE agents might wear an “ICE” patch on the front or back of their vest, usually in black-and-white, though they also can carry a badge of the same design in gold. The ICE emblem features the U.S. Department of Homeland Security eagle seal.

ICE agents might display “police” on their uniform. The ACLU wants ICE to stop using the word “police” on uniforms, contending the agency is impersonating local law enforcement officers

After 9/11, the Bush administration created the Department of Homeland Security, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement within it shortly thereafter. ICE is tasked with enforcing trade and immigration laws, including within the interior of the country.

The Cato Institute found that ICE booked over 200,000 people into detention between October 1 and June 14. More than 93% of book-ins had no violent conviction and 65% had no criminal conviction whatsoever.

A group of four U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, wearing tactical vests and armed with weapons, detain a man in a white shirt with his hands cuffed behind his back next to a car. Blurred photo via U.S. Marshals Service Los Angeles

ICE itself has a few enforcement divisions. That’s why some ICE uniforms might read ERO—part of their “Enforcement and Removal Operations” team—or HSI for “Homeland Security Investigations.”

In 2024, ICE launched a rebrand and created the investigations unit to develop cases, and improve public outreach, including with local law enforcement, an HSI official told ABC News.

According to its website, HSI combats a broad array of transnational-related crime, ranging from narcotics smuggling to cybercrime, and from human trafficking to intellectual property theft.

ERO meanwhile manages all aspects of the typical immigration enforcement process: identifying, arresting, GPS monitoring, and deporting unauthorized immigrants. Their site description also says they seek to deport priority undocumented immigrants after they are released from U.S. jails and prisons. They can also assist multi-agency task forces in arresting unauthorized immigrants without any other criminal history who are “deemed a threat to public safety.”

A group of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents in tactical gear stand on a residential street during a daytime raid. Photo courtesy of Pedro Rios

ICE also deployed its Special Response Team (SRT), decked in military wear and weaponry, in San Diego late May. It sent a dozen or more of those officers to the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet near southeast Los Angeles in June, detaining two people for deportation.

Agents from those teams will often feature their logo on the shoulder and will be seen in heavy military-like uniforms. The teams are meant to engage “high risk” situations, according to ICE.

Rare National Guard deployment

Armed National Guard members in camouflage uniforms and tactical gear stand in a parking lot near a silver SUV. Two plainclothes officers, one with a vest labeled

National Guard troops stand guard as federal agents make an immigration arrest in Los Angeles. Photo via ICEgov on X

National Guard troops had been most visible outside a federal building during protests in downtown Los Angeles, but have also accompanied a few immigration enforcement operations. In mid-June, National Guard soldiers accompanied federal agents raiding marijuana farms around Thermal, a desert town near Coachella, where about 70 undocumented immigrants were arrested, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

On July 7, about 90 California National Guard soldiers swept through the Los Angeles immigrant hub of MacArthur Park, a defense official said, to protect immigration agents from potentially hostile crowds, according to the Associated Press. They also were on site in Carpinteria last week.

The National Guard troops in L.A. wear Army uniforms. Soldiers in the state units have patches on their left shoulder that show a raven, a sunburst, or a sunburst on top a diamond, each in black and green color schemes. Troops will also have a full color U.S. flag on the right shoulder. The patch under that, if any, can vary and may be based on a soldier’s past deployments.

Part of the U.S. military, the National Guard is able to serve both domestically and globally for state and federal duties, assisting with natural disasters, border security, civil unrest, overseas combat, counter-drug efforts and more. Soldiers largely stay in their home state and can be called on by the state governor or president.

Gov. Gavin Newsom opposed President Trump’s decision to send the troops to Los Angeles, and the assignment marked the first time that a president has deployed the National Guard over the objections of a governor since the Civil Rights era.

More federal law enforcement officers
In January, a Homeland Security memo called for Justice Department agents to carry out immigration enforcement, according to ABC News. Deputized bureaus include the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the U.S. Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Prisons receiving the “same authority already granted to the FBI.”

Officers’ affiliations can be seen on their vests, jackets, or at times, their shoulder patches.

Agents wearing FBI fatigues were most visible in the worksite sweep at Ambiance Apparel in LA’s Fashion District, arguably the first major operation of the current wave of raids.

On June 10, FBI Los Angeles’ X account touted its collaboration with an ICE operation in Ventura County. They have also participated in other immigration raids across the country.

A spokesperson with the Justice Department declined to comment on how it deployed agents from various agencies. In early June, the FBI told KTLA that it is participating in immigration enforcement in Los Angeles and nationwide “as directed by the Attorney General,” supporting with SWAT, intelligence and more.

The ATF was also seen at the Ambiance Apparel raid. The DEA was there, too, and has since collaborated with ICE in the region.

On X, U.S. Marshals touted themselves as “on the front lines of immigration enforcement” in Los Angeles while showing officers interviewing a man on a bike. Marshals were also on site at a Ventura County marijuana farm raid where more than 200 people were arrested.

Can California unmask federal agents?

A person wearing military-style camouflage, sunglasses, and a tan balaclava sits in the driver’s seat of a dark vehicle, facing forward. Their arm rests on the open window. The reflection in their sunglasses reveals figures in the street. A child’s face is visible through the passenger window, slightly out of focus. The background features colorful cartoonish smiley faces painted on a wall.

A federal agent sits in a vehicle while surrounded by an angry crowd after an immigrant raid on Atlantic Boulevard In the city of Bell on June 19, 2025. Photo by Genaro Molina, Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The use of masked agents without clearly identifying uniforms has confused the public, including local police receiving reports of kidnappings.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned in March that reports of ICE impersonations were growing. Alleged federal agent impersonations have occurred in Huntington Park, Wisconsin, Philadelphia and elsewhere.

“We don’t even know who these people are. It’s so dangerous, it’s so horrific, and it’s time to put standards in place,” said Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat who is backing two proposals that would compel law enforcement officers to go without masks and display identification.

The Trump administration maintains that the masks are necessary to protect officers’ identities as they carry out investigations.

“So, I’m sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks but I’m not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line and their family on the line because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is,” said acting ICE Director Todd Lyons in a press conference early June.

And some law enforcement experts say the federal government has that authority.

“Certain legislators are giving a false sense of hope that California can legislate laws to control the practices of federal agents,” said Ed Obayashi, a longtime sheriff’s deputy in California and policy adviser to the Modoc County Sheriff’s Office.

“They cannot do that—bottom line. Plain and simple. Federal law is supreme.”

Acknowledging potential legal disputes, Wiener said he’s willing to test the “time-sensitive” bills in the courts.

“Federal employees can’t just come in and ignore all California laws,” he said. “There are laws that they have to follow.”

]]><![CDATA[Solidarity in Motion: The 2025 Ride for Palestine]]>Sun, 27 Jul 2025 23:31:27 GMThttps://www.surjbayarea.org/blogs/solidarity-in-motion-the-2025-ride-for-palestine“It was a beautiful showing of solidarity for the people of Gaza.” That’s how Abbey Springer, captain of Team SURJ Bay Area, described the 2025 Ride for Palestine held Sunday, July 20. “It was so incredible to see hundreds of people riding for Palestine and in doing so, raise over $450,000 for MECA!”

The Ride for Palestine is the annual fundraiser for the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA), to support its programs for children and their families in Palestine and the Middle East. Based in Berkeley, California, MECA has, since 1988, sent more than $42 million in aid to children in Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon.

Some members of Team SURJ gather before the Ride for a photo taken by a Jewish Voice for Peace team member.

In recent weeks, the situation in Gaza has grown especially dire and fundraising efforts to support MECA’s work there have amped up. Team SURJ, one of 50 teams in this year’s Ride for Palestine, raised some $21,000, exceeding the original goal to raise $13,000. SURJ is among the top 5 fundraising teams.

Janie Pinterits found out about the Ride in the SURJ weekly newsletter. “I was delighted to be able to be part of this team,” she said. “And I have great friends and family who were eager to find a way to donate to help the people in Gaza, the children there most of all. My community just said thank you so much for giving us an avenue to offer support.”

There were 550 riders this year—100 more than last year—and Team SURJ had 20 of them. Some were SURJ chapter members, like Lo Wesely who was riding for the second year in a row - “I love that we are raising lots of money for MECA. It feels really powerful and when I asked my community for money, there were people who I didn’t expect would be willing to support this cause, but they did. And that felt really energizing.”

A woman wearing a kefiyah and bike helmet and holding a red, green black and white Palestinian flag that says FREE PALESTINE stands by her bicycle along the route, with a family on bikes in the background.

Some on the SURJ team were friends of SURJ members and there were even friends of friends – like Sky Powers (pictured left), the team’s #1 fundraiser, who signed up for the SURJ team with her husband. “I’m half Palestinian so this cause means so much to me,” she explained. “I messaged all of my co-workers, my past co-workers, my family, and close friends and the results were worth it. And I’m going to keep going because [fundraising] runs through the end of August.”

Team SURJ was also intergenerational – the youngest riders were ages 6 and 11, the oldest, in their 70s. Eleven-year-old Rumi R. said, “It was very fun biking 11 miles and seeing how many other people support the Palestinian people like I do.” Her message for the children of Palestine? “I would probably say something funny to make them laugh because it’s not really a fun time to be there.”

Gather for Gaza, the Post-Ride Communal Gathering

Following the Ride for Palestine, riders and supporters gathered for an outdoor luncheon of Palestinian food and a program that showcased Palestinian music and dance along with several speakers. A chilly, cloudy Bay Area morning bike ride gave way to an afternoon filled with food, laughter, joy, art, and celebration. Hundreds came together, at a time when there is so much hopelessness and rage, to show up for Palestine and support a beloved organization that has been working against all odds for almost four decades.

A scene at the luncheon with adults and children seated at tables and standing in groups in front of a large banner that reads, STOP STARVING CHILDREN IN GAZA.

Photo of the post-ride gathering of riders and supporters by Brooke Anderson @movementphotographer.

Journalist Nora Barrows-Friedman, Associate Editor of The Electronic Intifada, read a message from Wafaa El-Derawi, MECA’s coordinator of Gaza Projects, to the gathering. “We are still living through the horrors of genocide,” reported El-Derawi. “Misery, pain, poverty, hunger, thirst, disease, humiliation—the ugliest of human suffering—are now our daily reality.”

These words underscored the current tragedy. “More than 80% of the Gaza Strip has been destroyed. Dozens of children have died from starvation, thousands have been killed under relentless bombardment, and many more remain trapped beneath the rubble. Death here is collective…Everything is cloaked in darkness—our only light now is you, your support, and your solidarity. That is our only hope to stop the genocide and preserve the dignity of those who are still alive.”

El-Derawi’s message also highlighted MECA’s current efforts in Gaza. “We are still here on the ground, with you. Despite our exhaustion and pain, we have no choice but to go on. This is the path we chose together, answering the call of humanity, justice, conscience, and responsibility. Today, with what little strength we have left, we continue fighting to preserve the dignity of our people. We distribute water to thousands of families and provide hot meals, even if they are smaller with less quality. We supply diapers and milk for babies. We are setting up clinics to treat the growing cases of malnutrition and to provide basic healthcare.

“We, as well, sing with the children—for Gaza, for justice—as part of our psychosocial support projects. You are helping us weave the last threads of hope for the people here.

“From the heart, thank you. None of this would be possible without your solidarity. We are deeply grateful for your determination to raise your voice—our voice—and for your unwavering stand with humanity.”

Rashida Tlaib, a woman with long dark hair and sunglasses wearing a denim jacket and a narrow kefiyah, speaks into a microphone in front of a green leafy background.

Photo of Rep. Rashida Tlaib by by Brooke Anderson @movementphotographer.

The importance of human solidarity was also shared by a surprise speaker who took to the stage at the post-Ride event. “Being with all of you gives me hope!” Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) (pictured left) told the cheering crowd. “More and more Americans, more of our neighbors of all different backgrounds, are standing up and finally saying together, ‘Free, Free Palestine.’ (It’s) everywhere I go, and I know it’s not just because I’m Palestinian and the only member of Congress who is…it is because people understand the shared humanity, that people, no matter their faith or ethnicity, no matter the fact that they were born Palestinian, they deserve to live too.”

The Congresswoman praised the important work of MECA as well as all the people who fundraised and turned out in support of the Ride for Palestine. “You all being here…saying ‘we don’t believe that our country should be investing in genocide,’ you’re here investing in MECA and supporting MECA.”

“Sometimes I suffer from this feeling of guilt while watching images of children starving to death, that I can’t be joyful.” Rep. Tlaib told the crowd. “But we can be joyful in this resistance. It is resistance to be joyful and saying unapologetically, (we), the anti-war, anti-genocide, pro-the-work-that-MECA-is-doing, pro-the movement-around-liberating-Palestine, all of us can come with joy, saying to the Palestinian people, we’re here, we love you, we want you to live, we want you to know that not everyone agrees with those who are in power…We have to continue to fight and cause good trouble!”

Fundraising for the Middle East Children’s Alliance Ride for Palestine Fundraiser continues until August 31 so please donate here on Team SURJ’s page.

]]><![CDATA[Bay Area Rapid Response Resources - 2025 Edition]]>Sun, 13 Jul 2025 16:06:21 GMThttps://www.surjbayarea.org/blogs/bay-area-rapid-response-resources-2025-editionMany things have changed since we last published a set of rapid response resources in 2018. We want our community to have up-to-date information on how to Show Up for Racial Justice with authoritarianism rising around us.

What resources exist about how to interact with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)?

Consider ordering, or printing at home, a set of Red Cards from the Immigration Legal Resource Center. We recommend distributing these cards to members of your communities, and keeping one near the entrances to your home. These cards are available in a variety of languages and provide a brief set of instructions on how to exercise our constitutional rights.
The American Civil Liberties Union has published detailed information on the constitutional rights which apply to citizens and immigrants alike. Consider reading this guide on what to do if ICE or another law enforcement agency shows up at your home, or if you are stopped while traveling.
The Immigrant Defense Project has published a variety of information, including infographics, in a variety of languages to help us know our rights with ICE.

Rapid Response Hotlines
If you observe ICE activity it is important to calmly report as much information as you can to one of the local hotlines. Do not post on social media, and do not engage in gossip about the activity. The hotlines are in place to help ensure the spread of confirmed information. Consider saving the numbers for the areas you frequent in your phone under an easy-to-remember name.

The Alameda County Immigration Legal Education Partnership runs a rapid response hotline for anyone in Alameda County who has recently seen, interacted with, or been detained by ICE. This number is available Monday through Friday from 6am to 6pm. 510-241-4011.
The San Francisco Immigrant Legal & Education Network co-runs a rapid response network helping people respond to heightened enforcement actions by ICE in San Francisco. This number is available 24 hours a day. 415-200-1548.
Stand Together Contra Costa provides a hotline for rapid response and immigration legal services in Contra Costa County. This number is available Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm. 925-900-5151.
North Bay Rapid Response Network provides a hotline to report potential ICE arrests or activity in Sonoma County. This number is available 24 hours a day. 707-800-4544.

]]><![CDATA[“No One Walks Out Alone:” Jail Support at Santa Rita]]>Sun, 18 May 2025 06:15:16 GMThttps://www.surjbayarea.org/blogs/no-one-walks-out-alone-jail-support-at-santa-ritaBy Felicia Gustin

It’s one of the largest county jails in the United States and larger than most California prisons. Santa Rita Jail, located in Dublin, California, also has one of the highest rates of in-custody deaths for county jails in the state. In 2017, one such victim, 23-year-old father Dujuan Armstrong, was only meant to serve a weekend at Santa Rita, but he never came home, killed by sheriff deputies while in custody.

In Dujuan’s honor, the Anti Police-Terror Project (APTP), a Black-led Oakland-based coalition, began providing material support to folks being released from the jail as “a small but meaningful way to address the harm caused by incarceration in our community.”

Two tables and some bins are set up on a wide walkway in front of an official sign saying 'Santa Rita Jail' with the name of Sheriff Yesenia L. Sanchez. On the tables are baskets of food and containers of drinks. The bins are full of items with an attached homemade sign that says 'FREE FOOD.' A few lights shine in the night sky in the background.

Tables with free food and drinks and bins with free clothing set up on a Friday night in front of the Santa Rita Jail sign. Photo by Mack Boyle.

As APTP explains on their website, “We show up at the gates when our people are released from custody—offering warmth, resources, and connection…We believe no one should walk out of jail alone.”

Derrick Benson, APTP’s Family Resource Coordinator, manages the jail support program. He knows first-hand what incarceration is like, having served time himself. “I have a personal stake because I have been personally impacted,” he tells me. Derrick emphasizes the significance of coming out of jail and being greeted by a group of people who offer hot drinks, snacks, warm clothes, and a friendly smile. “When you get out, it’s a feeling that’s indescribable, but when you’re met with compassion and resources, you’re given hope, even when you’re not a hopeful person.”

APTP’s jail support has drawn volunteers from several organizations including SURJ Bay Area. Mack Boyle, who works with SURJ’s Palestine Solidarity Campaign, recently began volunteering on Friday nights. “A lot of my organizing has been political education, facilitation, building the world we want to live in, but I hadn’t been involved in a mutual aid effort like this before.”

A smiling person stands behind a table covered with a tablecloth and laid with coffee and cups, milk, sweetener, and bottles of water. The adjacent table has baskets with tangerines, cookies and pastries.Picture

SURJ jail support volunteer, Mack Boyle, stands behind a table with pastries, cookies, fruit, and drinks. Photo by Anna Blackshaw

“People are surprised we’re there,” Mack points out. “They’re immensely grateful and appreciative. It’s amazing to feel the human connection in that moment.”

On a typical Friday night, 30-40 people are released from Santa Rita—some of them have been able to make bail, some had a misdemeanor and are let go with a citation, others have been found innocent. All of them share a sense of disorientation. Then they are greeted by SURJ members and other volunteers at a table offering pizza, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and snacks. They provide clothing like underwear, pants, beanies, and hoodies, which are especially welcome since many are coming out into the cold night with only the t-shirt they had on when they were jailed. Volunteers also provide toiletry items for unhoused people. But perhaps more important is the offer of a smile, a friendly face, and sometimes, a deep conversation.

Mack says volunteering for jail support has been a transformative experience. “The solidarity model of mutual aid, the understanding that we are extensions of each other—it’s deeply humbling and feels like I’m practicing my values of abolition in a real way that has high impact as people are being released from a cage. And in that moment, you are offering someone dignity and being seen when, for them, it might feel like one of the most shameful moments of their life.”

Longtime volunteer Lew Williams agrees. “For us, greeting people with warmth and supplies can be deeply satisfying. It's a way for us to act in an immediate, concrete, personal way to put our abolitionist values in action.” Lew has been doing Santa Rita jail support for several years and serves as SURJ’s point person for the program. While APTP has been providing the food and clothing, Lew has been drumming up SURJ volunteers.

Lew emphasizes that it’s easy for folks to get involved. “There’s often just a brief orientation on Zoom. We also partner volunteers with someone who has done jail support before. There’s no long-term commitment required.”

“It’s a low-lift, high-impact opportunity. Just hop in the car and go,” replies Mack when asked what they would say to someone considering volunteering. “It’s easy – you’re just hanging out, talking to people, being a warm, friendly face, providing folks with food and clothes for the night. It’s a way to practice the care we want to have with each other.”

But as Mack points out, it goes even deeper. “The reciprocity for me is the connection, the shared humanity. Just talking to someone right after they’ve been released, about where they’re heading, about their family and kids, whatever their story is—I think about all of these humans and all of their stories.”

Jail support is a powerful program for people at the end of a dehumanizing experience. Mack adds, “It just reminds me that every human is a whole universe, a whole galaxy, with so many stories. It’s an opportunity to just provide folks with love and care no matter what the hell happened to them, to provide them with a little shared humanity, connection, and dignity.”

Interested in volunteering for jail support? Email info@surjbayarea.org and put Jail Support in the subject line. A SURJ member will be in touch.

Interested in helping to keep the jail support program going? In these challenging economic times, APTP needs money and supplies to continue providing resources for jail support. There are 2 concrete ways you can help:

1. Make a donation – every dollar helps! If you donate via Venmo or PayPal, then you can specify it’s for jail support. Or you can donate to APTP here.

2. Donate to the clothing drive – Drop off new or gently-used sweatpants, hoodies, beanies, hygiene kits, or new socks and underwear at The People’s House, 893 Willow Street, Oakland, from 3:00–7:00 pm on Mondays and 1st and 3rd Fridays.

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