Push for Peace; Hold the Line Against ICE

Contrarian Calls to Action: How to make a difference for democracy, March 12-19

Democracy is not a spectator sport. Whether you want to exercise your right to vote, join a protest, call your elected officials, run for office, or keep tabs on the week’s hottest issues and protests, The Contrarian has you covered.

Here are our top suggestions for getting involved in the days ahead. These are heated times; we encourage non-violent and lawful activism.

Oppose the Illegal War in Iran

Call on lawmakers to block funding for Donald Trump’s war on Iran. Indivisible has created a form where you can automatically send a message to your members of Congress demanding cessation of hostilities, oversight, accountability, and a vote on a war powers resolution.

Join or organize a peaceful anti-war protest. Find resources here.

Amplify Human Stories

Use your voice to amplify the humanitarian cost of war on Iran. Much of the conversation about the conflict is centered around its legality and strategy, sidelining the already-massive human toll, including the deaths of at least seven American service members and a catastrophic strike on a girl’s school in Iran. Read Refugee International’s warning of a “cataclysmic” humanitarian crisis or watch its companion webinar. Learn about the devastating impact of the war in neighboring countries, such as Lebanon and Afghanistan, and share with your in-person and online networks.

Demand Epstein Accountability

The Department of Justice is turning a blind eye to Epstein collaborators. Pressure your representatives to reveal the full rot of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking network and hold criminals accountable. That includes releasing all documents relating to Donald Trump, many of which still appear to have been covered up. Call for the ouster of Commerce Secretary and Epstein associate Howard Lutnick and obstructionist Attorney General Pam Bondi. Turn up the heat on companies, universities and other institutions to cut ties with Epstein cronies.

Hold the Line on ICE Funding

The Department of Homeland Security remains shut down in the battle to reform ICE, its brutal detention camps, and the machinery of mass deportation. Public pressure helped force the ouster of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and has Republicans in “course correction mode,” even shying from the words “mass deportation.” Recent polling shows ICE is wildly unpopular and that 65 percent of independents support the shutdown. Encourage senators and representatives to demand ICE reforms and embrace Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s simple logic: “No accountability? No check.”

Protect Voting Rights

President Trump has identified the SAVE Act — which would create new obstacles to the ballot box — as Republicans’ top priority. The act has passed the House and must be opposed in the Senate. Remind your local and state election authorities that the federal government has no say in state elections and no right to state voter rolls.

Cast Your Ballot

Illinois, you’re up! The Illinois primaries are March 17. Look up your state’s voter registration deadline and primary date. (See below for more tips to ensure your right to vote.)

Brainstorm With the Best

Participate in an anti-corruption meeting on March 15 with All In 4 Democracy, a D.C.-based chapter of Indivisible. The meeting seeks to create an action plan to mobilize voters around “corruption and graft” in the political system. You can also join Swing Left’s Blue Victory 2026 War Room on March 16 to learn how to carry the 2025 blue wave into 2026.

Prepare for “No Kings”

The next No Kings protest is March 28. Get ready to play your part. Attend one of the many training sessions (including protest safety and know-your-rights seminars) or find a protest planned near you.

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Below, find The Contrarian’s standing resources for empowering yourself in American civic life:

Contact Your Elected Officials

It can feel old-school (or even cringe), but calling your elected officials is effective in moving the political needle. This is true whether you’re calling to oppose an official’s stance or spur them into action that matches their rhetoric. Watch our how-to video here.

To reach the Washington, D.C. office of any House or Senate member, call the congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121. In the runup to big votes, you may have better luck reaching a human by calling the politician’s state or district office.

Common Cause has built a remarkable tool that lets you plug in your home address and receive a roster of contact information for the many politicians who represent you — from city council members to U.S. senators.

E-mail from constituents can be effective too. Democracy.io has a one-stop tool to email your Senators and Representatives.

Get Active with Neighbors

No group has channelled the energies of the anti-Trump coalition more effectively than Indivisible. The group focuses on empowering local activists who come together in periodic, nationwide mobilizations that stretch from big, blue cities to sleepy red-state towns. (Watch Jen Rubin’s interview with Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin on the tactics of effective resistance).

If you’re more comfortable organizing on a Reddit forum or a Discord server than a living room potluck, try the newest player on the activist block: 50501.org. And if you’re just looking to make a difference on your own, Mobilize.us offers an array of local volunteer opportunities, petitions, and events.

Guarantee Your Vote

Trump & Co. are committed to gerrymandering and voter-suppression — including purging voter rolls of supposedly ineligible or “inactive” voters — because they’re afraid of the power of your vote. Don’t be intimidated. Vote.org offers a one-stop shop to double-check your registration status; if you’re not registered, you can sign up in minutes online. The group also offers a toolkit to begin a voter registration drive of your own. The Fair Elections Center has compiled a helpful, state-by-state resource (click the map) that will alert you to registration deadlines and help you find your polling location. A federal mail-in voter registration form is also available in many languages here.

Help Flip the House

The best near-term hope for restoring American checks and balances is flipping the House of Representatives in November. Swing Left is a progressive organization focused on 33 key House seats for the 2026 midterm —19 GOP-held seats to target and 14 Democratic seats to defend. Around since 2016, Swing Left solicits donations for these high-impact races and organizes grassroots volunteers.

Demand ICE Detention Oversight

Ask your members of Congress to conduct oversight visits of ICE detention centers in their districts and publicize their findings — or raise hell if they’re denied access. Hold a vigil or a protest outside a detention facility near you. Work locally to block the sale or permitting of warehouses intended for new ICE camps. Freedom for Immigrants offers resources for people who want to help abolish migrant detention.

Help Targeted Community Members

When ICE is out in force, many immigrants and citizens of color alike are afraid to leave their homes. Some ways to show solidarity:

• Distribute know-your-rights cards.

• Learn the SALUTE method for documenting the presence of federal agents.

• Hand out whistles to blow if deportation agents are spotted in your neighborhood. (You can connect with activists distributing free, 3D-printed whistles here.)

• Print out zines (in English and Spanish) with advice for reporting ICE activity.

• Create teams to monitor neighborhoods near schools and bus routes for federal agents.

• Organize school carpools or grocery runs for vulnerable families.

• Record federal agents (from a safe distance) and distribute evidence of abuses. Watch an ACLU-led “Eyes on ICE” training.

• Contact the House Judiciary Committee’s whistleblower tip line to report illegal activities by a federal agency or agent.

Back Pro-Democracy Organizations

In the fight against authoritarian overreach, the United States is lucky to have a robust civil society with institutional knowhow. Connect with groups that are engaged in the good fight on behalf of civil liberties, racial justice, immigrant rights, and veterans issues.

Find out more at: American Civil Liberties Union, American Immigration Council, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Brennan Center, Color of Change, Common Cause, Native American Rights Fund, Public Citizen, VoteVets.

Run for Office

If you’re ready to take a leap into politics yourself, Run For Something can help you get off the ground. The organization has built an impressive pipeline of progressive talent to reshape our politics — from local races up to members of Congress. Founded by millennial author and activist Amanda Litman (watch her interview with Jen Rubin here), Run for Something specifically recruits next-generation candidates. But the organization offers resources for first-time candidates of all ages.

Embrace ‘Tactical Frivolity’

The serious business of defending democracy doesn’t have to be so, well, serious. As the inflatable frogs of Portland taught us, there is room — and, indeed, a need — for lightness and what academics call “tactical frivolity.” This carnival-like spirit, which may involve costumes or music or goofy protest signs, buoys fellow protesters even as it confounds would-be authoritarians who are counting on fear to reinforce the perception of their power. (Context is key, consider whether your inflatable costume will be out of place at a somber vigil.)

Consider a Boycott

In capitalist America, one of the most powerful ways to vote is with your pocketbook. Withholding spending can send a powerful signal to corporations that they should think twice before collaborating with the Trump administration or complying with its culture-war marching orders.

Protests at Tesla dealerships played a role in pushing Elon Musk out of his destructive White House stint as unofficial co-president. The Rev. Jamal Bryant has led a consumer boycott of Target, which abandoned its once-robust DEI commitments after Trump’s election, leading to several quarters of reduced revenue. Home Depot, Hilton, and Amazon have all been hit by recent anti-MAGA consumer protests. These protests are effective. Boycotts of Avelo Airlines helped spur that budget carrier to end its deportation-flight contract with ICE. Spotify similarly stopped airing ICE recruitment ads after consumer backlash.

The activist group Choose Democracy has a solid boycott tracker. Also check out the list at BoycottHere.com. Resist and Unsubscribe also offers a one-stop resource for moving your money from businesses linked to ICE.

Combat Misinformation Online

Social media billionaires like Musk are rigging their algorithms to prioritize right-wing content — especially surrounding ICE operations. Report posts with false or misleading content, add or request “community notes,” and circulate or create factual content. RumorGuard — a project of the nonpartisan News Literacy Project — offers tools to recognize misinformation, including a catalog of hoax content that’s gone viral. Snopes.com also specializes in debunking misinformation.

Declare Energy Independence

The planet is overheating and our foreign policy is a nightmare, significantly because of America’s addiction to fossil fuels. The Trump administration wants to keep American drivers hooked on Big Oil and keep the energy grid powered by fossil fuels — and has reduced pollution controls and phased out federal tax incentives for renewable energy and electric vehicles.

But with state-level support, the economics of green energy still make sense for millions of Americans. Kelley Blue Book offers a state-by-state catalog of electric vehicle incentives. Homeowners can get a rough cost estimate for powering their homes with renewable energy at Solar-estimate.org. For renters, a group called Bright Saver is lobbying to make “balcony solar” — think: small, DIY solar arrays plugged into your home outlets — legal and accessible across the country.

Support Gun Reforms

Moms Demand Action has a collection of events to help people demand better gun laws from their elected officials. Find an event in your area here.

Become a Museum Watchdog

Trump has taken an axe to anything that resembles diversity, equity, and inclusion — and esteemed museums and National Parks are under pressure to censor honest accountings of American history. Monitor museums and cultural institutions near you. If you see anything – such as the removal of the slavery exhibit in Philadelphia by the National Park Service – pressure stakeholders to demand reinstatement.

Support Nonprofit Media

In an age of right-wing billionaire takeovers of once-great newspapers, broadcast networks, and social media platforms, supporting independent media outlets has never been more critical. Some of our favorites include ProPublica, Mother Jones, and local outlets such as the Barbed Wire in Texas, the Minnesota Reformer, the Tennessee Holler, and the Mississippi Free Press.

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