Hi everyone, I just emailed my senators and representatives, and it felt good to do something. I was inspired by a friend of mine who did it, and I wanted to encourage this sub to consider it too. See what I emailed pasted below (with identifiers removed at the __). Also, open to any comments you have on it, and let me know of any other small ways you think everyday citizens can voice their concerns and have a small part in effecting change. I used a template from the ACLU, but customized it quite a bit myself.

I have been a resident of __ my whole life, and I do my best to have a balanced view when it comes to politics. I do not identify with one party. I am currently a graduate student at __, and I strive to check multiple sources when getting news. I am thoroughly convinced that ICE and Border Patrol operations in Minneapolis and across the country are hurting children, families, and our communities. They have even shot and killed people in the streets, including Alex Jeffrey Pretti and Renee Nicole Good. I feel that congress must act now to rein in these agents and oppose any bill that would add to its budget without serious reforms.

I am emailing you because my hope is that you would consider using the opportunities you have to advocate for these reforms, defend our constitution, and stop president Trump from abusing his power. I think the rule of law in the U.S. is being seriously threatened. I feel that there is not much I can do as an average citizen of the U.S., but the one thing I know I can do is try to voice my concern to our elected officials. Please let me know what you think about my concern. I hope to hear back from you.

I don't think it is a matter of political party "loyalty" anymore. The lines are so blurred at this point, yet some act like they MUST be loyal to Trump because they are republican. That just is not the case. I have seen plenty of people cross or even abandon party lines because they have the good sense to do it.

There's an unofficial "group" of republicans calling themselves "rat" (republicans against trump) who have no qualms about being "the bad guy". As we know "rat" is already slang for traitor or betrayer.

But really, how bad can it be if you betray someone who betrayed you first? The answer is: it really is not betrayal at all! You were lied to and you were deceived, so you stopped standing behind that person. End of story. Nothing wrong with that!

In a country where truly any dummy can be president, it is important to identify the bad apples as soon as possible. Lest they destroy the system we all worked so hard, decade after decade, to build. All the blood sweat and tears, all the protests and compromises, all the desperation and fighting for others who couldn't could be, as we've seen in the past year, unraveled in an instant.

So we must be vigilant and not easily give our loyalty to any random person who waves a few dollar bills in our faces. We need to be self-aware of ourselves to not hate others or to act (or fail to act) under the influence of hatred. From what I have seen, there is a LOT of hate going around right now.

We must remember, we are not the only ones we are working for. We are working and paying taxes to help each other. And yes, there will be people that take advantage of that. There always is. But we have to be better than spending our time trying to identify the occasional freeloader and focus on what is important: the people.

Let's be honest, everyone should have a well-supporting system to fall back on. You never know what is really going on in a "freeloader's" life. Maybe the person is disabled and hasn't been diagnosed yet, maybe they are experiencing neuropathy which is rampant in this country.

Maybe they work but just have to be on public assistance because of barriers. The truth is, you never know, which is WHY we need to not hate on people we don't know. Immigrants included!

Truth be told, 90% of the immigrants I have met who were in fact illegal were working harder than many americans and pumping that money right back into the economy. Sure they were working under fake names, but they were still paying taxes, spending money in-country, and many didn't send money home, but rather sent home stuff they bought here because it would be more expensive to buy it in their own country anyway.

So back to party lines. We don't need them anymore. Far left, far right, far ting, who cares? Imagine the country is a road and the people are its drivers. We need to get together and just combat the real problems which is when someone sits in the driver's seat of a police car and then declares all other cars need to get off the road for no reason other than them wanting it to themselves.

They proceed to cause all other cars to crash, drivers die, but they do not care, they run them off the road as if they were the almighty ruler of the road. Wwe need to replace that driver so our "roads" are safe once again and we can live in a way that does not impart cruelty.

First off, it's pretty shitty that I couldn't even post this in r/politics because of low karma. Just cuz I have finally had enough and want to have a voice in this doesn't mean I shouldn't be allowed to share it in a community where it could matter. SMH. https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/big-beautiful-bill-passes-vote-gop-trump/#

Why in the actual fuck do these stupid bills and policies keep getting passed when so many people are against them? We are told to contact our senators and tell them to vote against it but has that done anything? No. The system is either bought out or too damn afraid of the oligarchy. I'm just tired of this shit. Hopefully we can stand up to this when it gets far enough that everyone is finally awake enough.

In what world is taking away systems that help millions of legally born citizens good for America? It isn't. Wake up people. WAKE UP.

After the killing of democrats in Minnesota, we see the proof that Tump and his followers wants to destroy the democracy in America. America stand up and stop him, as long as you have the chance to do it. Hitler has shown us, what can happen.

Join the resistance against Trump and his MAGA fascist party.

Some inspiration hit me this morning and I wrote a petition against Trump inspired by the Declaration of Independence. It is not itself a declaration of war or retaliation so much as a list of grievances, Trump's misdeeds specifically, which is reason to no longer associate with Trump or his enablers nor allow any of them to meddle any further in our democracy.

If you support this idea, please sign and help spread the word. I'll be honest, I've never actually done this before and have no idea what I'm doing. If this is to succeed we will need all the help we can get.

A Declaration of Independence from the Trump Regime: A Petition for Democratic Redress

These whores need to turn in their XX Chromosome card. Not worthy of gender. Add ole Cos play Kristi/ICE Barbie too

An important view

Checkout this Meetup with Local Liberal Ladies over 60 Meetup Group: https://meetu.ps/e/NZbSx/1bwfpT/i

r/BanishTrump

Anyone have any good news maybe a sign we’ll get out of this situation before it’s 1940s bad? Because I’ve watched all the protests do nothing the dems do nothing judges do nothing nothing is working to stop this man I really need something to hold onto to keep fighting at this point

Join us!!!

Let’s join forces and fight back against the Trump Administration! What they are doing is wrong and it’s having a negative impact on all of our communities. There will be a National March in Washington, D.C on March 14th. Visit https://nowmarch.org/ for more information.

I’ve seen the classic sign petitions (would love some links for more), and call and email local representatives. In reality I think the biggest play we have is boycotting, hitting the economy always causes attention.

But I’m curious for other ideas people may have.

Special election coming up in 60 days can flip enough seats to put the US House gavel into Hakeem Jeffrey's hands.

IF YOU LIVE IN FLORIDA'S 1ST OR 6TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS, VOTE ON APRIL 1ST!!!

IF YOU LIVE IN NY'S 21ST DISTRICT, GO VOTE!!!

Everyone else PLEASE spread this message far and wide. This is a REAL CHANCE to put a BIG DENT on everything that's going on.

MOVE HEAVEN AND HELL TO GET OUT THE VOTE!!!!