Self-evident

Elections this fall are more important than ever.
Look up information on candidates and ballot issues
affecting your home state at Ballotpedia.org.

"How can I find out if I am still registered?"
If you have any doubts, check with your election official.
Government guidelines suggest expats re-register every year.

Families Belong Together March in Petaluma, CA. Passionate, often massive demonstrations were held in more than 700 US cities and many more around the world to protest the treatment of children and families by the administration's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy.  (Photos by Karen McCann; photo of Karen and Rich by Phillip Ziegler.)

​STOP, LOOK, LISTEN! by Kathy Sherretts

Self-Evident
I've always felt a little conflicted about the 4th of July. The political right seemed to have staked out the patriotic high ground several years ago, leaving no room for people like me: solid citizen, reasonably informed, generally appreciative.
Also, serenely clueless. It turns out that whole communities in the US have been shut out of a lot of benefits and protections that I enjoy, and that the whole system is now kind of precarious for us all.
It took Donald Trump to make me patriotic.
(Enjoy the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence by The Fifth Dimension)
Happy Fourth of July!
Kathy Sherretts

Quiz:
Christian Science Monitor: Could you pass a US citizenship test?

Podcast:
New Hampshire Public Radio: Civics 101: ICE (20 min)
What does ICE actually do? How ICE got its start, some of its responsibilities today, and what we can expect from the agency moving forward.

Article:
Texas Observer: ICE Criminal Investigators Ask to Be Distanced from Detentions, Deportations in Letter to Kirstjen Nielsen by Jason Buch
ICE has two distinct divisions: Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), which carries out immigration arrests and deportations, and HSI, which investigates terrorism, narcotics, human trafficking and other crimes. Investigators say that their crime-fighting capability is being stifled by politics.

Article:
Washington Post: “Are you alone now?” by Eli Saslow
Far from the border, ICE raids separate children from their undocumented parents with little scrutiny and increasing frequency.

Archive:
Abraham Lincoln Online: Lincoln's Letter to George Robertson
Lincoln writes pessimistically about how Americans view liberty when someone else’s liberty is in question.
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For more ways to take action check out the action plan put together by PAGE (Progressive Action Global Exchange), and Americans of Conscience; read the featured action suggested by Indivisible; or watch Resistance School, Leadership: Story, Structure, Strategy.
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