ACLU’s “Freedom Cities” campaign brings local activists together and provides a blueprint for local-level advocacy, in cities and counties, to defend our communities and block the worst abuses of the Trump administration. These are campaigns that will generate victories in the short term even as we work towards comprehensive protections nationwide in the long term.
“Freedom Cities” is a hugely ambitious campaign. Some of the policies that we will demand may sound legally complex but that’s because the ACLU has come up with a plan to fight the Trump administration lawfully and systematically, not just by defending each individual as they are detained, harassed, or deported.
We’re counting on volunteers like you to help local elected officials adopt the ACLU’s model local law enforcement policies and rules that will effectively counter or block cooperation with Trump’s anti-immigrant and anti-refugee agenda.
The “Freedom Cities” campaign is a complex and powerful strategy. It requires fighting on multiple fronts with multiple tactics, but it can be scaled and sequenced to accommodate action by groups that are big or small and whether your target is city or county government.
At the heart of this strategy, People Power volunteers will put pressure on elected officials and local law enforcement officials through targeted grassroots action to urge adoption of the “Freedom Cities” nine “model” state and local law enforcement policies.
As a volunteer organizer, you don’t have to understand all the ins and outs of the legal language to advocate for these policies and rules. What you need to know and advocate for is that these are the policies and rules for law enforcement that the ACLU has determined our cities, towns, and counties need to protect Muslims, immigrants, and refugees from some of the worst abuses of the Trump administration.
Your role as a People Power activist will be to gather information on where your elected officials and local law enforcement officials stand on each of the nine “model” policies and rules and verify that they are established in writing, not just in practice.
This Freedom Cities Action Guide will outline some of the major threats that members of our communities are facing as a result of the Trump agenda, and a way you can be part of the solution by engaging in grassroots action in support of the “Freedom Cities” initiative.
In-person meetings are an essential and effective tactic for pressuring an elected official or government appointee, like a chief of police. They give you an opportunity to make your case directly to your elected official or their staff and signal that this is an issue that’s very important to you and your community.
As a People Power activist, it is important you and your group introduce yourselves as ACLU People Power, or ACLU volunteers. Introducing yourself properly helps elected officials know you are concerned constituents and are community stakeholders. Don’t use language that misrepresents you or other volunteers as ACLU staff members. This is critical to our strength as a movement: As you work on your Freedom Cities campaign and other causes, your voices will be stronger as representatives of your community.
The key to a good meeting is being focused, well educated, and persistent – the purpose of the meeting isn’t to debate policy. You want to get simple, straightforward answers: Will your elected official publicly back the Freedom Cities agenda? Will they introduce or support legislation to implement it? Are they willing to work with you and the ACLU of Arizona to change pieces of their policy? You deserve straight answers from your elected officials, so ask as many times as needed to get a clear response.
Think of these meetings as a way to continue to build relationships with your elected officials. They may not have heard of People Power or ACLU’s Freedom Cities campaign or "model" policies before, so make sure to give them some background information. Below are important steps People Power groups should take if they want to meet with elected officials and their staff. If you have any questions please contact the ACLU of Arizona.
Prepare for the meeting. Before meeting with any elected or public official, you and your group need to gather as much information as you can on local immigration policy such as SB 1070, 287(g) agreements (if applicable in your city), and the ACLU Freedom Cities Nine Model Policies. If you’re pushing for a change in immigration policy, it is very important to know how your local immigration system works and what local agencies (for instance, your local police department and county sheriff) work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (commonly called "ICE").
Start with research. The first thing you'll want to know is what your police department's current policies are with respect to immigration enforcement. You may be able to download your police department's ICE protocols. These are the rules your police department has set up for working with ICE.
Divide and conquer. It may be easiest if you divide the research tasks. For example, two or three members from a group could read state immigration policy, another group could look over the Freedom Cities Nine Model Policies, and the last group could review local law enforcement policy.
Plan your meeting. Contact the office of the public official and set up a meeting as soon as your group is prepared. If your group isn’t comfortable with the model rules, you can always contact our offices for help before your meeting. Make sure to contact us before a meeting is scheduled, so we're not crunched for time.
Coalition building. Coalition building is one of the most important things you can do in order to have a successful meeting/campaign. As People Power, you want to align yourselves with different organizations and groups that want to make the same positive changes.
Introducing your People Power group. Before any meeting, your group should practice how you will introduce yourselves to elected officials, law enforcement, and community members. The ACLU and People Power volunteers created the “elevator pitches” below to help activists introduce your group on in a variety of settings.
Your meeting with local police or elected officials. In the meeting, everyone should offer a brief personal introduction (name, neighborhood, profession if they wish). The spokesperson for the group will then introduce People Power and present the conversation topic and issue.
After the meeting. Report the outcome of the meeting to ACLU of Arizona staff and on social media. If the elected official agreed to back the Freedom Cities agenda, coordinate with their office to publicly announce their support. Before you are in touch with news reporters, please make sure you are in contact with the ACLU of Arizona’s communications team.
What to do if you can’t get a meeting. Sometimes your elected official will refuse to meet with you or they may place unreasonable conditions on a meeting. If that’s the case, you could do a few things.
Tactics are the actions we take in order to win campaigns. In terms of choosing which tactics to use, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on your community, your target, your activist group, and a lot of other factors. That said, here are some things to consider when choosing a tactic:
Below you’ll find a list of tactics and a short description of what they are. If you click on the tactic, you’ll be taken to a document that gives you an in-depth description of the tactic, how to use it, and common pitfalls and solutions. Enjoy! Happy organizing!
Tactic: Speaking at a city council meeting/pass a resolution. Deliver your campaign demands to a captive audience with your elected officials, press, and other members of the community.
Tactic: Making calls and/or sending letters to elected officials. Communicate your message with calls or letters to your elected officials.
Tactic: Attending a town hall (offers sample questions for your elected officials). Attending a public town hall organized by your elected official is one way to voice your concerns around the issues that matter most to you and advocate for Freedom Cities policies in your jurisdiction.
Tactic: Writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper. Letters to the editor is one way to highlight the conversation about Freedom Cities in your community, bring needed attention to your campaign, and advance the press coverage of your work.
Tactic: Meeting with elected officials in person. Meet with your elected officials and make your case directly. Be persistent with getting their answer of support or otherwise.
Undocumented Individual/Unauthorized Alien: A person who is not lawfully present in the United States. People Power should refrain from using language such as alien, criminal alien, or illegal(s) when referring to individuals without residence status. Refer to individuals as immigrants or undocumented people.
Authorized Officer: Means a member of U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), an Arizona law enforcement officer empowered by the federal government pursuant to the 287(g) program, or a member of U.S. Customs and Border Protections (CBP) authorized to determine immigration status.
Civil Immigration Violation: A violation of federal civil immigration law. Offenses include, but are not limited to:
Criminal Immigration Violation: Violation of a federal criminal immigration law. Offenses include, but are not limited to, smuggling a person across the border or crossing the border outside of an authorized port of entry.
Documented Individual: Person who has proof of U.S. citizenship/nationality or lawful presence such as valid visa or permanent resident card.
DRO Hold: "Detention and Removal Operations" order issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This is not an official order of removal by an immigration judge.
Judicial Warrant: An arrest warrant is a written order issued by a judge or other proper judicial officer, upon probable cause, directing a law enforcement officer to arrest a particular person.
Foreign National: A person who is not a citizen of the United States.
Law Enforcement Officer: Sworn peace officer, police aide (for instance, a person acting as a civilian traffic investigator), or detention officer.
Reasonable Suspicion: Specific, articulable facts that, when considered with objective and reasonable inferences, from a basis for particularized suspicion. The requirement of particularized suspicion encompasses two elements:
Sanctuary City: There is no precise legal definition for sanctuary cities. Typically, sanctuary cities observe policies either set forth expressly in law (“de jure”) or observed in practice (“de facto”) that permit residence by undocumented immigrants and help them avoid deportation. One of the most common “sanctuary” policies is to decline federal requests (“detainers”) to hold arrestees in jail due to their immigration status.
Detainer: A detainer - typically issued by ICE, CBP, or DHS - is a request to hold someone in jail based on their civil immigration status, typically until a federal agent is able to apprehend the person and begin deportation proceedings. Detainers are NOT legally binding, and in fact, federal courts across the country have determined that complying with these requests is completely voluntary.
SB 1070: Arizona immigration law passed in 2010. Most of its provisions have been struck down by courts. More information about SB 1070 is available here. The Freedom Cities model policies do not conflict with SB 1070.
287(g) Agreement: Section 287(g) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deputize selected state and local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration law. More information is available on the People Power Arizona Resource page.