TELL YOUR ATTORNEY GENERAL TO FIGHT
If you have a Democratic Attorney General, tell them we need them to fight against ICE overreach. Period.
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
In the past two months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has escalated a disturbing pattern of allegedly targeting and forcibly disappearing* international students, professors, lawful permanent residents, and others on valid visas, in many cases, without following due process—seemingly not for any criminal activity, but for their political speech and participation. These are not isolated incidents; they are deliberate warning shots aimed at those who dare to express a political opinion that Donald Trump disagrees with.
Some of the most alarming and high-profile cases include:
Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian and lawful permanent resident (green card holder) who recently graduated from Columbia University, was detained by ICE after participating in pro-Palestinian campus activism.
Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish PhD candidate at Tufts University, was arrested after co-authoring an op-ed about Palestine. Her student visa has been terminated, raising concerns of retaliation for protected speech.
Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown University fellow and Indian citizen, was detained by ICE in Rosslyn, Virginia, on March 17, reportedly due to his and his family’s ties to Palestine. According to a recent federal court filing, Suri has been subjected to inhumane conditions in custody. He has reportedly been denied food, a bed, clean clothing, and contact with his family. He is being treated as a “high-security” detainee despite having not been charged with a crime before his detention.
Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student and green card holder, was reportedly detained by ICE during what he was told would be a U.S. citizenship interview in Vermont. Now he’s facing deportation to the West Bank, allegedly for being active in and leading pro-Palestine student protests at Columbia University.
Khalil, Badar and Öztürk were abducted in a chilling, extrajudicial manner, seized without warning by plainclothes officers, and swiftly disappeared into remote detention centers —cut off from their legal teams, families, and communities. In all three cases, they vanished without a trace for over 24 hours. In Mohsen’s case, he was lured under false pretenses, then detained and targeted for deportation.
No criminal charges have been filed, yet ICE has allegedly forcibly disappeared* them anyway. This is not business as usual — it’s a blatant escalation of federal immigration enforcement being weaponized against constitutionally protected speech and dissent.
*When we say ICE allegedly forcibly disappeared people, we mean individuals were taken by federal agents without any warning, no immediate notice to their families, legal counsel, or communities, and were held for extended periods. No one knew where they were being held for over 24 hours in multiple cases, mirroring tactics more commonly associated with authoritarian regimes than with a country that claims to uphold civil liberties.
WHY THIS IS DANGEROUS
What Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the rest of the administration are executing isn’t ordinary immigration policy, it’s a full-blown campaign to criminalize dissent. And it’s not unprecedented — we’ve seen this playbook before. After 9/11, the U.S. government used fear and manufactured threats to justify sweeping crackdowns on Muslims, Arabs, South Asians, and anyone who dared to speak out.
But this moment? It’s the post-9/11 era on steroids with fewer restraints, broader targets, and a louder megaphone.
Here’s what these ICE actions represent:
A direct attack on the First Amendment, punishing people not for any crime but for protesting, organizing, and expressing political views.
The destruction of due process, through secretive arrests and transfers that isolates detainees from legal aid, family, and community support.
The resurrection of surveillance and retaliation, this time not only against Muslims and immigrants, but against students, academics, and U.S. residents seen as politically inconvenient.
A nationwide chilling effect, sending a clear message: dissent will be punished, and support for causes the administration disagrees with, like Palestinian human rights, will be met with state repression. And make no mistake — if this is not stopped now, it will not end with pro-Palestinian students. The same tactics will be turned on climate activists, labor organizers, and anyone who dares to challenge Trump and the broader MAGA agenda. What we're witnessing is the testing ground for a broader authoritarian crackdown.
This isn’t about public safety. It’s about using the machinery and violence of immigration enforcement to silence opposition, criminalize solidarity, and test just how far the government can go without pushback.
This is a crisis, and it demands a response just as bold.
WHAT DEMOCRATIC ATTORNEYS GENERAL CAN DO
State Attorneys General have both the authority and the responsibility to defend residents against federal overreach. Here’s how they can act:
File Legal Challenges: AGs can sue ICE and DHS over unconstitutional arrests, lack of due process, and violations of civil liberties — as they’ve done successfully before.
Demand Transparency: AGs can subpoena or investigate ICE actions within their states, especially raids, detentions, or coordination with local law enforcement.
Reinforce Sanctuary Protections: AGs should support and defend state and local policies that restrict law enforcement collaboration with ICE, preventing data-sharing and unjust detentions.
Defend Protections in Schools, Workplaces, Universities, etc: AGs should collaborate with institutions that serve international and immigrant communities including universities, K-12 schools, hospitals, labor sites, and seasonal employers like resorts and waterparks to create and reinforce both legal and physical protections for international and undocumented students, visa holders, and workers.
Minnesota’s Attorney General Keith Ellison is a great example of what this should look like. He has consistently used the full scope of his role to defend Minnesotans from unconstitutional federal overreach and his actions set the standard for what bold leadership looks like in this moment.
Earlier this year, he issued a formal legal opinion declaring that local law enforcement in Minnesota cannot legally detain individuals based solely on ICE detainers. He made it clear that such actions violate constitutional rights and expose agencies to civil liability. He has also joined multistate lawsuits challenging federal attempts to undermine birthright citizenship and other core protections.
Following the ICE detention of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, he publicly condemned the act, stating:
“When a government deports, threatens, [and] arrests people for First Amendment activity, that government is tyrannical. Mahmoud Khalil is being persecuted for his beliefs and free expression.”
AG Ellison’s swift legal positioning and vocal defense demonstrate precisely how AGs can wield both legal tools and public pressure to confront injustice. This is the kind of principled, aggressive leadership every state needs right now.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
If you live in a state with a Democratic Attorney General, your pressure matters. State Attorneys General (AGs) have real tools and legal standing - what they need is the political courage to act. Let’s make sure they do.
Use our call and email tools to demand action and personalize them if you can.
If you live in a state where a recent abduction has taken place, such as Massachusetts, New York, or Washington, we strongly urge you to modify the script and include a specific ask for your AG to intervene on behalf of that individual. Direct, local pressure is the most powerful tool we have right now.
When you’re ready to get started, you can use our tools to call your attorney general and then follow up with an email, here.
Adapted from Indivisible Blue State Defiance