The so‑called “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act” is not a security measure  - it is a mass voter‑suppression machine dressed up in patriotic branding. The House is voting on it this week and it is a chillingly bad bill. Learn why in our blog explaining the act and why it is important that it never becomes signed into law.

Please - call your representative (e.g., Neguse, Boebert or Evans) and tell them to vote NO on the SAVE act.

You may feel helpless watching Trump’s DHS, ICE, and Border Patrol terrorize communities. But you are not helpless - you have real power  as a taxpayer, investor, voter, and consumer, and you can use it right now. ICE’s cruelty depends on public money, private investment, and corporate partnerships. That means we have leverage - individually and collectively.

The Crisis:  ICE and Border Patrol are holding 70,000 people in 224 detention sites across the country — many run by the private prison giant CoreCivic. These facilities are notorious for medical neglect, isolation, overcrowding, and record-high deaths in custody. At Georgia’s Stewart Detention Center alone, emergency 911 calls happen at least 15 times a month. This system survives because public money, private investment, and corporate partnerships keep it alive. That means we have leverage.

Five Ways to Use Your Power Today

1. Pressure Congress: DHS funding is on the table right now. Democrats are trying to attach guardrails to ICE and Border Patrol — things like banning masks, requiring IDs and body cameras, ending racial profiling, requiring warrants, limiting force, and ensuring medical care. Call Senators Hickenlooper (who previously voted to extend DHS funding) and Bennet as well as your Representative (e.g., Neguse, Boebert or Evans) and tell them: No DHS funding without accountability. Contact information is at the bottom of this newsletter.

2. Check Your Investments: You may be funding CoreCivic without knowing it. BlackRock and Vanguard - two of the biggest managers of retirement and savings accounts - are also CoreCivic’s biggest shareholders. Look at your statements. If your money is with them, you can move it. Tell your broker you do not want your savings propping up detention abuses.

3. Push the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) to Cut Ties: The DGA has accepted over $1.2 million from CoreCivic. That is unacceptable. Call the DGA ((202) 772‑5600 ) and tell them to stop taking money from companies profiting off human suffering.

4. Confront CoreCivic Directly: Let them know you refuse to support their business model - not with your taxes, not with your investments. 1‑800‑624‑2931.

5. Use Your Consumer Power: Major corporations enable ICE’s machinery of raids, detention, and deportation, including YouTube/Google (distributes ICE’s extremist‑coded recruitment ads), AT&T, Home Depot, Amazon and Microsoft (provide cloud, surveillance, and logistics) and Verizon (holds a $176 million DHS contract powering communications for raids and detention). These companies care deeply about their public image. Tell them to stop profiting from ICE’s abuses - and consider boycotting those that refuse.

As taxpayers, savers, voters, and consumers, we can disrupt the system that enables abuse. And together, we can demand a country that refuses to tolerate cruelty done in our name.

We thank Robert Reich for this call to action. His newsletters provide valuable insight and calls to action for steps that we, the people, can take to flex our individual and collective power.

Tell  your Members of Congress:  No DHS Funding Without ICE Reforms

With Congress once again racing the clock on government funding, a lot of confusion has swirled around what’s actually at stake, especially when it comes to ICE. Many assumed that last week Democrats were negotiating over ICE’s budget, but that money was locked in last year’s budget bill. The real fight now is over the rest of the Department of Homeland Security and whether Democrats can use this moment to force long‑overdue accountability measures on an agency that has operated with almost no guardrails. This short explainer breaks down how we got here, what leverage Democrats actually have, why this round of negotiations matters for both policy and politics and what you can do.

ICE funding isn’t part of this fight.

Last year’s GOP budget pre‑funded ICE with $75B through 2029, written as a direct appropriation. That means ICE keeps operating no matter what Congress does now.

What is actually at stake?

The rest of the Department of Homeland Security still needs annual funding. House Republicans tried to force Democrats’ hand by bundling DHS with five major departments in a single “mini‑bus” bill—an all‑or‑nothing choice.

Last Week, Senate Democrats pushed back – sort of.

Senate Democrats demanded DHS be removed so the other departments could be funded without giving ICE a free pass. The White House agreed, creating space for a two‑week DHS-only negotiation window. 23 Democratic Senators, including Colorado Senator Hickenlooper, voted for the extension. While the extension buys time to negotiate reforms, it also weakens Democrats’ leverage: the shorter the window, the more pressure they face to accept a deal quickly rather than risk another shutdown.

Democrats are using that window to seek ICE reforms, including:

• Body cameras and ID requirements

• A ban on masks

• Clear use‑of‑force rules

• Judicial warrants

• Independent review of killings

What happens next?

The Senate will move first and will hopefully send a bill to the House that includes the ICE reforms. When the bill returns to the House, Speaker Johnson will likely need Democratic votes again, since far‑right Republicans oppose any ICE-related conditions.

This fight matters politically.

Swing‑district Republicans, such as Gabe Evans in CD8, face a lose‑lose choice: oppose DHS funding and get tied to ICE abuses or support it and anger MAGA voters. The dynamic strengthens Democrats’ long‑term position heading into 2026.

Call your Members of Congress!

Democratic Senators must hold the line this time – so call Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper and tell them not to vote for any bill that funds DHS without tying the funding to every single one of the demands to rein in ICE. Make sure that Hickenlooper knows that you know he voted to extend DHS funding for two weeks. Then call your Representative (e.g., Neguse, Boebert or Evans) and demand the same.

Want Progressive Candidates on The Ballot?

Register as a Democrat by February 9 and attend your County Caucus and County Assembly!

To appear on the June primary ballot, candidates must either receive support from at least 30% of the delegates at the relevant assembly (county, Congressional District or state), or have gathered sufficient registered voter signatures through a petition.

Caucuses and assemblies are YOUR OPPORTUNITY to make sure that candidates representing your values are on the June ballot.

Although all registered voters can participate in the primaries, only registered Democrats can participate in the Democratic Party's caucuses and assemblies.

Here is what you need to do:

1 - Make sure you are registered as a democrat and your registration information is up-to-date. Register, check registration or update voter registration information at the CO Secretary of State website.

2 - Save the dates!

• Larimer County Caucus is March 5 from 5:30-8pm and Assembly is March 7 from 9:30am - 1 pm. Both are virtual.

• Weld County Caucus is March 7 from 9am-12pm and Assembly is March 14 starting at 9 am. Weld County events are in-person.

3 - Sign up for Caucus

• Larimer County Dems will post the registration form around February 15 and IndivisibleNOCO will post the link as soon as it is available.

• Use this form to sign up in Weld County.

4 - Attend Caucus and Assembly.

We will post more about the Caucus and Assembly closer to the events, but in the meantime, read our overview to get a sense of what to expect.

Keep chipping away at the financial resources propping up the authoritarian power grab - if you still use Comcast, switch to Connexion.

If you live in Fort Collins, you’ve got a better option than Comcast - Connexion, our community-owned internet and cable service. While Comcast is funding Trump’s destruction of the White House, Connexion is reinvesting in Fort Collins. Your dollars stay local, powering public services, providing jobs  and strengthening our economy.

Connexion provides fast and reliable internet service at a fraction of the cost of Comcast. And it provides customer service that actually serves you. Call Connexion and you will talk to a real person - someone who listens, solves problems, and goes the extra mile.

November SNAP benefits are canceled due to the Trump government shutdown. 

Did you know that SNAP is designed to keep feeding families even during government shutdowns—thanks to $6B in emergency reserves. But the Trump administration said it won’t use those funds. That’s right: the safety net is there, but the GOP is choosing to let people go hungry.

In few days, almost 36,000 Larimer County residents, including many federal workers who were laid off or are fuloughed, are going to experience food insecurity. Even without the shutdown, the new work requirements, changes to the states’ funding responsibility and changes to eligibility that were part of the GOP funding bill in July will likely lead to reduced SNAP benefits for about 60,000 Coloradans starting this year.

Now is a time for our community to come together and help each other weather the storm that this administration is unleashing upon the most vulnerable among us. If you are able, please consider a monthly or one-time contribution to the Larimer County Food Bank.  Other ways to contribute include donating food and non-food items or hosting a food drive. Information is available on the Food Bank’s website.