Welcome to the Action Center Weekly Update. Each week, we’ll share:
A brief analysis of critical issues in this political moment
Immediate actions you can take
Resources to deepen knowledge and strengthen our collective work to side with love
Nothing is inevitable. Justice movements are built by ordinary people who come together to defeat oppression and nurture a loving world. You are not alone. We have power. Together, we can create a just and thriving future.
Movements are strongest when we act together. Organize with your teams and networks, and take these actions in community. For practical tools, see our Organizing School and Skill Up resources.
Decriminalization & Immigration
Core Principle: Criminalization and dehumanization deny the dignity of our communities. Safety cannot come at the expense of others. As people of faith, we proclaim a future of care, abundance, and mutuality—not domination.
The Update:
As the US-Israeli war on Iran and Lebanon enters its 6th week, we must act on our faith’s moral responsibility to create peace and reject the violence of policing and punishment. Let us amplify the wins that come from powerful organizing, like FreeDC’s recent win of a bill that will require basic transparency around the actions of federal agents in Washington, DC. We do, indeed, have power as people to impact the weaponized systems harming our communities and people around the globe. Victory is far from certain, but we know that what we do matters. Let us continue organizing our blocks, our town councils, and our cities to cast a vision of safety through community and work to make that real.
Take Action: (2–3 partner actions)
Communities Not Cages — Actions to Stop ICE Warehouse Detention The Trump administration is rapidly expanding ICE detention into warehouses — industrial spaces built to store goods, not hold human beings. ICE currently detains more than 70,000 people and is planning to expand to over 100,000, with warehouse facilities that could cage up to 10,000 people each. Together, we can stop the expansion of ICE warehouse detention. Community organizing is working — from Hutchins, Texas to Shakopee, Minnesota, towns across America are pushing back and winning.
Sign and share Detention Watch Network’s petition to urge senators and members of Congress to stop warehousing immigrants
Training Call, April 14th, 8ET/5PT : Join Indivisible, Detention Watch Network, and Disappeared in America for a one-hour national training call where you will learn the tactics and strategies to host peaceful actions in defense of immigrants in your community.
As Tax Day approaches, Tell Congress: No War on Iran, No Weapons for Israel, No ICE in Our Communities with the Not My Tax Dollars from US Campaign for Palestinian Rights. In 2025 alone, the U.S. government sent Israel about $12 billion of our tax dollars for military funding to mass murder the Palestinian people. The Israeli military has dropped the equivalent of 13 Hiroshima atomic bombs on Gaza. Destruction on this scale impacts all of life on Earth, accelerating climate collapse. Find out how much money people in your city or state are forced to pay through your federal tax dollars, and what could be funded instead.
Resources:
Read:
When ICE Blows Through Rural America As the surge in Minneapolis winds down, small communities in Minnesota (like Willmar) fend off more arrests and lasting impacts.
Learn: [Checklist/Guide]
12 Things to Do Instead of Calling the Cops (Guide from the May Day Collective and Washtenaw Solidarity & Defense) As our bodies and identities continue to face further criminalization and erasure, it is critical for us to lean into practices of community care that embrace an abolitionist ethic. This guide offers simple, concrete alternatives to calling the police in moments of crisis, disruption, or uncertainty so that everyone involved is cared for and safe
Join: [Event/Training]
Let Asylum Seekers Work Action Hour, April 8th, 8ET / 5 PT, hosted by the Tennessee UU Community Action Network. The Trump administration is trying to make it impossible for asylum-seekers to live and work in the United States. We invite you to join the national Work Permit Comment Campaign by organizing unique, public comments o stop this cruel and unjust rule from going into effect
Palestine 201 from UUs for Justice in the Middle East. As a follow-up to our Palestine 101 workshop, UUJME is now offering an opportunity for a deeper, collective learning experience: Broadening the Lens on Palestine: A UU Course for Deeper Learning, Connection, and Action.
Watch/Listen:
Briefing about No Work, No School Day of Truth and Freedom in Minneapolis January 23rd. The day marked a major step forward in Minnesota’s broad-based, nonviolent resistance to authoritarian escalation. Through coordinated action across labor, community organizations, and immigrant rights groups, the coalition demonstrated the power of organized communities to shift the narrative and mobilize at scale. Learn more about ICE Out of MN
Climate Justice
Core Principle: A just and loving world is also a flourishing one. A fossil-free future is possible, where clean energy is a human right and all beings thrive. To get there, we must create new systems, norms, and practices.
The Update:
What’s more important: oil company profits or our more-than-human beloveds? For the first time in over 30 years, the Trump administration recently convened the Endangered Species Committee. This committee has the power to waive the requirements of the Endangered Species Act - to the point of allowing a species to go extinct - only if every effort has been made to avoid that outcome. The current committee, made up of Trump appointees, voted unanimously to exempt the oil and gas industry from requirements of the Endangered Species Act in the Gulf of Mexico. This move would remove protections for endangered whales, turtles and other animals threatened with extinction, dooming some of the “United States' most iconic and imperiled species, including Rice's whales, down to a population of only 51; Kemp's ridley sea turtles, who nest on the Gulf's beaches; and manatees, many of whom are still struggling to recover from a recent, mass starvation event.” according to the Center for Biological Diversity.
Why are the futures of these amazing creatures being threatened? Pete Hegseth says we need to for “reasons of national security” which conservation and pro-democracy groups call a manufactured threat. National Resource Defense Council’s Michael Jasny explains, "on the one hand, you have the oil and gas industry, it's one of the wealthiest industries on the planet, and the other, you have one of our most endangered whales. It's caused enormous outrage and astonishment."
Take a moment today to Tell Congress to Save Whales from the Extinction Committee. While you’re at it, call your elected officials and remind them that clean energy provides energy security, can decentralize our energy grid which reduces risks of power outages, reduces pollution, and doesn’t require species extinction to thrive. Then RSVP for Side With Love’s Earth Month series on Creating Hubs of Climate Resilience.
Take Action: (2–3 partner actions)
The Trump administration just convened the Endangered Species Committee — much better described as the Extinction Committee — for the first time in more than 30 years. Its mission? To grant all oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico a sweeping exemption under the Endangered Species Act — that is, a free pass to dodge the law. By fast-tracking oil drilling in the Gulf, this move would doom some of the United States' most iconic and imperiled species, including Rice's whales, down to a population of only 51; Kemp's ridley sea turtles, who nest on the Gulf's beaches; and manatees, many of whom are still struggling to recover from a recent, mass starvation event.
Congress needs to speak out against the Extinction Committee. You can help: Tell your legislators to act now to save whales, sea turtles, and other critically imperiled marine species in the Gulf of Mexico.
Protect your community from chemical emergencies
Our friends in the People Versus Fossil Fuels Coalition at Earth Justice are calling attention to a public comment opportunity with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). See the Mom’s Clean Air Force comment.
The EPA says the rule aims to revise Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations, reduce regulatory burdens, and avoid duplicative requirements for facilities. We feel those purposes translate to ending and weakening community safety rules. Also, that the rule is another way the Trump administration is forcing the EPA to cave to pressure from big corporate polluters.
Use the Earth Justice action tool to submit your comment, or make a comment directly via Regulations.gov or the Federal Register. The posted public comment due date is April 10, although the EPA also states the deadline has been extended until May 11.
Resources:
Read:
Creating Hubs of Resilience Series
April Gathering: Creating Hubs of Climate Resilience
Monday, April 13, 2026 8:00 PM - 9:15 PM ET, 7pm CT, 6pm MT, 5pm PT, 4pm AT, 2pm HT.
In the midst of extreme weather and climate disruption, our congregations and communities can be powerful hubs of care, connection, and critical infrastructure. Rachel Myslivy, Side With Love’s Climate Justice Strategist, will break down what we mean by “hubs of resilience” that are adaptive to and grounded in their context. We’ll hear stories of how folks are creating spaces that are not only prepared to provide critical support in times of crisis, but also generate deeper partnerships and expanded possibilities in their communities. This month, activist Canedy Knowles will ground us in movement and possibility. Side With Love's monthly event to strengthen your spirit, make sense of the threats to democracy, and take meaningful action alongside others! Join us live or watch the recording later. See you at The Gathering to strengthen your spirit, make sense of the threats to democracy, and take meaningful action alongside others!
If you are on staff or a board member of a congregation, we encourage you to ALSO attend Now What: The Gathering for Congregational Leaders
Rolling out a Mobile Resiliency Hub in Atlanta, Georgia - Green Sanctuary 2030 Community Meeting
April 15, 2026 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM ET - online
As congregations consider how to turn our buildings into hubs of climate resilience, the UU Congregation of Atlanta is taking the idea on the road with a Mobile Resiliency Trailer. Powered by solar panels with battery backup, the trailer will include a refrigerator, a water filtration system, induction burners for cooking, a washer and dryer, portable shower, and a mini-power station. The Mobile Resiliency Trailer is designed to meet emergency response needs, wherever that may be . . . but that’s not all! When not in use, the Trailer will also serve as a microgrid to supplement the congregation’s electricity and lower their carbon footprint. UUCA’s David Stewart will share their planning process and budget spreadsheet which you can use to replicate the idea in your local context. Don’t miss this conversation to take your resiliency planning to the next level.