John,

When immigrant rights are under attack, when due process is under attack, when civil rights are under attack – what do we do?

Stand up, fight back. 

We’re in a critical moment where it is essential for New Yorkers and Americans everywhere to stand up for everyone's rights. That’s exactly what brought me out to Foley Square this afternoon alongside the New York Immigration Coalition, the Working Families Party, and Make the Road.

I was also proud to be out there with this coalition and thousands of others yesterday at ICE's Newark detention facility, where Mayor Ras Baraka was taken into custody and eventually released. He was arrested because he stood up against ICE's new torture prison. We were there to have his back and demand his release.

Outside the ICE facility in Newark.

Newark has a mayor who is standing up for immigrant residents of Newark – who is standing up and fighting for due process and the rule of law. Mayor Baraka knows that the only way to protect people is to protect all people.

Unfortunately here across the river, we do not have a mayor who stands up for immigrant New Yorkers. While Mayor Baraka was putting himself on the line to do his job, Mayor Adams was down in Washington humiliating New York City to ingratiate himself with Donald Trump.

The Adams Administration is giving the tyrant exactly what the tyrant wants, and New York City is paying the price – ICE in Rikers, $80 million stolen from NYC’s bank account, threats to congestion pricing. That’s not how to manage the greatest city in the world.

But when people show up, something different happens. That's what we did yesterday in Newark, and that's what we are doing here in New York City today. 

I'll end with this. There's that poem by Martin Nimoler that goes:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak up because I was not a socialist.
And then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak up because I was not a trade unionist.
And then they came for the Jews and I did not speak up because I was not a Jew.
And when they came for me there was no one left to speak up.

This moment calls upon us to write a different poem than that. Right, that poem's going to say:

First they came for Mahmoud Khalil, and I DID speak up because I would not let students or people protesting be taken away.
And then they came for Mohsen Madawi, and I DID speak up alongside others, and Mosen walked out free.
And then they came for Mayor Baraka, and I DID speak up, because due process matters, because rule of law matters, because freedom matters… 

We are writing a different poem here in New York City – and it is going to end with the restoration of freedom, civil rights, and due process for all of us.

In solidarity,

Brad

John, can you contribute $10 to show Brad you have his back? With just 45 days until Election Day, we need all the help we can get to hit the fundraising cap and keep our TV ads on air. This is urgent. Contributions from NYC residents are matched 8:1 by the City. CHIP IN $10 NOW DONATE ANOTHER AMOUNT