Demand Montana's elected officials take action on inhumane immigration policies!

Trump’s immigration agenda is flooding into our Montana communities and hurting our neighbors, coworkers, family, and friends.  Families are being torn apart and Montana’s resources are being given over to locate, detain, and deport undocumented people. Violent tactics and racial profiling are being used with alarming frequency in support of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Montana.

Each administration in recent history—from Reagan to Obama—has expanded enforcement, reduced legal immigration, and diminished immigrants’ rights. Both parties have created this problem. And both parties are responsible for fixing it.

We need you to raise your voice and call on your elected officials to prioritize people before politics, create solutions, and act. Governor Bullock, Attorney General Fox, Senators Daines and Tester, and Representative Gianforte must stand up to these injustices. Immigrants and U.S. citizens in Montana must not be forced to endure inhumane treatment in order to satisfy Trump’s nationalistic, anti-immigrant agenda. Here's what you can do right now:

Call Governor Steve Bullock at (406) 444-3111. Gov. Bullock's refusal to send Montana National Guard troops to the southern border is a positive step, but more action is needed.  Montanans need Gov. Bullock to:

1. Order all state agencies under his authority to stop unnecessarily complying with ICE subpoenas used to hunt out undocumented people.
2. Sign an executive order blocking Montana resources from being used to separate or detain immigrant families,
3. Sign an executive order blocking the use of state money for immigration enforcement, and
4. Work with the legislature to ensure the rights of Montanan's immigrant community are upheld and protected.

Call Attorney General Tim Fox at (406) 444-2026. Attorney General Fox's office has the authority to guide policy for law enforcement agencies throughout the state, and to provide legal guidance to state and local agencies. Montanans need Attorney General Fox to:

1. Order highway patrol and any other agencies under his supervision stop cooperating with ICE,
2. Sign on to the lawsuit filed by 17 states and D.C. opposing family separation,
3. Issue an opinion that ICE detainers are illegal,
4. Inform state agencies (such as the Department of Labor) that they have the right to refuse administrative subpoenas issued by ICE, and
5. Aggressively investigate incidents of racial profiling in Montana.

Call Senator Steve Daines at (406) 245-6822 and Representative Greg Gianforte at (406) 969-1736. Sen. Daines’ and Rep. Gianforte's response to Trump's family separation have been uninspiring and weak. Montanans need Sen. Daines and Rep. Gianforte to be proactive in protecting people from abuse and racism at the hands of the government. Ask them to:

1. Publicly acknowledge that the crisis of family separation was created by the Trump administration,
2. Admonish the administration for not only tearing families apart, but for completely failing in its attempts to reunify those families and, in some cases, literally losing track of children it has separated from their parents,
3. Oppose any immigration policy that continues to detain families either separately or together and push for immigration reforms that will allow families to remain free until their hearing or removal dates, 
4. Support immigration policy reforms that rein in ICE and border patrol enforcement in Montana. They also must demand that agents use body cameras, that immigrants  with no history of violence or crime are deprioritized for enforcement, and that no person be stopped or simply for speaking Spanish.

Call Senator Jon Tester at (406) 252-0550. We are grateful that Sen. Tester cosponsored the Keep Families Together Act and opposed the Trump administration’s family separation policy. Montanans need Sen. Tester to continue to do more. Ask Sen. Tester to:

1. Oppose increased funding for the wall and more border patrol agents not just in public statements, but in practice. Montanans need Sen. Tester to actively speak out and vote against budget proposals that funnel money to Trump’s cruel and inhumane enforcement policies but provide no funding for body cameras and other ways to increase transparency at the border.
2. Oppose and vote against the funds transfer request for more immigration detention capacity, and
3. Follow through on his commitment to work with elected officials and local law enforcement on the Hi-line to reduce border patrol and ICE abuses.