National purpose with local action
Next meeting: July 27, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Christ Lutheran Church
1701 Arroyo Chamiso Road, Santa Fe
Hardly a week goes by without the federal government taking an action that has negative consequences for New Mexico. This past week was no exception.
On July 15, BLM released a draft environmental assessment proposing the full revocation of federal protections around Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The release started a ridiculously short 14-day public comment period that ends July 29.
The entire New Mexico congressional delegation has issued a statement that opposes the proposed revocation, urges us all to comment, and highlights their efforts to permanently protect Chaco Canyon.
Please add your comment. You can get started by clicking the "Participate Now" link at the top of the BLM project home page. If you need inspiration for what to write, here are a couple of submission forms that provide suggested text:
• Sierra Club
• New Mexico Wild
Protests, Rallies, and Events
Showing up with the Body Politic
PNM-Blackstone Public Comment Hearing
On July 28, from 1:00-7:00 PM, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission will hold a Public Comment Hearing regarding the application for Blackstone Infrastructure to acquire PNM's parent company, TXNM Energy. The hearing will be in the University of New Mexico Student Union Building, Ballroom C.
See the Notice of Public Comment Hearing for more details about the hearing. Visit ReliablePowerNM.com for more information about the application.
Free and Fair Elections 2026 🗳️ Update
The Free and Fair Elections 2026 initiative, described in the June 23 newsletter, is currently working in three areas:
- Voter education and election protection
- Post-election responses
- Promoting Land of Action as a source for NM-specific information and a tool to combat mis/dis-information
They'll present an update on their efforts in two upcoming Zoom meetings. The first is today, July 21, 7:00-8:00 PM and the second is July 22, 7:00-8:00 PM. Please email Dimid Hayes if you plan to attend either meeting. Join via this link.
Online Briefing on Project Jupiter 🤖💰
On July 23 from 6:00-7:00 PM, Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice will host a Zoom briefing on the data center situation in southern New Mexico. This is a chance to hear from grassroots groups fighting Project Jupiter and associated infrastructure, including Fight Chihuahuan Desert Xtraction, Hold the Line Campaign, MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán), and Food and Water Watch.
Unite and Rise 8.5
The Unite and Rise 8.5 initiative aims to get 8.5 million more registered voters to the polls than showed up in 2024. Achieving this goal will require effective outreach to get low propensity voters to actually show up at the polls. And it will require the coordinated efforts of many organizations.
Please come to the west entrance of the Roundhouse at 10:00 AM on August 8, for a meet and greet strategy session organized by Meredith Ross Machen, Projects Director for the League of Women Voters of New Mexico and AAUW-NM Public Policy Chair. Be ready to share your plans, hear the plans of allied organizations, and help find ways to work together strategically to get out the vote.
This initiative will continue through Election Day on November 3.
🫵 BlueCD2NM Needs You
Regular readers will know that BlueCD2NM is working to help re-elect Rep. Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico Congressional District 2. The organization needs help finding people skilled in these areas.
- Texting:
- Easiest: sending texts in the fall to infrequent voters, asking them to vote for Gabe and for Democrats in local NM House races to replace Republican incumbents.
- More techy: helping define the messages BlueCD2NM wants to send and identifying the audiences they want to reach, using Switchboard, BlueCD2NM's texting platform. They really need help with this part.
- Tech support for Zoom fundraisers: in short, they need someone who knows how to administer a Zoom session. This is a paid effort.
- Organizing social media efforts, mostly on Facebook and Instagram, in concert with their social media team.
- General techy stuff: help with GIS, data analysis for audience targeting, etc.
If you think you could help, please email Carol or phone Dimid Hayes at 505-660-2212 to discuss your interests and skills. Please share with anyone who might be interested and capable!
Speaker Series: Victoria Robledo
Victoria Robledo, the Voter Protection Director for the Democratic Party of New Mexico (DPNM), will visit Indivisible Santa Fe's weekly meeting on Monday, August 10. She'll speak about DPNM's voter protection program. Please read about all of the volunteer opportunities below, then come to the meeting to find out more!
Guest post
Regular protests & events
- Speakers' Corner – July 25, 10:00-11:00 AM at Railyard Park (map is in the link, but the location is now at the corner of Paseo de Peralta and S. Guadalupe St.)
- Banner Drop - tomorrow, July 22, 7:30-8:30 AM at La Cienega. RSVP to Linda F.
Guest post
Donovan Kolbly
Guest post
In the News
What folks are saying, of interest around here and elsewhere
Writing Letters to the Editor ✍️
Suppose you're writing a letter to the editor, and you'd like to mention your connection with Indivisible Santa Fe (ISF). How do you do so without giving the impression that you're speaking for the whole organization?
Gary K often writes letters and op-eds, and he uses an elegant, one-sentence statement: "Gary K is active in Indivisible Santa Fe."
ISF has a policy that covers letters to the editor, media interviews, and more. Please give it a read!
ISF Leadership
Good Trouble In Torrance County ⚖️
Fourteen ISF members displayed Signs Of Fascism at the Torrance County Detention Center in Estancia on Good Trouble Friday. The group held a silent vigil at the gates of the prison. The prison employees closed the gates and padlocked them as they locked down the prison. The group broke their silence with a bilingual chant.
Hermanos, estamos aqui. Lamentamos su sufrimiento.
Brothers, we are here. We are sorry for your suffering.
One of those who took part wrote to the organizers afterwards.
Ellen and Jane and Melinda,
Thank you so much for your good work organizing (and shepherding) the vigil and Signs of Fascism witness. I felt closely aligned with the statement of intention and its recognition of the suffering on all sides of the immigration crisis. I appreciated the chants acknowledging the suffering of our brothers. It was meaningful to be part of the group standing together in solidarity with fellow human beings who are being detained and to bear witness to the reality of the system of detention and enforcement, which we saw close up as the gates were closed and chained.
Ellen, thank you for taking and sharing these powerful images. And thank you for welcoming me to join the group.
In gratitude,
Martha
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Songs of Freedom at the Roundhouse 🎶
About 120 people came to the State Capitol on Saturday, for a joyful morning of song honoring John Lewis and others from the civil rights movement. It sounded great! Thank you to Dena A, Brian J, and everyone who attended.
City Immigration Council Meeting
Tina K attended the July 13 meeting of the City of Santa Fe's Immigration Council. She worked with a translator, and took notes for us! 🙏 Here are some highlights.
Accompany Immigrants to Court
The Committee is still looking for volunteers to accompany immigrant families in Santa Fe to court, as part of the Las Cumbres Client Accompaniment Program. Volunteers would accompany families to any kind of court appointment that might make people uncomfortable. No formal training is needed, but volunteers must be permanent U.S. residents and will be screened. Email Georgia Roybal for more information.
Other Opportunities to Help
The Committee's staff liaison has compiled a list of opportunities for volunteers who want to help immigrants in Santa Fe.
See the latest Feria Newsletter for full details.
U Visas
A U Visa is a visa for victims of criminal activity. At the meeting the Santa Fe Police Department reported that 9 applications were in process before June, and an additional 6 applications were received in June.
🎤 Indivisible Santa Fe Radio
In this week's episode, Deacon Jim Winder of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces, NM, speaks with Gary K about the efforts of the Diocese to prevent the federal government from building a 30-foot border wall across a sacred pilgrimage site, Cristo Rey.
From the Desk of Indivisible Santa Fe
Debra Efroymson
Gary Kowalski
Stay in touch with us
Check out our resources page with lots of links to useful information, constantly being updated as we find new web resources to help fight for democracy and the rule of law.
You can help our effort to expand our digital presence, including social media on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram by following us and liking and re-posting our messages, or sharing our website with people who might be interested – they, too, can sign up and get this newsletter! 🎉 Help us get the word out!
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Indivisible National
If you’ve been with Indivisible for a while, you know that our co-founder Ezra Levin usually writes an intro to this weekly newsletter reflecting on the week’s events and providing analysis and strategy for a path forward as we fight to defeat authoritarianism together.
Many readers love it, but some just want a good, old-fashioned digest email where we lay out our top to-dos, priority updates, and upcoming events in a quick and scannable format. Today, we want to know what kind of newsletter you’d like to receive. If you’d like to get a shorter newsletter, please let us know here. Otherwise, you’ll continue receiving Ezra’s standard intro each week. Thank you, and happy reading!
In solidarity,
Indivisible Team
Your weekly to-dos
- Attend or host a vigil to demand Justice for Lorenzo. Justice for Johan. Justice for All. this Saturday, July 25. Lorenzo and Johan were two husbands, fathers, and neighbors ripped from their families by Trump’s out-of-control secret police force in a single week. We must come together in solidarity in communities across the US to demand an end to ICE’s violence as we mourn Lorenzo, Johan, and all victims of ICE and fight for accountability. P.S. -- You may also notice vigils before the 25th listed, and we encourage you to gather as vigils are planned, either through the mass day of action or before. Don’t see an event near you? Sign up to host your own.
- Call your US senators to urge them to take action to permanently end Trump’s illegal war in Iran and refuse his demand for $87 billion in additional funding. The three US servicemembers who were tragically killed this weekend won’t be the tipping point for Trump and Hegseth -- in fact, they are escalating their attacks and turning this aimless campaign into a new forever war. Trump has defied the American people and bipartisan War Powers resolutions, and our senators must use every tool available to end this unconstitutional war, starting by refusing to give a single dime to fund more death and destruction. After calling your senators, call your representative, too.
- If you have a Democratic US senator, keep calling them to oppose the CLARITY Act, the toothless crypto regulation bill that wouldn’t actually regulate Trump’s crypto empire at all. The Senate could vote on the CLARITY Act within days. Despite Trump’s $1.4 billion profit from the crypto industry in 2025, this “regulation” bill wouldn’t address Trump’s crypto corruption in any way. 78 House Dems voted to pass this feckless legislation last year -- our senators cannot join them.
- Join our Hands Off Our Vote kickoff call next Thursday, July 30 to start getting into election protection formation in the face of Trump’s brazen attempts to sabotage the midterms (8pm ET/5pm PT). In his absurd, embarrassing speech last Thursday, Trump tried to plant seeds of doubt about election security nationwide to set the stage for interfering in November’s elections. But we are already building the people power needed to ensure the integrity of our elections remains intact and that every single vote is counted. Before joining the call, take the first step by signing up for our Hands Off Our Vote campaign.
- Join our second Immigrant Justice Summer virtual training call THIS Thursday, July 23 to build the skills you need to mount a safe, immigrant-aligned response when ICE surges in your community (8pm ET/5pm PT). As ICE brutality rises across the country, this is a crucial moment to learn how to identify and amplify the work of existing immigrant justice organizations in your community. More than 3,000 people joined our first training call earlier this month -- we encourage you to jump in and learn alongside fellow Indivisibles committed to immigrant defense as we demand accountability for the killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Johan Sebastian Guerrero, and all victims of ICE violence. Didn't catch Call 1? That's okay, we got you covered, jump in now!
- Join us tomorrow, Tuesday, July 21, for the next installment of our Solidarity in Action series, Leading Outreach with Solidarity and Care (7pm ET/4pm PT). Whether you’re a seasoned group leader, part of a local Indivisible group, or just deciding to take the plunge to get involved in your community, this month’s virtual call will help you explore how to conduct effective outreach while centering impacted communities, practicing accountable allyship, and strengthening relationships in your network.
- Phonebank for Indivisible’s endorsed candidates in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed (MI-Sen), William Lawrence (MI-07), and Donavan McKinney (MI-13) this Wednesday, July 22 (5:30pm ET/2:30pm PT). El-Sayed, Lawrence, and McKinney are all facing establishment Dems who would serve corporate interests, not working people. Michiganders deserve better than the same status quo playbook that has failed working people time and time again -- it’s time to elect true progressive fighters. Paid for by Indivisible Action. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.
P.S. With just under two weeks left in July, we’re 80% of the way to our monthly fundraising goal -- but we still have around $60k to make up from last month’s gap. At the same time as we’re facing online fundraising’s annual “summer slump,” we’re ramping up our efforts to WIN the midterms and PROTECT the results all across the US. If you’re able to chip in today, your donation will go a long way to help us catch up to our goal, build the strongest election protection program Indivisible’s ever run, and fuel our fight against authoritarianism.
Good News for a Change
Last week, New York became the first state to enact a statewide moratorium on data centers! Governor Kathy Hochul’s executive order will pause development of new hyperscale data centers for one year. During that time, the NY Department of Public Service will review environmental and energy impacts of data centers in an effort to protect communities from harm.
71% of Americans oppose constructing AI data centers in their communities. Data centers use excessive resources and have extraordinarily detrimental environmental impacts, including noise, air, and water pollution. They’re bad for people, bad for wildlife, and bad for the world around us.
A one-year pause isn’t a permanent solution, but this executive order is a big step in the right direction to rein in Big Tech’s corporate greed at the expense of New Yorkers’ quality of life and natural resources -- and now other states will hopefully be emboldened to follow their lead.
Upcoming events + Election shifts
These nationwide events, calls, training sessions, and electoral volunteer opportunities are coming up soon. For even more Indivisible happenings, check our national calendar and get in touch with Indivisible groups near you!
Indivisibles On the GroundSpotlight of the Week: Indivisible South County, Indivisible San Jose, Indivisible Santa Cruz County, Aromas TriCounty Indivisible, Indivisible Monterey, Indivisible HollisterLast week, federal authorities paused construction on a new ICE detention center just outside Gilroy, California. Indivisible groups across the area were instrumental in resisting this concentration camp, in solidarity with local organizations like CARAS, Community Agency for Resources, Advocacy and Services. Here’s what Cammie Brown, group leader for Indivisible South County, had to say about this effort and what comes next: “We are thrilled that DHS has paused its construction of the ICE facility just outside Gilroy. However, it is just a reprieve until Sept 9th while federal attorneys take time to prepare their challenge to the lawsuit brought by AG Rob Bonta and Santa Clara County. Given the short timeline and uncertainty of an outcome, it is important that we continue to hold our electeds accountable to do everything within their power to be prepared to protect our communities. These are extraordinary times and a business-as-usual response is not enough. Several cities have formalized plans to respond to the unique threat that ICE presents. In the interim, I believe it is incumbent upon all municipalities to take proactive steps to have a plan in place before the threat is on our doorstep. Doing so represents an important opportunity to build the trust of their communities and demonstrate the type of leadership we need.” This pause is an incredible example of the power of organizing and what we can build when we come together, both within and across local Indivisible groups. Find a group near you to get involved in your own community. |
Follow Indivisible National on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads to keep up on the latest information, and text “INDIVISIBLE” to 59798 to opt-in to their text messaging program, where they send rapid response actions a few times a month.
