Defending Democracy and Civil Liberties Against Escalating Attacks

For Immediate Release

June 6, 2025

Contact: Eric Grignol, media@uusc.org

This past weekend’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and Trump’s subsequent deployment of the national guard have shown how far the U.S. administration will go to manufacture chaos, undermine human rights, and suppress dissent. The administration’s intensified attacks on dignity and democracy have caused immense harm to our communities and are an affront to our shared values. 

The events in Los Angeles and across the United States emerge against a backdrop of the xenophobic and contradictory travel ban, criminalization of protest, gutted international humanitarian aid, and more. Such tactics seek to undermine democracy and demolish civil liberties. This strategy intentionally sows chaos to create public exhaustion and fear.  

The administration will not, however, stop human rights defenders from advocating for freedom. UUSC continues to work in solidarity with frontline communities whose rights are under attack. 

At UUSC, we continue to be grounded by the courage of our partners in Haiti and Burma, two countries cut off by the recent travel ban. We act in solidarity with protestors in Los Angeles and around the United States who are putting themselves on the forefront of resistance in defense of people’s right to migrate. 

All attacks on human rights and dignity are intertwined. While it is easy to become inundated by the deluge of crises, it is essential that we view our work for justice with a singular focus. We push back against state violence not simply to defeat fascist advances but to build a world of collective liberation.  

As people of faith and conscience, it is our responsibility to maintain clarity and act in defense of human rights. We continue to distribute UUSC’s Emergency Community Protection Grants to organizations in the United States under threat, responding to urgent developments and sustaining long-term support. We encourage you to sign up for our Resistance Network, a rapid response system for advocacy and education. On the Resistance Network Resource Hub you’ll find information about migration rights, ICE defiance, and protest safety. We urge you to contact your members of Congress to oppose this administration’s rampant abuse of power. 

We know that this presidential administration will continue to use every tool of force at its disposal, legal or otherwise, to threaten people in migration, protestors, the LGBTQIA community, and dissenters at large. Their agenda is built upon breaking community bonds. UUSC is honored to be an organization that connects human rights defenders domestically and worldwide. No state violence can deter our work toward collective liberation.