Joseph and Joyce Ellwanger :: Lifelong US Activist Couple

Trump Offers No Rest For Lifelong US Activist Couple

France 26: 2.6.2025

Milwaukee (AFP) – They've lost count of how many times they've been arrested, but even with a combined age of 180 years, American couple Joseph and Joyce Ellwanger are far from hanging up their activist boots.

The pair, who joined the US civil rights rallies in the 1960s, hope protesting will again pay off against Donald Trump, whose right-wing agenda has pushed the limits of presidential power.

"Inaction and silence do not bring about change," 92-year-old Joseph, who uses a walker, told AFP at a rally near Milwaukee in late April.

He was among a few hundred people protesting the FBI's arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan, who is accused of helping an undocumented man in her court evade migration authorities.

By his side -- as always -- was Joyce, 88, carrying a sign reading "Hands Off Hannah."

. . .

Joseph took part in strategy meetings with Martin Luther King Jr -- the only white religious leader to do so -- after he became pastor of an all-Black church in Alabama at the age of 25.

He also joined King in the five-day, 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, which historians consider a pivotal moment in the US civil rights movement.

Joyce, meanwhile, was jailed for 50 days after she rallied against the US military training of soldiers from El Salvador in the 1980s. Read On

Strength for
the Struggle

Joseph Ellwanger's Memoir Gives Insight Into Civil Rights Cause

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel by Annysa Johnson 5.11.2014

The Rev. Joseph Ellwanger is probably best known as a civil rights activist who marched alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and led a group of white citizens in support of black voters' rights in Selma, Ala., in 1965.

But Ellwanger's fight for justice has extended far beyond the turmoil of the 1960s. In the nearly 50 years since Selma, the now-retired Lutheran pastor and his congregations have taken up the causes of many of society's most marginalized: the poor; refugees; those addicted or imprisoned; and in more recent years, gay and lesbian people seeking full inclusion in their church.

Ellwanger recounts those journeys in a newly published memoir, "Strength for the Struggle: Insights from the Civil Rights Movement and Urban Ministry."

Q. You call this a memoir "of sorts." What do you mean by that?

A. It's not a biographical story in that it follows from birth to 2014. It's really about the learning and growing on all kinds of issues in the three congregations that I've been associated with as a pastor. It's my story, but it's much more than that. It's also the story of the congregation and its struggle to live out the Gospel and do justice in a thoughtful and authentic way.  Read On

Reconciliation Bill :: Immigration and ICE Agents Could Now Receive A $40,000 Bonus

Immigration Prisons as Planned in Kansas Are For Business, Not Safety

Kansas City Star: Opinion by Joshua Rush May 21, 2025

In Kansas, the average worker might hope for a $2,500 bonus at year’s end, if the company did well and the manager remembered. But under a new federal plan, a federal Immigration and an ICE agent could now receive a $40,000 bonus just for staying on the job.

That’s nearly 20 times the average year-end bonus of $2,503 received by American workers in 2024.

And it doesn’t stop there.

The same legislation proposes $45 billion to expand ICE’s detention and deportation budget by 2029, a 365% increase over current levels. The goal is to accelerate deportations and build more detention facilities.

Let’s break that down.

✔ ICE salary (for an experienced agent): $88,000 to $114,000

✔ Availability pay: Raises total to about $142,000

✔ New bonus: Add $40,000

✔ Private prison contracts to companies such as GEO Group and CoreCivic, which wants to reopen a detention facility in Leavenworth for ICE: more than $1 billion

And for individuals in the system?

✔ Cost to detain one person daily: Around $150

✔ Cost to monitor someone with electronic supervision daily: $4.07

That means the government is choosing to spend nearly 40 times more to imprison someone than to monitor them.

GENIUS ACT :: Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins

16 Senate Dems Join GOP to Advance Crypto Bill—A Gift to Trump's 'Reeking Corruption'

Common Dreams: May 20, 2025 by Eloise Goldsmith

"No Democrats should be supporting Trump's self-enrichment," said one grassroots progressive group.

Despite concerns that it does not address U.S. President Donald Trump's ties to the crypto industry, 16 Democrats in the Senate voted with most Republicans on Monday to advance a bill that creates a regulatory framework for stablecoins, digital assets whose value is tied to traditional currency, such as the U.S. dollar, or a commodity like gold.

The industry-backed Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act passed a cloture vote, with support from

Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.),

the original co-sponsor of the bill

Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.)

Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.)

Mark Warner (D-Va.)

Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.)

Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.)

Ben Ray Luján (N.M.)

Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)

Cory Booker (D-N.J.)

Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.)

John Fetterman (D-Pa.)

Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.)

Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.)

Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.)

Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.).

The bill is now teed up for Senate debate.

‪However, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs—said on the Senate floor Monday that the bill's "basic flaws remain unaddressed," according to prepared remarks.‬

Warren is concerned, in particular, that the bill does not "rein in the president's crypto corruption."

Hands Off Movement Resources :: 50501 :: Nebraska - North Dakota

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ICE Air :: Deportation Air Carriers

ICE Air Operations

ICE Air Operations (IAO) is ICE’s primary air transportation division.

IAO stages a total of 12 aircraft at its operational locations in Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida.

Hidden in Plain Sight:

ICE Air and the Machinery of Mass Deportation

ICE Air based in Mesa, Arizona has additional locations in San Antonio and Brownsville in Texas, Alexandria in Louisiana, and Miami in Florida. They are staging areas for deportations.

It supports 24 ICE field offices with the transfer and removal of noncitizens via chartered and commercial flights.

There are many U.S.-flagged airlines taking the ICE charter contracts, including the reinvented Eastern Airlines which converted a 767 used for the New England Patriots to handle deportations to Brazil and Venezuela.

Private air charter companies make billions deporting immigrants with little oversight. A New Mexico firm, CSI Aviation, that donated hundred of thousands of dollars to Trump and GOP super PACs won a $3.6 billion contract.

Air charter companies

Air Transport Services Group

ATSG provides cargo aircraft for Amazon, UPS, and DHL. It is also the largest provider of passenger charter flights to the US Department of Defense (DOD) via its Omni Air International subsidiary

Avelo Airlines

an ultra-low cost airline headquartered in Houston, Texas. Avelo is the first commercial airline began deportation flights for (ICE) starting May 12 from Mesa Gateway Airport in Arizona.

List of Airports

Classic Air Charter

ICE Air has relied primarily on one broker, Classic Air Charter, for contracting. Public records show Homeland Security awarded that company a contract worth more than $800 million during a period from 2017 to 2023.

CSI Aviation

New principal broker

With CAC's contract expiring last year, ICE issued an emergency contract valued at $300 million to CSI Aviation, which ran from July 2023 to March of this year, when it was subsequently extended into a full 5-year contract. The total contract ceiling is a whopping $3.6 billion, and unsurprisingly, given this vast amount, legal wrangling is underway between CSI, CAC, and another potential bidder, Chapman Freeborn Airchartering, regarding the awarding of the contract.

Eastern Airlines

At least 40 ICE detainees transferred to border states in overnight flight

Sarah Betancourt February 12, 2025

It is the first large-scale proof that the new Trump administration is transferring scores of detainees out of New England as part of its ongoing effort to deport immigrants, a key campaign promise. A flight on the privately chartered Eastern Air Express, which contracts with the agency, left from Bedford, Massachusetts after 1 a.m. on Feb. 2. On it, according to multiple sources, were about 40 ICE detainees.

GEO Transit

Miami-based private charter company Global Crossing Airlines projected that its subcontract to provide flights for ICE was worth $65 million over five years

GlobalX

quickly filled the void as a new sub-contractor for ICE Air. Based in Miami, it is the fastest-growing charter airline in North America

ICE charter flights by GlobalX have been removed from many flight trackers, and given the call sign TYSON --previously associated w/ Secret Service and a B52 bomber squadron.

GlobalX, Airline for Trump’s Deportations, Hacked

Joseph Cox, Jason Koebler May 5, 2025

Omni

accused by the University of Washington's Center for Human Rights (among others) of committing numerous abuses within its ICE Air operations, including physical abuse, torture, and denial of due process.

World Atlantic Airlines

has served in an 'overflow' capacity when iAero could not take on a specific flight request and has provided an increased number of flights since iAreo's demise. It has a fleet of five MD-83s, with an average age of 33 years, originally acquired from American Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

Signature Aviation

has grown to become the world's largest network of Fixed Base Operations (FBOs). Signature is headquartered in Orlando, Florida, with over 200 locations.

Bill Gates & the Gates Foundation own 30% of Signature Aviation. It's managed by Cascade Investment LLC worked with Black Rock & Blackstone to purchase Signature in 2021.

ICE Air Operations: Which Aircraft Are Used & How Many Flights Are Operated?

Simple Flying: By Paul Hartley Nov 23, 2024

Private Airlines Are Making Billions on Deportations

Jacobin:By Katya Schwenk 03.26.2025

Inside ICE Air: Flight Attendants on Deportation Planes Say Disaster Is “Only a Matter of Time”

ProPublica: by McKenzie Funk April 1, 2025

Inclusive Car March :: American Society on Aging

Inclusive Car March

American Society on Aging

1.  To have an age-inclusive, accessible, safe, and COVID-conscious way to support the movement for equality and justice

2.  To spread awareness with a caravan of cars decorated to show solidarity with protestors around the country

✔ Plan your route carefully.

✔ Decide if you want the event to be public or private

✔ Meet at a designated time and place to get organized and line up.

✔ Decorate your car with signs to show solidarity with protestors.

✔ Invite participants

DO’s and DON’Ts of a Car March

DO arrive at the meetup spot on time

DO bring materials to decorate

DO bring water and snacks

DO print posters

DO play music

DO turn your lights on

DO honk at designated intersections, but only once or twice, depending on the goals of the event

DO encourage viewers to honk, shout, show support as you drive by

DO center the voices of people who aren’t heard in traditional protests

DO follow all traffic laws (stop for pedestrians, stop at red/yellow lights, etc.)

DO try to stay together

DON’T

❌cover windows – write on windows and put posters and poster paper on the sides of doors

❌honk excessively

❌worry if your group gets split up with other cars on the road. They will move along eventually.

Postcards For America :: Political Advocacy & Social Media

Postcards for America

Jennifer Fisher February 19

GOP Members of Congress or Senators should not be able to post w/o dissent.

They should not get to get away with what they doing - what they are allowing to happen hassle free.

Postcards for America

POSTCARDS are not LETTERS. They DO get looked at. 

Among other reasons, they are favored because they: 

(1) Are pretty and easily stackable 

(2) Only have one subject per Postcard.

"I am your Constituent & ..."

Social Media

Adults get their news from Social Media

• About 20% exclusively from Instagram
• 33% Facebook
• 23% on X

Follow your Representative on whatever Social Media you are still on.

✔ Set to be notified whenever they post.

✔ Comment every time. #SenatorsSocialMedia

✔ Tag them in Quote Tweets & all you see that applies...

Updated for the 119th Congress

Lists have all the DC and all the DISTRICT ADDRESSES (which get mail faster because of the 3-week security delay there in DC.)

There is also a link after each entry so you can click-to-email your Reps, too. #ElectronicPostcards

Addresses for Members of the House of Representatives

(Including District, Emails & Twitter)

All Addresses for All US Senators - 119th Congress

(including District Offices, Website Emails, Twitter & FB and Committee Assignments)