State Lawmakers Are Getting Arrested at Detention Centers and Yelling at Masked ICE Agents. Good.

This article is part of TPM Cafe, the House of TPM for the opinion and the analysis of the news.

This week, two moments revealed the front lines of the American immigration combat. In New York, 11 states legislators were among more than a dozen elected officials arrested after asking the entry to immigration and overcrowded customs to the 26 Federal Plaza. In Illinois, a viral video has shown that the Senator of the Karina Villa state in a suburban street, shouting in English and Spanish so that families stay inside as she confronts masked ice agents.

These scenes capture something too often overlooked: while the federal government performs a deeply unpopular program, state legislators are visibly and boldly fighting. A story full of hope takes place while the legislators defend the communities with their voices and their bodies, to respect the rule of law and to embody a vision of the government which protects rather than to persecute. The next step is to knit these efforts together so that energy at Illinois, New York and beyond becomes a coordinated front.

This is the story of the moment: as federal power is abused, states show what democracy in practice looks like. Legislators decline their authority to protect families, face masked agents and make the fight visible. And they use these tools with ingenuity in each condition, whatever its color on a card.

Continue laws that return the script

States bend the budgetary power. In New York, the legislators presented the so-called AVELO airline bill, which would block public contracts and fuel tax exemptions for companies benefiting from expulsion flights. Maryland, New York and Wisconsin have presented invoices allowing state officials to retain payments or to slap privileges on federal buildings if Washington is lacking on funding. The message is frank: if the federal government will not honor its commitments, states should not finance its abuses.

But it is not only a question of resistance. Pennsylvania legislators trained a welcoming caucus to advance bills creating a new Pennsylvanian office. Colorado and New York already have offices and programs offering English lessons, legal clinics and hotlines for newcomers. These efforts send the signal that immigrants are popular neighbors and contributors.

Legislators protect people at work. Washington promulgated SB 5104 to protect employees from immigrants who file work complaints. Last year, Washington followed the traces of states such as California by opening professional licenses to residents using taxpayer identification numbers instead of Social Security. Indiana and Oklahoma have recently reduced obstacles to health professionals trained abroad, filling critical shortages.

Intimacy is another battlefield. The Washington Washington Washington Washington restricted data sharing with ice unless you are linked to an active criminal case. California and Colorado make similar restrictions progress. These laws aim to prevent school, health and employment files from becoming surveillance tools.

Then there is the rule of law. Delaware has recently become the seventh state to prohibit agreements 287 (G) which deputize local police as an ice age, joining California, Connecticut, Illinois, Oregon, Washington and Maryland. The bills in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Michigan and New York prohibit masked or unidentified agents. Together, these laws return the script, using the power of the state so as not to target, but to protect.

Show and require answers

When the ice hides its operations behind closed doors, states legislators are fighting to open them. In Florida, legislators continued their governor after being denied entry to the Everglades’ detention center and then had access. In Washington, the legislators adopted HB 1470, forcing health inspections of private detention centers, on the objections of Geo Group, the contractor in massive private prison. Massachusetts legislators organized unofficial hearings to document the raids and their toll. By using their supervisory powers to enter the detention centers, convene hearings and continue for access, state legislators shine where federal actors prefer darkness.

Drag the fight in the audience rooms

Some battles must be waged in court. The representative of Florida, Anna Eskamani, testified in dispute on the conditions of the installation of the Everglades, adding her first -hand account to the file. The legislators elsewhere have signed AMICI, have proposed declarations and have provided evidence that lawyers must put pressure on their business. The judges can oblige responsibility and the legislators help to build the file to get there.

Make the resistance visible

If authoritarianism prospered in the shadows, legislators in the fight with cameras, microphones and crowds. In New York, legislators stood outside the metropolitan detention center for a press conference after the ice has blocked access to prisoners. Pennsylvania legislators organized a joint event to reintroduce the office of the new Pennsylvanian bill, flanked by families of immigrants. In California, the Latin legislative caucus gathered with community partners to denounce ice raids and back protection bills. Thanks to speeches, press releases, rivers on social networks and joint declarations between states, legislators pass the story of fear to solidarity.

These actions share a common objective: to protect communities and respect the rule of law. But too often, they occur in silos, treated as isolated skirmishes rather than parts of a coordinated campaign. It’s a mistake. The conservatives already know that power returns to those who exercise it. Just as the right has shared resources for decades, progressive states and legislators must connect weapons now – synchronizing invoices, sharing data, holding joint audiences and press conferences. Multiple coordination power.

The lesson is clear. The judiciary will not reliably verify an authoritarian excess, and this administration is not dissuaded by public opinion. This leaves the states. Used together, their powers, including budgets, contracts, data, surveillance, disputes, communications, can not only create defensive shields but affirmative governance models.