Action Items to choose from (or do all of them: your choice!). In no particular order. Scroll down to the matching number of your option: 

1. Oppose the new SAVE Act, H.R. 7296, the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act” or the “SAVE America Act” 
2. Again, keep fighting to rein in and, hopefully, to abolish ICE 
3. The Epstein Files Controversy is Not Over 
4. Read and sign a Resistbot letter to our representatives to stop judge-approved mass incarceration  
5. Ban private private equity ownership of hospitals 

Actions 

1) Oppose the new SAVE Act, H.R. 7296, the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act” or the “SAVE America Act”: 

     This is a voter suppression bill, pure and simple. It will make voting harder, if not impossible, for millions of eligible voters (including Republicans, especially Republican women) to register to vote and to actually vote, by requiring proof of citizenship not only to register to vote, but also to cast a ballot. It would also prohibit universal voting by mail, block states from counting absentee ballots received after election day, and require frequent voter purges that would kick eligible citizens off the rolls. People without photo ID on which their name matches their birth certificate may be turned away at the polls. Once again, this could disenfranchise millions of voters, including women who took their husbands’ names upon marriage, so their last names don’t match the names on their birth certificates.  

     I, for example, could be hit by a double whammy: Not only did I keep my maiden name (wow, I hate that term!), but as an adult, I also changed my first name to match what I’d been called most of my life, rather than go on with a passport and driver’s license that had my unused birth name on them. Long story, but the short version is that my legal name change was supposed to make things simpler and clearer, not more difficult. And especially not more difficult to exercise my constitutional right as a U.S. citizen, born and bred, to vote in elections. I do have photo IDs that match each other—passport and driver’s license—so perhaps I won’t be asked for my birth certificate, but can I be sure of that? And what of all the women who legally took their husband’s last names using only their marriage certificate to prove that it was okay? And what about Indigenous Americans who don’t have birth certificates, only tribal IDs that don’t include all the newly required information?  

     The vote for H.R. 7296, the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act” or the “SAVE America Act,” could happen as soon as this Wednesday, February 11^th. Contact House Representative Jared Golden, who was one of four Democrat Congressmen to vote for the last SAVE Act, and demand that he vote NO on this new SAVE Act, an act that, despite its name, will make it significantly harder, if not outright impossible, for millions of eligible voters to register to vote and to actually vote. It is our right as U.S. citizens to have our voices heard in elections across the nation. Golden had better support our right to vote, rather than cave to pressure from Republicans. 

     There is also another act in the House coming up for a vote soon: H.R.7300, the Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act. Along with imposing a proof-of-citizenship requirement for voter registration and a photo ID requirement to vote, this bill would usurp the constitutionally-granted authority of states to administer elections. Tell House Rep. Jared Golden to vote NO on this MEGA Act. 

2) Again, keep fighting to rein in and, hopefully, to abolish ICE: 

     Our Senate reps need to stand firm against ICE and BCP: There must be NO further DHS funding at all until the Senate has agreed to ironclad guardrails for ICE. The way this agency has been abusing both American citizens and undocumented people is outrageous. The “worst of the worst” means people who snuck into this country illegally and proceeded to commit serious crimes—serious crimes, not the occasional speeding ticket. And the “worst of the worst” should be located and apprehended using legal, controlled policies, not stopping any nonwhite-skinned person who speaks with an accent or speaks in another language, brutally grabbing them, scanning their faces with inaccurate ID technology (seehttps://www.wired.com/story/cbp-ice-dhs-mobile-fortify-face-recognition-verify-identity/ ), handcuffing them, shoving them into unmarked vans, whisking them asap to cruel and torturous detention centers in other states, deporting them to foreign (to them) countries, breaking up families, detaining little children, etc. This is not the behavior of the Founders’ America, or the behavior of civilized people anywhere.  

     There is no excuse for ICE to not be required to follow the same legal guidelines as every other law enforcement agency in our country. ICE agents cannot be allowed to hide their identities behind masks and unprofessional, properly identified uniforms. They cannot be allowed to tear apart families, let alone to detain children without their parents and in inhumane conditions. They cannot be allowed to arrest anyone without proper judicial warrants. ICE officials cannot be allowed to make up the rules for themselves as they go along. The cannot be allowed to intimidate, beat, arrest, or otherwise abuse people in this country legally—and that includes people following legal protocols for asylum or citizenship. Detention centers should not be allowed to abuse children—with or without their families present. They should not be allowed to refuse these people medical treatment, contact with lawyers, and all due process requirements in general.  

     Contact Senators King and Collins and demand that they absolutely refuse to give DHS a penny more or even agree to negotiate this without the above requirements. ICE has to be forced to toe the line or be totally abolished. What’s more, Kristi Noem needs to be impeached and removed, and Stephen Miller needs to be fired. Both need to be prosecuted, but let’s get rid of them first. 

3) The Epstein Files Controversy is Not Over:  

     Per Democracy Now, “Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna has called for Congress to investigate associates of Jeffrey Epstein named in the files and for the full release of the remaining documents. This comes as Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the review of Epstein files is over and that no further prosecutions are expected. Blanche, who was formerly President Trump’s personal lawyer, told Fox News that ‘it isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.’ 

     “Meanwhile, Epstein survivors have criticized the Department of Justice for failing to redact personal information, including some of their identities, as well as email addresses and even nude photos. ‘They were cavalier, at best, when it comes to the survivors, and they took great lengths to protect some of the rich and powerful people who actually committed the crimes and morally heinous acts,’” said Ro Khanna. 

     Khanna also said, “And I am so offended by Deputy Attorney General Blanche saying, ‘Oh, this is just about men who are playboys who are going to parties.’This is about men who knew that Epstein was abusing and raping young girls, saying, ‘I want to show up to parties where these young girls are being paraded, or where these young girls are being raped.’ 

     “And this is the American elite? I mean, the question we have to ask ourselves as a nation is: How have we produced an elite that is so callow, that is so immature, that is so venal, that has so little scruples, and that has such impunity from the rule of law? What have we done wrong in this country that that is our elite?” 

     Damn good questions that deserve honest answers. Contact Congressman Jared Golden and urge him to demand that the DOJ release all documents legally mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act. He should also call for public hearings and investigations into alleged abuses revealed by the documents, call for the resignations of Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Deputy Todd Blanche, and support articles of impeachment and move to convict Donald Trump (thanks to 5calls.org for the language). Contact Senators King and Collins and urge them  to cosponsor and otherwise speak out in support of Senator Ron Wyden’s bill, S.2746 (the Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act), which would require the Secretary of the Treasury to produce suspicious activity reports relating to Jeffrey Epstein and his associates. Republicans are currently blocking this bill. The very idea that anyone with any integrity would block this bill should prompt us to ask WHY? Who are they protecting? All this needs to be revealed, no matter the fallout.  

4) Read and sign a Resistbot letter to our representatives to stop judge-approved mass incarceration: 

https://resist.bot/petitions/PUOZIA

5) Ban private equity ownership of hospitals: 

https://action.ips-dc.org/a/inequality-private-equity-hospitals?ms=tjp260204

Reminder: When you call vs when you email via our reps’ websites (best way to contact them in writing), don’t forget to begin with: “Hi, my name is [name] and I’m a constituent calling from [zip code]. That is important, because if they don’t know you’re actually a constituent, your opinion will be ignored. 

Contact info:
Angus King             
DC: (202) 224-5344
Augusta: (207) 622-8292 

Susan Collins         
DC: (202) 224-2523 
Augusta: (207) 622-8414
Bangor: (207) 945-0417

Chellie Pingree      
DC: (202) 225-6116
Portland: (207) 774-5019  
Waterville: (207) 873-5713  

Jared Golden         
DC: (202) 225-6306 
Bangor: (207) 249-7400
Caribou: (207) 492-6009 
Lewiston: (207) 241-6767

Find your State Representative: 
By name: Here
By district: Here

Find your State Senator:
By name: Here
By district: Here

(Please note that for those of you receiving this email who are not represented by Senators or House members in our district, I have to leave it up to you to find the contact info for your own representatives.)

Yours in Civic Action, 

Bold Coast Civic Alliance

Dates to keep in mind: 

February 17^th: National Day of Lobbying to Impeach Trump, organized by 50501. This is intended to be in-district lobbying, but I will be surprised if it isn’t supported by protests all over.  https://www.mobilize.us/50501missouri-1/c/dday/event/create/

March 28^th: The next national No Kings protest. 

Action Items to choose from (or do all of them: your choice!), as always, in no particular order. Scroll down to the matching number of your option: 

1. Demand an investigation of the seizure of Georgia 2020 ballots by the FBI and the Director of National Intelligence 
2. De-fund/Abolish ICE 
3. Support S. 2746, the Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act 
4. Continue to Boycott Target and contact them directly 
5. Help get detainees released 
6. Four Maine-specific actions 

Actions 

1) Demand an investigation of the seizure of Georgia 2020 ballots by the FBI and the Director of National Intelligence: 

     Rather than me attempting to summarize, just read this this article. It’s longish but actually a fun read (I found it kind of fun, anyway), and it’s full of talking points you can use when you contact Senators King and Collins and Representative Golden and demand that they push the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to immediately open an investigation into the recent seizure of Fulton County, Georgia, 2020 ballots by the FBI and Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence. First of all, Gabbard had no business being there, and her explanation for her presence doesn’t add up. Second, well, read the article. If you email rather than (or in addition to) calling, share this article directly, even if you have to copy and paste the whole thing (if their online forms will let you). I’m no lawyer, but it looks like there’s some interesting points here that could all too easily be overshadowed by the Minneapolis/ICE situation. As I said, read it yourself and see what you think. 

     If you have the energy and interest, you could also contact the heads of both Intelligence committees: 

     Senate Select Committee on Intelligence: 

       Chair: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)   

                     (202) 224-2353  

https://www.cotton.senate.gov/contact/contact-tom

              Vice Chair: Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) 

(202) 224-2023 https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=ContactPage 

             House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: 

              Chair: Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR-1) 

                           (202) 225-4076 

https://crawford.house.gov/contact

              Vice Chair: Rep. Trent Kelly (R-MS-1) 

                           (202) 225-4306 

                           No email option except for constituents. 

2) Defund ICE:  

     Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries seem to be doing their usual thing of falling back to their usual weak stances while calling it “bi-partisanship.” (That’s Jared Golden’s playbook, too.) Their proposed reforms are little more than asking ICE to observe minimum standards of conduct that apply to every law enforcement agency in America. We need to see real reform. The alternative is for us all to live in a country where an uncontrolled paramilitary roams the streets, executing people who are not threatening them, shooting, punching, pepper-spraying and tear-gassing people directly in the face just for exercising their Constitutional right to speak out and bear witness. (Remember the guy who boasted in a text about getting 7 bullet holes with 5 bullets? Or the guy who said, “It’s like Call of Duty!” and was answered by something like, “So cool!”) We need a well-trained, controlled force that does due diligence in identifying and locating illegal aliens who have criminal records or are arrested committing a crime, not these “ICEholes” (I didn’t make that up; I saw it on a protest sign) who are over-armed and under-trained, and who think they are playing army on an Xbox. And who have no clue how to operate inside a city full of innocent bystanders, no idea (or interest in) how to de-escalate tensions, and are too wired and scared to hold back their own violent reactions.  

     Contact Susan Collins and Angus King and thank them both for voting in favor of the Sanders Amendment which clawed back $75 Billion of the money allocated to ICE and CBP in the “One Big Beautiful Sadistic Bill,” and also thank Senator King for cosponsoring Mark Kelly’s S. 3683, the Stop Excessive Force in Immigration Act of 2026. 

Tell them both that more is needed:  

• There should be no votes on any DHS funding unless and until the White House commits to removing ICE and CBP forces from our communities and Congress conducts a full investigation into enforcement practices, use of force, and civil rights violations. 
• The entire $170 Billion slush fund that was approved for ICE and CBP in that bill should be stripped out, and ICE and CBP must be defunded until they meet standards of conduct for police professionals (including uncovered faces, body cams, identification badges, and an end to the detention and deportation of American citizens and immigrants who are in the U.S. lawfully.  
• Stop enforcement at sensitive locations, including hospitals, schools, houses of worship, and community service sites — a critical issue for service providers, faith-based organizations, and community networks. 
• End family and child detention and prohibit any new contracts with private detention companies. 
• Stop immigration enforcement based on racial profiling or any discriminatory targeting. 
• Stop warrantless arrests. 
• Ensure accountability for abuses by federal officers and end qualified immunity. 
    Contact Jared Golden and lay out the same demands for him. 
  Some other resources for countering ICE: 

• Get some whistles to give out in case of ICE appearances. You can get free 3D-printed whistles or just donate to the people doing this here. 
• Indivisible’s ICE our for GOOD campaign:  https://indivisible.org/campaigns/halt-ice-terror/   
• Learn how to reduce the risk of your private data being exposed to the state or right-wing actors while observing ICE’s activities to hold them accountable: https://activistchecklist.org/ice/  
• Learn the SALUTE method for documenting the presence of federal agents: https://www.nysylc.org/ice-watch   
   

3) Support S. 2746, the Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act: 

     Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the Ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee (that oversees US banking) has been demanding access to Epstein’s finances. To this end, he introduced S. 2746 (the Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act), which would require the Secretary of the Treasury to produce suspicious activity reports relating to Jeffrey Epstein and his associates. Republicans are currently blocking this bill.  

     Call Senators King and Collins to urge them to cosponsor S. 2746. Also remind them that the list of impeachable offenses that Trump has committed in the first year of his second term is long and clear. It is way past time for Susan Collins to stop supporting Trump, and for Angus King to consider being a little less careful/reasonable. 

4) Continue to Boycott Target and contact them directly:  

     Target has officially sent the police to clear peaceful protestors out of its stores in MN. These protestors were doing sit-ins to demand that Target stop being complicit with ICE. Call 800-440-0680 or email them at guest.service@target.com to tell them to stop collaborating with or supporting ICE and CBP in any way. 

5) Help get detainees released: 

     Two organizations, Nefesh and CLUE, have created a fund to secure the release of Los Angeles community members from immigration detention. This campaign is an opportunity to unite families and free innocent people from ICE detention facilities in the LA area.  

     CLUE’s Immigrant Detention Bond Fund is the largest fund of its kind in the country. They have been able to get over 100 people released in the past six months. One hundred percent of donations go directly to bonds (minus credit card fees, if that’s how you choose to give). Even better, after each case is resolved, the bond money is returned to CLUE’s fund. That means your donation will go on helping more detained individuals. 

     You can donate here. 

Maine-specific actions: 

• See the national DeICE-ing action above 
• Learn how to counter Christian Nationalism (from the Washington County Dems): 
  If you have studied Christian Nationalism at all, you already know it is a threat to democracy and our way of life. It is the philosophical underpinning of Project 2025, whose founders and followers are actively attempting to destroy freedom of religion in our country. If you are interested in learning how to join the fight against it, you can attend a workshop on Countering Christian Nationalism at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ellsworth on Sunday, Feb. 8^th, from noon to 1:30pm. Led by members from Multifaith Justice Maine (part of the Maine People’s Alliance), this workshop will consist of two parts: 1) learning about Christian Nationalism, its moral and spiritual framing, political impact, and its support of authoritarianism; and 2) discussing how to implement counter-framing as a multifaith community and use nonviolent civil resistance as a countermeasure.   

• Help keep the Maine State House of Representatives blue (from the Washington County Democrats): 
       The Dems hold the Majority of the state House by a very slim margin. On February 24^th, there will be a special election for the Maine House District 94 seat, which was recently vacated by a Democrat. Now Democrat Scott Harriman is running for that seat against a MAGA Barbie-type Republican, and he’ll need all the help he can get to defeat her. (I wonder sometimes how many of these MAGA women are natural blondes…but that is neither here nor there.) Do what you can to support his campaign: 
  — Send a donation up to $500 to: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/scott-harriman-1 
  — Join a canvassing effort on a Saturday morning: 2/7, 2/14 or 2/21.  To join, sign up here: https://www.mobilize.us/mainedems/event/877498/ 
  — Join a phone bank on a Monday evening 2/9, 2/1, or 2/23.  Sign up here: https://www.mobilize.us/mainedems/event/886901/ 
• Push Maine to pass into law a detention camp profits tax in our state: 
       Many of DHS’s detention camps are run by private companies paid by taxpayer dollars. For example, CoreCivic has signed contracts to run detention facilities worth over $680 million in taxpayer dollars since last January. They reported $538 million in revenue in the second quarter of 2025. Over the same period, GEO Group made $632 million. So, while the government has claimed it can’t afford to make sure health insurance and childcare affordable to everyone, it has paid more than $1B of our money for detention centers that are no better than concentration camps. And CEOs and shareholders are getting richer than ever from taxpayer dollars. 
       States can tax corporations doing business within our borders. In California, lawmakers have proposed AB 1633, a bill to aggressively tax the profits of privately-run detention centers and redirect those revenues to immigration-related services.  
       Contact Governor Janet Mills and your representatives in the Maine State Senate and House of Representatives and urge them to introduce a detention camp profits tax in Maine. CEOs and shareholders can’t be allowed to get rich off the taxpayers by locking up our friends and neighbors. 

Reminder: When you call vs when you email via our reps’ websites (best way to contact them in writing), don’t forget to begin with: “Hi, my name is [name] and I’m a constituent calling from [zip code]. That is important, because if they don’t know you’re actually a constituent, your opinion will be ignored. 

Contact info:
Angus King             
DC: (202) 224-5344
Augusta: (207) 622-8292 

Susan Collins         
DC: (202) 224-2523 
Augusta: (207) 622-8414
Bangor: (207) 945-0417

Chellie Pingree      
DC: (202) 225-6116
Portland: (207) 774-5019  
Waterville: (207) 873-5713  

Jared Golden         
DC: (202) 225-6306 
Bangor: (207) 249-7400
Caribou: (207) 492-6009 
Lewiston: (207) 241-6767

Find your State Representative: 
By name: Here
By district: Here

Find your State Senator:
By name: Here
By district: Here

(Please note that for those of you receiving this email who are not represented by Senators or House members in our district, I have to leave it up to you to find the contact info for your own representatives.)

Yours in Civic Action, 

Bold Coast Civic Alliance

Action Items to choose from (or do all of them: your choice!) Scroll down to the matching number of your option: 

1. Support taking DHS funding out of the package voting for funding everything else 
2. Oppose the MEGA (Make Elections Great Again) Act and the Save America Act (a more extreme version of the SAVE Act: 
3. Fight for the ACA Premium Tax Credit extension 
4. Oppose the targeting of journalists by the Trump administration 
5. Get ALL the Epstein files out ASAP and prioritize protecting the victims 
6. Put a candle in your window 
7. Keep looking for ways to stop enabling/supporting companies that are not in line with our values 

Reminder: When you call vs when you email via our reps’ websites (best way to contact them in writing), don’t forget to begin with: “Hi, my name is [name] and I’m a constituent calling from [zip code]. That is important, because if they don’t know you’re actually a constituent, your opinion will be ignored. 

Contact info:
Angus King             
DC: (202) 224-5344
Augusta: (207) 622-8292 

Susan Collins         
DC: (202) 224-2523 
Augusta: (207) 622-8414
Bangor: (207) 945-0417

Chellie Pingree      
DC: (202) 225-6116
Portland: (207) 774-5019  
Waterville: (207) 873-5713  

Jared Golden         
DC: (202) 225-6306 
Bangor: (207) 249-7400
Caribou: (207) 492-6009 
Lewiston: (207) 241-6767

Find your State Representative: 
By name: Here
By district: Here

Find your State Senator:
By name: Here
By district: Here

(Please note that for those of you receiving this email who are not represented by Senators or House members in our district, I have to leave it up to you to find the contact info for your own representatives.)

Actions 

1) Support taking DHS funding out of the package voting for funding everything else: 

     This week the House will be voting on H.R. 7148, the funding package without DHS included. Contact Representative Golden to urge him to approve this package with funding for DHS to be acted on separately. Pressure him to stand tough on the DHS funding: NO further funding for DHS should be allowed without serious changes to control the lawless way ICE and CBP have been operating in U.S. cities. Yes, FEMA and the Coast Guard, etc., will be affected, but this is too important to compromise on. 

2) Oppose the MEGA (Make Elections Great Again) Act and the Save America Act (a more extreme version of the SAVE Act: 

       Last week, House Republicans introduced yet another bill that would restrict voting access while claiming to address election fraud—a problem that doesn’t actually exist. The Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act, similar to the previously House-passed SAVE Act, would require proof of citizenship for voter registration and mandate photo ID at the polls. Millions of Americans—especially people with disabilities, young voters, and Black and Hispanic communities—don’t possess the documents these requirements would demand. Married women who took their husband’s last names would have serious problems due to their birth certificates (if they have them) not matching the name on their more current IDs, such as driver’s licenses and passports.  

     By mandating extensive changes such as requiring states to reject mail-in ballots that arrive after polls close on election day, eliminating universal vote-by-mail programs, and banning ranked-choice voting in federal elections this legislation would also override the states’ constitutionally-granted power to run elections. 

     Despite the GOP’s repeated false assertions, election fraud in the United States is extremely rare. The real danger to democratic elections comes from Republican efforts to erode public trust in election security and suppress voter turnout ahead of this fall’s midterm elections. 

     Contact Representative Golden to tell him that you are still disappointed in him for voting in favor of the SAVE Act and demand that he reject the MEGA Act and the new Save America Act, as well as all the deceptive misinformation about election fraud and interference. 

3) Fight for the ACA Premium Tax Credit extension:  

    Now that the ACA premium tax credits have expired, households across the country are drowning in healthcare bills. Taking away affordable healthcare from Americans in order to pay for tax breaks for billionaires is unacceptable. Without these tax credits, millions of Americans are being forced to choose between feeding their families and having healthcare.  

   Contact Senators King and Collins to urge them to pass the ACA Premium Tax Credit extensions. 

4) Oppose the targeting of journalists by the Trump administration: 

    Controlling journalists is a clear part of the fascist playbook. We can’t allow that to happen here. Contact Senators King and Collins to demand that the denounce these partisan targeting of journalist who are doing nothing but investigating and reporting that is completely allowed by the First Amendment. Our Senators need to stand up to protect the First Amendment and the independence of the press. 

5) Get ALL the Epstein files out ASAP and prioritize protecting the victims: 

      It is unbelievable that the DOJ still hasn’t released all the Epstein files as required by the  Epstein Files Transparency Act. Plus, last week’s tranche of files not only didn’t protect the victims, but also listed some of their full names and showed photos of them as young girls. Isn’t that a crime? Pam Bondi needs to be fired and brought up on charges for what lawyers are calling “the single most egregious violation of victim privacy in one day in United States history.” I’m sure there are plenty of other charges that could be brought against her for her weaponization of the DOJ in service to Donald Trump.  

     Contact Representative Golden and remind him to support Congressmen Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie in filing inherent contempt charges against Pam Bondi and/or any other tack they might take to enforce the Epstein Transparency Law that Bondi is clearly ignoring. 

6) Put a candle in your window: 

   This is an easy one. There’s a new campaign called We Are the Light. Simply put a candle in your window to shine a light amidst the darkness. Place candles in your windows every night until the assault on our freedom ends, to remind one another that we are not alone. 

7) Keep looking for ways to stop enabling/supporting companies that are not in line with our values: 

     Here’s a new website that lists and explains all the corporations that are directly enabling the Trump administration’s nasty policies and/or helping ICE and CBP: https://www.resistandunsubscribe.com/ I know it’s hard to turn away from a lot of these big services so many of us rely on all the time, so my suggestion is to look at your options and start by boycotting those whose nonuse won’t make life too difficult for you. 

Yours in Civic Action, 

Bold Coast Civic Alliance