Sunday, April 19, 2020

The Postal Service runs out of money in three months

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and the Republicans are refusing to include the Postal Service in any coronavirus relief legislation, because privatizing mail delivery has been a long-term goal of the conservative movement, and they see this crisis as their opportunity to kill off the Postal Service once and for all.

Dear MoveOn member,

The U.S. Postal Service could be dead in three months unless Congress provides emergency funding to shore up this crucial public service.1

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and the Republicans are refusing to include the Postal Service in any coronavirus relief legislation, because privatizing mail delivery has been a long-term goal of the conservative movement, and they see this crisis as their opportunity to kill off the Postal Service once and for all.2

Meanwhile, Donald Trump hates the Postal Service for his own sociopathic reason: The Postal Service delivers packages for Amazon, whose founder, Jeff Bezos, also owns The Washington Post, a newspaper that hasn't been afraid to publish hard-hitting journalism on the Trump administration.3 So, in the middle of a global pandemic and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, Trump is threatening to bankrupt a critically important public service to exact revenge for his petty grievances.4

Democrats are pushing hard to get emergency funding for the Postal Service included in the next coronavirus relief bill, and MoveOn is launching a digital ad campaign to demand that Trump and the Republicans stop blocking Postal Service relief funding. To make sure they can't ignore us, we will run targeted ads in rural districts that would be hit hardest by the Postal Service shutdown—communities that Trump must win big to have any chance of re-election.

On average, MoveOn's monthly donors chip in about $12 a month. Can you chip in $12 a month to help launch and sustain a digital ad campaign calling on Congress to include desperately needed aid to the United States Postal Service in the next stimulus package and to continue to fight to save the Post Office all the way until Election Day?

Yes, I'll chip in monthly.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.

The death of the Postal Service would be a crushing blow to Americans desperately trying to get by while sheltering in place.

Rural communities might never bounce back without the guarantee of reliable, standard-rate mail service. Small businesses in rural communities that rely on mail-order customers would go bankrupt. And people who live in these communities would be unable to get the essential deliveries—including medicine—they count on the Postal Service to deliver.5

The death of the Postal Service would also eliminate any kind of vote-by-mail program, disenfranchising millions of voters in November. And postal workers—39% of whom are people of color—would be left jobless.6

Most Americans don't know it, but the Postal Service doesn't receive a single taxpayer dollar.7 It is entirely funded by revenue from the sales of stamps and postage. But just like so many other businesses, the Postal Service has seen its revenue collapse during this pandemic. As a result, the entire operation could go bust by September, according to the postmaster general and the postal workers union.

It's especially tragic considering that postal workers, like doctors, nurses, and other essential workers, are getting sick and dying while working on the front lines of this pandemic to keep the rest of us afloat.8

Just imagine what life would be like right now if the mail stopped coming or if the only way to send or receive mail was to pay FedEx rates. It would be devastating. But Trump can't get over the fact that The Washington Post doesn't give him nonstop positive coverage. And privatization of mail delivery would be a massive boon to his corporate donors—at the expense of everyday, working-people Americans.

The next coronavirus relief bill could get passed as early as next week, and funding for the Postal Service must be included in it. If MoveOn can raise $150,000 by Monday, we will be able to launch a digital ad campaign calling out Trump and McConnell for blocking this desperately needed funding.

Can you chip in $12 a month to help launch and sustain a digital ad campaign, and keep it running for as long as it takes to stop Donald Trump from shutting down the United States Postal Service? (The average gift from a MoveOn monthly donor is about $12 a month, but whatever you can afford will go a long way.)

Yes, I'll chip in monthly to help save the U.S. Postal Service.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.

Thanks for all you do.

–Kelly, Seth, Jenn, Lisa, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "The Head of the Postal Workers Union Says the Postal Service Could Be Dead in Three Months," In These Times, April 16, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119675?t=6&akid=262134%2E10220574%2E7287HG

2. "White House rejects bailout for U.S. Postal Service battered by coronavirus," The Washington Post, April 11, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119602?t=8&akid=262134%2E10220574%2E7287HG

3. "Trump's Vendetta Against Jeff Bezos Could Destroy the Postal Service," Vanity Fair, April 13, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119676?t=10&akid=262134%2E10220574%2E7287HG

4. "Coronavirus job losses could total 47 million, unemployment rate may hit 32 percent, Fed estimates," NBC News, March 30, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119371?t=12&akid=262134%2E10220574%2E7287HG

5. "If the US Postal Service fails, rural America will suffer the most," Vox, April 16, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119677?t=14&akid=262134%2E10220574%2E7287HG

6. "Workforce Diversity and Inclusiveness," U.S. Postal Service, accessed April 18, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119623?t=16&akid=262134%2E10220574%2E7287HG

7. "The U.S. Postal Service is Owned by the People—Let's Keep it That Way," AFL-CIO, April 23, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/119678?t=18&akid=262134%2E10220574%2E7287HG

8. "The U.S. Postal Service Needs Help Now: 'The Situation Is Absolutely Dire,'" New York, April 17, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119679?t=20&akid=262134%2E10220574%2E7287HG

Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?

Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.


PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

This email was sent to Mar Alfaro on April 20, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Friday, April 17, 2020

Fwd: Sign the petition re: U.S. Postal Service

Add your name to show your support. Congress and the White House must fully fund the United States Postal Service in the next stimulus bill.

Mar— Quick update that more than 200,000 MoveOn members have already signed our petition to save the U.S. Postal Service, and we're now in touch with the American Postal Workers Union to strategize additional ways to support workers. Please take a minute to sign the petition. See the original email below.


Dear fellow MoveOn member,

The U.S. Postal Service is once again under attack by Republicans who want to bankrupt the Postal Service and allow private equity firms and global corporations to privatize the service, dismantle the agency, and profit further off of the American people.

Private companies won't deliver to certain remote areas because it's not profitable to do so, but the Postal Service is obligated to serve all Americans regardless of where they live— and, right now, the Postal Service is delivering lifesaving medications and food, supporting voting by mail in primary states, and helping other services necessary for our nation to continue to operate.

Sign the petition demanding Congress and the Trump administration fully fund the United States Postal Service.

Congress and the White House must fully fund the United States Postal Service in the next stimulus bill.

The United States Postal Service is one of our government's oldest and most reliable entities. And mail service has been a lifeline for many Americans during the coronavirus pandemic.

However, because of the pandemic, the agency could run out of cash by the end of September, if Congress fails to act.Democrats have been pressing for weeks to fully fund the Postal Service, but the Trump administration recently blocked a bipartisan attempt to fund the agency.2

For years, conservatives have tried to push mail service toward privatization—either by setting highly prescriptive loan terms or by essentially forcing it into bankruptcy.

Sign the petition to save the United States Postal Service.

During the last privatization fight, Senator Bernie Sanders said, "If the goal of the Postal Service is to make as much money as possible, tens of millions of people, particularly low-income people and people in rural areas, will see a decline in or doing away with basic mail services."3

Just a few days ago, Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted, "I'm calling on Congress to act swiftly to shore up USPS so that everyone can continue to receive essential medicines and supplies, and as many Americans as possible can vote from home."4

Please join with us and demand that Congress and the White House fully fund the United States Postal Service in the next stimulus bill.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Matthew Hildreth, RuralOrganizing.org

Sources:

1. "White House rejects bailout for U.S. Postal Service battered by coronavirus," The Washington Post, April 11, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119602?t=12&akid=261991%2E10220574%2EtCd2U0

2. "The debate over a post office bailout, explained," Vox, April 12, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119598?t=15&akid=261991%2E10220574%2EtCd2U0

3. "Bernie Sanders Is to Deliver a Commonsense Plan to Save the Postal Service," The Nation, June 7, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/119597?t=17&akid=261991%2E10220574%2EtCd2U0

4. Tweet by Elizabeth Warren, April 10, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119599?t=19&akid=261991%2E10220574%2EtCd2U0

You're receiving this petition because we thought it might interest you. It was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online petitions. You can start your own petition here.

Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with MoveOn?

Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.

Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. This email was sent to Mar Alfaro on April 17, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Thursday, April 16, 2020

RSVP: Make noise for #Recovery4All

You're Invited!
Make some noise for #Recovery4All
WHEN Friday, April 17 at 2 p.m. ET
WHERE Your home
Fridays: Demand Congress Put People First—From Home
Yes! I'll Be There!

Congress needs to act now with big, bold actions and historic solutions to get individuals and communities the relief we all need in this crisis.

Essential workers need a bill of rights to provide the protections they need, the rights they are entitled to, and the compensation they deserve. Rent and mortgage must be cancelled for the extent of the crisis and recovery. Those incarcerated in jails, prisons, and immigration detention must be released instead of forced to live in conditions that cannot prevent the spread of COVID-19 or support the medical needs of those infected. Everyone needs access to testing, treatment, and a vaccine when it is available free of charge. And much much more. 

This is why we need a #Recovery4All, not the corporate welfare Republicans are pushing.

This moment urgently calls us to express our collective needs and exercise our collective power in spite of physical distance—and there are safe ways that thousands of us will be seen or heard this Friday!

Will you make some noise on Friday, April 17, and every Friday at 2 p.m., with people from across your community and the entire state to demand Congress pass an essential workers bill of rights and a big, bold relief package that puts people first?

Here's how it works:

    1. Wear something red, because it's an emergency.
    2. Make a sign or banner saying something the government needs to do to protect us. Hold it or hang it out your window or off your roof. [E.g. #CancelRent, #RentZero, #ProtectWorkers, #CashNow, etc.]
    3. Open your window, head to your stoop (or whatever is safe, legal, and comfortable for you— and make a racket for 10 minutes. Whistle, shout, sing, pray, bang on a pot, hoot, holler, drum, blast music and dance—it's up to you. Just do it loud enough to wake up our leaders—and to remind each other that our country is better, and stronger, than this. (Don't forget to follow physical distancing.)
    4. Take pictures and videos and post with #PeoplesBailout #Recovery4All.
    5. Send those photos to recovery4all@moveon.org.
    6. Do it again next Friday.
    7. Tell all of your friends to do it on May 1! We're building to a nation-wide action on that date.

Yes! I'll Be There!

By choosing to attend this event, you are committing to participate nonviolently and in accordance with the law, to work to de-escalate confrontations with others, and to behave lawfully to ensure the safety of event participants. You also acknowledge that you are solely responsible for any injury or damage to your person or property resulting from or occurring during this event and that you release all event sponsors and organizers (and their officers, directors, employees, and agents) from any liability for that injury or damage.

Help run TV ads holding Donald Trump accountable for his catastrophic coronavirus response

We have to get the truth out to voters. And we need to do it right now—when Americans everywhere are tuned in to what's happening in their community and beyond more than ever before and are glued to the news to find out the latest about the virus.

Dear MoveOn member,

On her show, Rachel Maddow called the U.S. response to the coronavirus "the worst failed national response on earth."1

673,215 cases.2 34,384 deaths—more than any other country worldwide.3 Yesterday, two Americans died about every minute from the coronavirus.4 And the virus continues to spread with astonishing speed in most places.

Maddow decried the "patch work, late, denialist, fantasists, uncoordinated, inept, unscientific, confusion in national policy" as leading to this "run-away disaster."5

Yet, 48% of Americans still approve of Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, according to the average of the most recent polls.6

Many Americans simply don't know that it didn't have to be this way.

Mar, we have to hold Trump accountable. That's why MoveOn is working to get the truth out to voters in battleground states about Trump's failed response to the crisis.

MoveOn's Creative Lab, which has created many powerful ads seen by millions of Americans, has swung into action to produce hard-hitting TV ads holding Trump accountable. After MoveOn members chipped in an incredible $150,000 in the last 24 hours, we've started to purchase ad time on Hulu and other streaming TV services. The ads will target voters in battleground states who approve of Trump's handling of the crisis. But to really blanket the airwaves and reach the voters we need to reach, we need to raise another $125,000 by the end of the week.

Will you chip in $5 a month to put TV ads on the air in battleground states and keep them going for as long as it takes to hold Donald Trump accountable for his catastrophic mishandling of the coronavirus?

Yes, I'll chip in monthly.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.

Trump's failed response to the pandemic is costing American lives and devastating the economy. A just-published, bombshell Washington Post investigative report, based on interviews with 22 senior administration officials, lawmakers, public health officials, and other Republicans in frequent touch with the White House, exposes the Trump White House as having "no plan:"

  • no plan "for getting vital medical supplies to states, which are left to fight among themselves or seek favors from Trump;"
  • no plan for widespread testing and contact tracing;
  • no plan "for when or how to reopen parts of the economy;"
  • no plan "for what happens if cases or deaths spike as people begin to return to work, or how to respond if the coronavirus surges again in the fall;" and
  • no plan "for ending the coronavirus crisis."7

We have to get the truth out to voters. And we need to do it right now—when Americans everywhere are tuned in to what's happening in their community and beyond more than ever before and are glued to the news to find out the latest about the virus. And then we need to keep the ads going through Election Day to hold Trump accountable.

Will you chip in $5 a month to help launch hard-hitting TV ads in battleground states on Hulu and other streaming TV services—where audience growth is exploding—to hold Donald Trump accountable and then keep ads running all the way through Election Day?

Yes, I'll chip in monthly.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.

Thanks for all you do.

–Nita, Amy, Ankur, Allison, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Chicago Mayor TRANSCRIPT: 4/8/20, The Rachel Maddow Show," MSNBC, April 8, 2020
http://act.moveon.org/go/119626?t=6&akid=261829%2E10220574%2EAW4Zy8

2. "Coronavirus, United States," Worldometer, accessed April 16, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119627?t=8&akid=261829%2E10220574%2EAW4Zy8

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. "Chicago Mayor TRANSCRIPT: 4/8/20, The Rachel Maddow Show," MSNBC, April 8, 2020
http://act.moveon.org/go/119626?t=10&akid=261829%2E10220574%2EAW4Zy8

6. "How Americans View The Coronavirus Crisis And Trump's Response," FiveThirtyEight, accessed April 16, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119628?t=12&akid=261829%2E10220574%2EAW4Zy8

7. "Trump administration has many task forces — but still no plan for beating covid-19," The Washington Post, April 11, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119629?t=14&akid=261829%2E10220574%2EAW4Zy8

Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?

Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.


PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

This email was sent to Mar Alfaro on April 16, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Tell Trump GE workers are waiting to make ventilators right now!

Add your name to show your support.

Dear MoveOn Member,

I'm Vicky Hurley & Walter Bradford of IUE-CWA and I started a petition to President Trump and Defense Production Act coordinator Peter Navarro, which says:

GE is one of America's leading producers of ventilators, but it is laying off workers instead of using its excess capacity to help meet our country's needs as soon as possible. President Trump should use his authority under the Defense Production Act to require GE to use its highly-skilled union workforce and underutilized facilities to produce ventilators and save lives during this pandemic.

We are longtime GE employees and proud IUE-CWA union members who know that we and our co-workers can make a real difference during this crisis by producing ventilators, but GE has failed to act. We are calling on President Trump to use his authority under the Defense Production Act to require GE to start producing ventilators at its underutilized facilities immediately!

We have the skills necessary to make ventilators and GE has the manufacturing capacity, but instead of producing this desperately needed equipment the company has announced massive layoffs of its workforce and GE factory space is sitting empty.

GE is partnering with other corporations to jumpstart ventilator production because its existing GE Healthcare production plant is now running at capacity. Meanwhile, thousands of Americans are dying every day. We need more companies producing more ventilators in more locations now, and the quickest way for GE to do that is to put its skilled workforce and excess capacity to work.

Workers like us are ready to start producing ventilators to help our country get through this crisis and save lives. President Trump must act now to require GE to do the right thing and start producing live-saving ventilators immediately. Please join this fight and sign our petition.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

—Vicky Hurley & Walter Bradford

You're receiving this petition because we thought it might interest you. It was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online petitions. You can start your own petition here.

Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with MoveOn?

Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.

Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. This email was sent to Mar Alfaro on April 15, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Help launch TV ads holding Donald Trump accountable for his catastrophic coronavirus response

We have to get the truth out to voters. And we need to do it right now—when Americans everywhere are tuned in to what's happening in their community and beyond more than ever before and are glued to the news to find out the latest about the virus.

Dear MoveOn member,

Rachel Maddow calls the U.S. response to the coronavirus "the worst failed national response on earth."1

613,886 cases.2 26,047 deaths—more than any other country worldwide.3 Yesterday, an American died every 16 minutes from the coronavirus.4 And the virus continues to spread with astonishing speed in most places.

Maddow decries the "patch work, late, denialist, fantasists, uncoordinated, inept, unscientific, confusion in national policy" as leading to this "run-away disaster."5

Yet, 48% of Americans still approve of Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, according to the average of the most recent polls.6

Many Americans simply don't know that it didn't have to be this way.

Mar, we have to hold Trump accountable. That's why MoveOn is working to get the truth out to voters in battleground states about Trump's failed response to the crisis.

If we can raise $150,000 by Thursday morning, we'll launch powerful TV ads to air on Hulu in battleground states holding Trump accountable. And we'll target the ads to voters in those states who approve of Trump's handling of the crisis. But TV ads are very expensive to create, produce, and air—and we need your help to make the ads possible.

Will you chip in $5 a month to put TV ads on the air in battleground states and keep them going for as long as it takes to hold Donald Trump accountable for his catastrophic mishandling of the coronavirus?

Yes, I'll chip in monthly.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.

Trump's failed response to the pandemic is costing American lives and devastating the economy. A just-published, bombshell Washington Post investigative report, based on interviews with 22 senior administration officials, lawmakers, public health officials, and other Republicans in frequent touch with the White House, exposes the Trump White House as having "no plan:"

  • no plan "for getting vital medical supplies to states, which are left to fight among themselves or seek favors from Trump;"
  • no plan for widespread testing and contact tracing;
  • no plan "for when or how to reopen parts of the economy;"
  • no plan "for what happens if cases or deaths spike as people begin to return to work, or how to respond if the coronavirus surges again in the fall;" and
  • no plan "for ending the coronavirus crisis."7

We have to get the truth out to voters. And we need to do it right now—when Americans everywhere are tuned in to what's happening in their community and beyond more than ever before and are glued to the news to find out the latest about the virus. And then we need to keep the ads going through Election Day to hold Trump accountable.

Will you chip in $5 a month to help launch hard-hitting TV ads on Hulu in battleground states to hold Donald Trump accountable and keep ads running all the way through Election Day?

Yes, I'll chip in monthly.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.

Thanks for all you do.

–Nita, Amy, Ankur, Allison, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Chicago Mayor TRANSCRIPT: 4/8/20, The Rachel Maddow Show," MSNBC, April 8, 2020
http://act.moveon.org/go/119626?t=6&akid=261750%2E10220574%2EaZz22k

2. "Coronavirus, United States," Worldometer, accessed April 14, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119627?t=8&akid=261750%2E10220574%2EaZz22k

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. "Chicago Mayor TRANSCRIPT: 4/8/20, The Rachel Maddow Show," MSNBC, April 8, 2020
http://act.moveon.org/go/119626?t=10&akid=261750%2E10220574%2EaZz22k

6. "How Americans View The Coronavirus Crisis And Trump's Response," FiveThirtyEight, accessed April 14, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119628?t=12&akid=261750%2E10220574%2EaZz22k

7. "Trump administration has many task forces — but still no plan for beating covid-19," The Washington Post, April 11, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119629?t=14&akid=261750%2E10220574%2EaZz22k

Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?

Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.


PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

This email was sent to Mar Alfaro on April 15, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Monday, April 13, 2020

Save my dad from ICE's virus-ridden detention centers

Sign this petition demanding that my father, Dr. Asgari, be released from ICE detention immediately, as the coronavirus pandemic is a life-or-death situation for him.

Dear fellow MoveOn member,

My father, Dr. Sirous Asgari, is being unjustly detained by ICE in the middle of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, and we need your help to free him so he can return to his life and job as a professor in Iran. 

The detention center where he is being held already has cases of COVID-19, and I am worried that my father won't survive this unjust detention because of his history of lung infection and pneumonia. This is a life-or-death situation for my father and my family, and so far, all requests by my father's attorney to release him have been rejected. 

Please sign my petition asking ICE to release our father Dr. Asgari—and our entire family—from this nightmare.

Sign this petition demanding that my father, Dr. Asgari, be released from ICE detention immediately, as the coronavirus pandemic is a life-or-death situation for him.

My father earned his Ph.D. in material science and engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia in 1997. He now teaches at Sharif University of Technology in Iran. He and our mother received tourist visas to visit us in 2017. But our father's tourist visa was not properly stamped by U.S. Customs, making him lose his status and become undocumented.

The minute my parents stepped off the plane, my father was arrested by the FBI on charges that were ultimately dismissed. After more than two years of legal battles, he was exonerated in federal court in Ohio on November 15, 2019, but he was immediately taken into custody by ICE.

Since then, our dad has been held at four different ICE facilities. In just the last month, in the midst of a global pandemic, he has been forced on nine different flights among numerous other detained people. Now, we have learned he was exposed to someone who was very likely infected with COVID-19. Because of that, he was transferred to a different ICE facility in Louisiana.

He has been living in a room with between 29 and 44 detainees under horrible conditions. He sleeps on a rusted metal bed, in a humid room that makes the bed sheets constantly wet. They have only one shower and two toilets and no access to clean clothes. There is no sunlight or a view outside, and all the windows are covered. There are no "social distancing" or sanitation measures to protect them from COVID-19.

In the middle of a pandemic, when officials are worried about prisons and detention facilities becoming petri dishes for COVID-19, my father is trapped in custody—when all he wants to do is return to Iran and join my family so we can resume our lives.

ICE, please release my father immediately. His detention should not be a death sentence during this pandemic. 

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks for all you do. 

—Zahra Asgari

You're receiving this petition because we thought it might interest you. It was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online petitions. You can start your own petition here.

Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with MoveOn?

Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.

Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. This email was sent to Mar Alfaro on April 13, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.