In May, I participated in a coalition lobbying effort with Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) in Washington, D.C. to stand up for immigrants and oppose more funding to further expand the reach of President Trump’s mass deportation, mass detention, and border militarization plans. As an Amnesty volunteer and member leader, I was eager to attend in light of the increased human rights violations and hostility toward immigrants under the Trump administration. I also recognized my value in the national conversation as a constituent of South Florida, where fellow community members are at risk.
The event was one of my more unique lobbying experiences: the coalition consisted of many national and immigration organizations (including Amnesty), but also faith, healthcare, and family groups, gathering a diverse array of people with different life experiences and areas of expertise who shared a common purpose.
Together, we lobbied against Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”— a giant funding bill that aims to give the Trump Administration over $150 billion to expand detention, further militarize the border and build a border wall, and expand Trump’s mass deportation machine, while slashing budgets of services like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and giving tax cuts to the ultra wealthy.
The bill is an injustice; these safety net programs provide necessary support to families, and making cuts to their funding to feed hostility and fear into our communities is unreasonable and cruel. Attendees chanted “No cuts, no cages: Protect families!” at the press conference and rally.
After being divided into smaller lobby groups, my team and I met with a few offices, including those of two representatives from South Florida. I didn’t speak directly with my representative, but since I’m from the region, I explained to their staffers what I thought the reconciliation bill would mean for fellow Floridians and why representatives should oppose it.
I also talked about my background being from a prominent immigrant community, and how disheartening the bill’s proposals were. I feel the bill doesn’t just affect those bearing the most brutal impacts, because when one of us is targeted, taken and stripped of our rights, it puts all of us at risk by normalizing cruelty.
We met with staffers who were quite receptive to our concerns. One talked about the office’s broader views on immigration, aligning with Amnesty’s criticisms of the bill. Another staffer even invited us all to share other concerns with the office, recognizing that we had exerted considerable effort to be there.
These meetings were meaningful. The staffers I spoke to saw our conversations as extending beyond a one-time meeting, and the experience reminded me of the importance of feeling heard, even if a law can’t be immediately changed or stopped by a representative.
Although this wasn’t my first time lobbying in Washington, I’m always struck by how powerful it is when advocates and everyday people show up in high-level places like Capitol Hill.
We don’t have to be policy experts, or even people with a lot of advocacy experience, for our voices to have value or for our involvement to be justified; we just have to care enough to try.
If you’ve never lobbied before and are thinking about doing it sometime, I say go for it. You don’t even have to make the trip to Washington! You can make a phone call, send an email, or pay a visit to your representative’s office in your home district. If that’s not your thing, consider starting a dialogue with your friends and family on the topic you care about, or share your views on social media. That matters, too. Just remember that you don’t have to be an expert on an issue to recognize how it could or does impact your community. As a constituent, you have the right (and the responsibility) to share your opinion and show up when you can.
It’s challenging sometimes to realize that our efforts make a difference, especially when we face repeated losses on issues we care about. The reconciliation bill, for one, was approved and passed in the House. Yet, it was passed by an extremely close margin of one vote. The bill is now in the Senate, meaning we should all speak up to make sure it does not pass.
Pressuring your representatives has the potential to be significant, and our collective advocacy must continue. Moments like these are when it is needed the most.