ICE is not a broken agency that needs fixing. It is an agency whose design produces the outcomes we are now witnessing. When an institution is built to enforce a broken system without due process protections, without meaningful accountability, and with a culture that has consistently shielded agents from consequences for misconduct and killing, reform is insufficient. The institution must be replaced.

Abolishing ICE means replacing a failed institution with one that is built from the ground up with civil rights protections, democratic accountability, and a mission that’s oriented toward a functional immigration system rather than fear and punishment.

On Thursday morning, I joined Jeff Chidester on WFEA Manchester to talk about Maple syrup season, why childcare costs way more than $3 a day and a pack of Oreos, our beloved tri-pawed, Rali, and the chocolate chip cookies I ate for dinner the last two nights.

Seabrook has a reputation for being one of the most Trump-friendly towns in NH. I can speak from experience having canvassed for state and federal candidates in Seabrook that it’s reputation is certainly well-deserved. That said, the current enthusiasm for Trump in the town belies the rich history of direct action and community-centered organizing that has defined the town for generations.

Why else do I stay? Because after the speeches are over and the questions are answered, there is that rare opportunity to affirm a common purpose and the determination to finally see the changes we’ve been awaiting for so long. When I stay, we can celebrate what we have accomplished together, and discern what we need to do next. This process can’t just be about winning votes—it has to be about something bigger than that. It has to be about building communities strong enough for the hard work ahead.

How often do you realize you can’t pay for parking, get into a movie, or do some basic task without your phone? We’ve gotten to the point where it feels like our lives are beholden and secondary to the priorities and profits of these corporations, and we never had a say in it. I want to see much stronger privacy protections for minors, including limits on data collection, and real investments in our schools and families so that they can thrive. Kids’ health should always be prioritized over profits. And I want to enforce anti-monopoly laws against these companies. They have amassed so much political and cultural power by virtue of their sheer size, which helps shield them from accountability for the harm their platforms cause.

Our budget failed. For the second time in four years, our neighbors came out and told us that their property taxes were already too high, and that they weren’t ready to invest a penny more to ensure the services our town provides continue and that we make necessary investments in our future. As I have said time and time again on the campaign trail, the problem is not with the people, it is with our leaders. Specifically, our leaders in Washington and Concord who do more to help themselves and protect their power than they do to help people in communities like mine.

I am hoping that our town will come together today to affirm that our community does not want to collaborate with the Trump Administration in its unlawful and immoral immigration crackdown here in Hampton.

Earlier this year, I invited the community to join me for a social media-free February. A month of human connection and meaningful and messy conversations. 28 days to be together and see what happens when we’re not constantly curating a version of our lives for mass consumption.

Oliver-Velez exhorted us to share our stories and the stories of others who have fought, and sometimes died, for justice with our children. We must continue to connect, to build, and to move towards more healing, community, and justice in the world. In her words: “We have no excuse.”

What we need now is a federal delegation with the courage to bring this same innovative and evidence-based approach to their work in Washington. You want to talk about property tax relief? Here are two ways the federal government could help lower your property taxes, now.

Good riddance.

I have spent my career studying the consequences of U.S. military action. I teach about international conflict and diplomacy. I have lived in communities still scarred by the legacy of U.S. nuclear testing. I do not romanticize war or underestimate how quickly “major combat operations” can become a global catastrophe.

Today is Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day in the Marshall Islands, honoring the victims of U.S. nuclear testing there. The U.S. must continue to ensure survivors receive the support and health care they need. We must also work to end nuclear testing once and for all and work to rid the world of the existential threat of nuclear war.

Earlier today, President Trump ordered another strike on Iran in conjunction with Israel. Trump has characterized the attacks as “major combat operations” and referred to the possibility of American “casualties that often happens in war.” This situation could escalate quickly into a vast conflict with deadly consequences for our soldiers and civilians throughout the region. Congress must act immediately to constrain Trump and hold him accountable for these dangerous and unconstitutional strikes.

My students looked at me, and they said: ‘what is this country?’ This is so different than the America they were promised. I’m a Millenial, and I can count on one hand the number of friends who can afford to have kids because the cost of daycare is so impossible. That’s crazy. That’s not what we thought our lives would be like. I think there’s a level of cynicism that young people bring to politics because they don’t feel like their experiences are being taken seriously.

This victory shows the power of a mobilized and unified community that not only opposes the reprehensible actions of ICE and DHS, but also envisions and fights for a more just immigration system.

For years, I thought I just had terrible luck with doctors and pharmacies. How was it that every couple months, I would wind up having to go back and forth from my insurance, to my doctor, to my pharmacy, to figure out why some medicine my kids or I had been prescribed wasn’t going to be available to us because of something called “prior authorization.” As I’ve been out in the community meeting voters, I have learned how widespread and insidious the prior authorization really is, and I have also learned that it is completely fixable.

A few weeks ago, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists issued a dire warning. They moved the Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds until midnight; closer than we have ever been to catastrophe. Our country and our planet have never faced a moment as dangerous as this one, and we all must wake up to the danger and act to prevent disaster. These weapons have shaped our past and present, and if we don’t act now, they could end our future. I am honored to share these stories with my community in the hopes that one day, we will all live in a world free from these horrible instruments of destruction.