And what have you done?”

John Lennon’s lyrics come to mind every year at this time forcing a review of a year fast to be in the rear-view mirror. So much of 2025 has involved a total reorientation. The November election of 2024 sent me into a tailspin causing the scrapping of every single plan I had envisioned. But that happened to many of us, and I suspect a good lot of us are still trying to figure out where our lives are heading. Fast change with no time to adjust has become normal. We grab a headline here and there, try to grasp its significance, only to realize we missed something even bigger. About the time we’ve gotten hold of the new reality of yesterday’s events (or was that last week??), something else drops and we’re left struggling with those ramifications. The ground is never solid and the landscape never clear, still the clock ticks and the days move forward.

My reorientation this year pulled me into the world of activism. Protests, letter writing, research, networking, putting myself out there in ways that feel unfamiliar, and yet somehow undeniably right. Learning how to letter posters has never come in handier. Thank you, Mrs. Mattice from HS Art! I have a huge collection of signs from various protest events I attended this year.

The homeowners’ association weighed in on just one protest effort this week. It concerns the photo at the top of this blog. That five-by-five-foot banner hung over the third bay garage space drew a demand for removal. Apparently a disgruntled MAGA neighbor made a complaint. I’m glad it irritated someone because that means it’s getting noticed. That’s the point of protest. To push back, to challenge, to bring the unsaid into the world, ultimately to produce change.

A few of those unsaid (or not said enough) things:

Being undocumented is a civil offense not a criminal one. (MAGA just can’t get this in their heads!!)

The Trump administration is building a mass deportation system of historic proportions. Henchman Stephen Miller has masterminded this well-funded, racially motivated program to make America white again. To do this, ICE has become a lawless, battle-ready band of untrained thugs.

There are currently over 68,000 people in ICE detention (as of mid-Dec 2025, Guardian report). The administration has arrested more than 328,000 and deported nearly 327,000.

And Trump continues to lie about deporting “the worst of the worst.” Most of those detained have no criminal record. Of the 25% with a criminal charge, most involve minor offenses like traffic violations. In fact, there just aren’t enough criminals to round up to make Stephen Miller’s quotas. Therefore, ICE hits the streets going after anybody who happens to appear other than white, or speak a language other than English.

To facilitate mass deportation, and house record numbers of detainees, the administration is eyeing buying warehouses and fitting them out with makeshift shelter structures. Detention facilities have been the subject of many reports of human rights abuses including lack of edible food, potable water, overcrowding, lack of sanitation and lack of medical care. Already this year there have been 30 deaths in ICE detention, the single deadliest year in decades.

There’s a link at the bottom for an article that gives a good overview on where things stand. There’s no doubt I’ll be working on these issues in 2026. It’s my hope that sometime over the holidays, you’ll pause to think about those in detention. Think about those around you who are vulnerable or who have been made vulnerable by the actions of MAGA and this president. Consider ways you might be able to intercede. 2026 will continue to challenge us in ever more persistent and direct ways. I implore you to not shrink from responsibility but to shoulder it bravely and boldly.

“So this is Christmas. And what have you done?”

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/trump-immigrant-detention

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