True Patriots Resist Trump's Tyranny: How Grassroots Movements Are Fighting Back

From immigration crackdowns to court rulings, Americans push back against MAGA agenda on Independence Day

A number of ugly incidents made it difficult for many people to be in a celebratory mood on America's 250th birthday.

Let me cite one example: Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Sister Leticia Ugboaja on June 28 on her way to Sunday Mass in McAllen, Texas, and held her in detention for several hours until Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) and Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas) intervened.

Did ICE somehow mistake Sister Letty for one of the "dangerous criminals" the administration claimed to be targeting? No. That claim was a lie, a thin cover for the white supremacist motives exemplified by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.

The self-styled patriots who arrested Sister Letty do not represent me. But their actions were not the end of the story. Not just in the House of Representatives but all across the country, people pushed back.

When President Trump says affordability concerns are a Democratic hoax, he is overestimating his ability to fool people.

The real fools are Trump and those who eagerly swallow his lies. In recent days, he said he wanted to give himself a Medal of Honor; visited Mount Rushmore and served cookies on his new Qatari-gifted Air Force One showing his face added to that memorial; and pledged to give a long July 4 speech in the extreme heat to prove he can do anything.

Trump and the fireworks were delayed by a storm, but he did not keel over. Even if he did, JD Vance would take over. So our travails continue.

The far right was steamed over the Supreme Court ruling upholding the birthright citizenship provision of the 14th Amendment. Sean Davis, CEO of right-wing media outlet The Federalist, suggested several actions including forcible sterilization of all foreign visitors to the United States.

I am not eager to test the limits of how unhinged the MAGA crowd is prepared to get. Queer folks have already been caught up in anti-immigrant sweeps. Justice Clarence Thomas wants to revisit the Obergefell marriage equality ruling.

Meanwhile, many establishment Democrats are upset over primary wins by several Democratic Socialists over incumbent Democrats. Some say the socialists are only running as Democrats for ballot access. Pardon me, but I remember when self-appointed gatekeepers kept me out.

Trump falsely calls the socialist candidates communists in an effort to resurrect Cold War fears, and threatens deportation.

A lot of progressive voters rightfully criticize over-caution by establishment Democrats. We handicap ourselves if we cannot celebrate New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, for example, an extraordinarily gifted politician who has delivered results in his first six months, including a rent freeze and lowered crime rates.

In remarks celebrating Independence Day, Mamdani addressed those who say, "Love America or leave it":

"Patriotism has never been about pretending our nation is without flaws. Patriotism is every act of righteous dissent, it is every march led under the heavy sun, it is every protest held a decade before its time. It is precisely because we love this nation that we will not leave it."

This is not new. Frederick Douglass said in 1857, "If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning."

Our nation was built on an idea, and we are not done in the long effort to create a more perfect union. When Trump's masked thugs call peaceful protesters terrorists, they echo supremacists of the past. If they think they are changing any minds, they should reflect on the vast expanse of empty lawn at Trump's Great American State Fair on the National Mall. People avoided his celebration of himself in droves.

Bigots and bullies have always been with us, and have their moments in the spotlight. But they should take care lest their phony posturing collapses, as a piece of a State Fair stage fell during a rehearsal and nearly struck the dancers.

Establishment Democrats who scorn bold progressive voices may find they are whistling past the political graveyard. I can still hear Senator Ted Kennedy's words at the Democratic National Convention in 1980:

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."

It is time for us to seize the moment, refuse to be intimidated by Trump's scaremongering, and provide the bold alternative voters want.

Richard Rosendall is a writer and activist who can be reached at [email protected] © 2026 by Richard J. Rosendall. All rights reserved.