Immigrant rights activists braced for crackdown as Trump threatens to target ‘leftwing’ groups

Advocates advise staff and volunteers to practice caution but say they will not give up their first amendment rights

Immigrant advocacy organizations and activists are bracing for a crackdown from the federal government following threats from the Trump administration to root out and criminally prosecute non-profit groups it believes are sympathetic to leftwing" politics.

Donald Trump and his closest allies have periodically threatened immigrant rights activists and nonprofits, including those that distribute food and water to migrants or provide immigrants with legal services, with arrest. But their rhetoric has been heightened in the days following the killing of rightwing activist Charlie Kirk this month.