NCFL Indivisible Actions—Mar 02, 2026
Volume 2, Issue 8
Welcome to NCFL Indivisible Actions. Every week, we cut through the noise to bring you what’s happening in North Central Florida—the decisions being made, the people being affected, and the actions that make a difference. This newsletter exists because you showed up. That’s how change works: one neighbor at a time, one action at a time.
North Central Florida Indivisible—Regular Meeting
March 4th, 2026, from 6:30pm to 8:00pm
Join us in person at LifeSouth Community Blood Center—1221 NW 13th Street, Gainesville, FL 32601.
You can also join the meeting online through Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/8HZNO6aKQ66wa1fAFoeVQw Please register in advance. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Agenda:
Immigration and ICE
Proposals
No Kings Events (March 28th)
Committee updates
LEND A HAND
Stop Starke Internment Camp!
The Bradford County Commission is considering inviting ICE to move in, transforming an abandoned building into a place to warehouse 3,000 people.
We cannot allow this detention system to expand. Not here. Not now. Not ever. Interested in a coalition with Bradford County residents to stop an ICE detention center?
Sign Up To Fight A Starke Internment Camp!
🚨 URGENT: 10 MINUTES TO DEFEND LOCAL CONTROL & DEMOCRACY 🚨
PLEASE SHARE WIDELY
Act now to stop HB 1451 from advancing with a dangerous, last-minute amendment that would override the will of voters and make the state takeover of Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) permanent.
What’s happening
Act now to stop HB 1451 from advancing with a dangerous, last-minute amendment that would override the will of voters and make the state takeover of Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) permanent.
Earlier this week, a last-minute amendment was quietly added to HB 1451 (Utility Services)—without debate or public testimony—and it will:
Reverse the GRU referendum, nullifying the will of 75% of Gainesville voters, who just voted again in Nov. to keep GRU under local control
Preempt any utility created after January 1, 2023
Eliminate the ongoing court process
Make the state takeover of GRU permanent (until repealed)
This position—local control of GRU—has been overwhelmingly supported by voters in three separate referendums!
Until this amendment was added, HB 1451 and its Senate companion SB 1724 had bipartisan support. This single amendment threatens that bipartisan foundation.
Take action now (10 minutes)
The legwork has already been done for you:
1️⃣ Send the emails
Click, sign, and send through Sierra Club Florida:
👉 https://act.sierraclub.org/actions/Florida?actionId=AR0601787
2️⃣ Make the phone calls
Call every day until this bill is stopped. You can call 24 hours a day and leave a voicemail—legislative aides listen to all messages.
If a legislator is willing to speak, ask for a brief conversation. Ask them to call you back and leave them an email and a phone number. That will tell them you are serious.
What to say
Key message:
“Respect the will of voters. Let the courts decide. Keep the bill bipartisan by removing the GRU referendum reversal.”
Sample call script
“Hi. My name is [your name]. I live at [your address, city, ZIP code]. I’m calling about the GRU referendum reversal that was added to HB 1451. I’m asking [legislator’s name] to respect the will of voters and keep this amendment OUT of HB 1451 and SB 1724. Let the courts decide, and keep the bill bipartisan by removing the GRU referendum reversal.”
Who to call
Alachua County Legislative Delegation & Bill Sponsors
Demi Busatta (House sponsor)—(850) 717-5114
Jonathan Martin (Senate sponsor)—(239) 338-2570
Jennifer Bradley—(850) 487-5006
Stan McClain—(850) 487-5009
Chad Johnson—(850) 717-5022
Chuck Brannan—(850) 717-5010
Yvonne Hayes Hinson—(850) 717-5021
You have the power!
Send the emails. Make the calls! Then do it again the next day, till they remove the amendment.
Then, please share this with your networks.
When Chad Johnson had first talked about introducing this bill a year ago, YOU all reacted so strongly that we crashed his email and phone lines—and he had to back down. Your phone calls and emails have worked before—they will work again if you MAKE THEM. Call, email, share with your friends, and share on social media. Be RELENTLESS—THIS IS A LOCAL ISSUE with long-term impact.
News Worth Your Attention
A Discussion on ICE in Alachua County
Local leaders say they’re protecting us. The harder question is whether that’s enough.
A couple hundred people packed Reimer Hall on Sunday for a panel titled “ICE in Alachua County,” and what they heard was equal parts reassuring and unsettling.
Mayor Harvey Ward, County Commissioner Anna Prizzia, Sheriff Chad Scott, and School Board member Sarah Rockwell fielded questions from an audience that filled every seat. Moderator Warren Goldstein worked through a stack of index cards thick enough to fill an hour twice over. The event was not livestreamed or recorded.
What Officials Said
The message from the stage was cautious optimism. Sheriff Scott said his office is in “constant contact” with ICE and has heard nothing about expanded operations or a permanent facility beyond the existing federal office described as “the size of a broom closet.” He pointed to 287(g) agreements, partnerships between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, as a protective tool. “My job is to make sure everyone is safe,” Scott said.
Mayor Ward was blunter about the stakes. “Gainesville likes to say that we’re not going to do what you tell us to do,” he said of the governor’s ICE actions, “but the challenge is to keep our neighbors safe, and that creates a tension.” He noted that Florida’s red-state status cuts both ways: the governor doesn’t want “the optics of a Minneapolis,” but if the state wants to make a point, “we’re here to be pummeled.”
Ward also lifted up Gainesville Police Chief Nelson Moya, who Ward said came from an undocumented family and was himself a Dreamer. There is no 287(g) agreement with the City of Gainesville.
All 67 counties of Florida have 287g agreements, which all the officials claimed was a good thing for Alachua County residents because they claimed it meant that the local law enforcement is in constant contact with ICE and is aware of what is going to happen.
That was not reassuring to me. Does this reassure you?
What They Didn’t Say
Commissioner Prizzia offered the sharpest framing: “Some people are more safe than others. What you’re experiencing is empathy.” She directed the mostly white, mostly older audience to get involved with the Rural Women’s Health Project and Indivisible, and reminded them that people who look like them aren’t the ones at risk.
But the panel left gaps. No one addressed Fourth or Fifth Amendment rights. When asked about Flock surveillance cameras, Prizzia acknowledged that private companies can sell that data to anyone, but no panelist addressed whether ICE can access it directly. The question of a rumored permanent ICE office got a dismissal, not an investigation. They did say that they can’t know if a Federal agency rents space - but none of them had heard anything from any business or real estate agency anything to corroborate an increase in ICE activity in Gainesville and Alachua County.
We understand—how does one prove that something didn’t happen? How can one refute rumors?
School Board member Rockwell repeatedly confirmed no ICE activity has occurred on any K-12 campus in Florida and that officers entering schools must be vetted. But she also said the quiet part: “They can just remove us. We are doing things behind the scenes.” She’s pushed for a district-wide “Know Your Rights” message to parents for a year and faced internal pushback.
What You Can Do
If you hear or see anything related to ICE, call the Sheriff’s office at (352) 955-1818, per Chad Scott. Do not rely on social media to report ICE sightings or verify rumors.
Gainesville Fire Department’s Community Resource Paramedics don’t keep records or bill Medicaid, a safe healthcare option for anyone afraid to call 911.
Know your neighbors. Build those relationships and be the person who can pick up a child if a parent doesn’t come home. Don’t be surprised if trust takes time to develop.
Stay off state roads at protests; the Florida Highway Patrol will arrest you. Coordinate with GPD for safety. They can do lane closures for protests, etc., so that protestors can be safe and the traffic can keep moving as well.
We do not recommend coordinating with law enforcement, especially if you have vulnerable folks in your group or you are in a vulnerable neighborhood. We also encourage everyone to get protest safety training and join us for legal observer, ICE Watch, and other trainings. We also encourage protestors to follow the lead of the protest organizers and their safety team. WE keep ourselves safe!
Push the school district to send “Know Your Rights” info to every family—in Spanish and English. They haven’t. They should.
Sarah Rockwell gave a shout-out to Jyoti Parmar for suggesting this.
The people in that room care. The officials on that stage are trying. But caring and trying aren’t the same as protecting, and the people who most need protection weren’t in those seats.
Stop spreading rumours:
Rumors harm immigrant communities the most—creates panic and dissipates our energy and our attention away from the real work we have to do. Causes us to have to take precautions that are unnecessary. Puts us in a position of having to reassure the folks who are not in danger that they are not in danger. Adds additional stressors on our health and may create consequences of avoiding getting healthcare or going to work or school. Increases the already great stress on us.
Source: Firsthand reporting by North Central Florida Indivisible members.
Panel discussion, “ICE in Alachua County,” held at Reimer Hall, March 1, 2026.
Panelists: Mayor Harvey Ward, Commissioner Anna Prizzia, Sheriff Chad Scott, School Board Member Sarah Rockwell, and RWHP Director Veronica Robleto. Moderator: Warren Goldstein.
The Iran Strikes Are Illegal. Here’s What We Can Do About It.
Congress never authorized Operation Epic Fury, and our representatives need to hear from us before the next vote.
Three American service members are dead. Iranian authorities report at least 165 people killed when a missile hit an elementary school in Minab, most of them girls between seven and twelve. President Trump launched this military assault without a single vote in Congress.
This isn’t a gray area. We need to talk about it. And we have to act.
What’s Happening
On February 28, the U.S. launched coordinated strikes against Iran, Operation Epic Fury. No congressional authorization. No UN Security Council approval. The Constitution gives Congress alone the power to commit us to war. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 requires the president to consult Congress before deploying forces. Trump consulted no one.
The administration claims Iran was weeks away from a nuclear weapon. Their own Defense Intelligence Agency’s assessment puts that capability in 2035, nine years from now. Three unnamed intelligence officials told the New York Times the president exaggerated the threat. International law experts at Chatham House and the European Council on Foreign Relations call this an illegal war of choice.
A bipartisan coalition, Senator Tim Kaine with Senator Rand Paul, has introduced an emergency war powers resolution demanding congressional authorization for any continued military action.
Why It Matters Here
Our neighbors serve in the military. Our tax dollars funded these strikes. And if this administration can bypass Congress to start a war, every check on executive power that protects our community gets weaker.
We’ve seen this before. The Iraq War started with cherry-picked intelligence and cost over 4,400 American lives. Our sister publication Resist and Rise published a full investigation this morning breaking down the legal violations, the intelligence manipulation, and the diplomatic fallout. It’s worth your time.
Take Action
Call our representatives today. Tell them to support the Kaine-Paul war powers resolution. Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121. Ask for Senator Scott, Senator Rubio, or your House member by name.
Read the full investigation. Resist and Rise has the complete legal and factual breakdown: resistandrise.blue.
Know your rights if you speak out. The ACLU and the National Lawyers Guild have know-your-rights guides. A federal judge has already ruled this administration targeted protestors unconstitutionally.
Support the organizations doing the work. Human Rights First, Protect Democracy, and the Center for International Policy are on the front lines.
The Constitution doesn’t have a “but we’re scared” clause. Our representatives work for us. Remind them.
For the full investigation, read “This Is Not a War. It’s a Crime.” from Resist and Rise—published today.
LOVE WINS
Please let us know what you think about the new version of NCFL Indivisible Actions.
We look forward to hearing from you. Please forward to someone you care about.
Great write-up on the ICE panel, and thank you for emphasizing what we can do throughout!