Donald Trump is a politician who uses fear as a weapon. He spreads fear and hatred of immigrants, African American and Latino/a people, and many others.
But he also desperately needs people to be intimidated by him, for you to fear that he might deport you, jail you, cut your job and your public benefits. The goal is to stifle all dissent. As a New York Times editorial put it, “He wants to make dissent so painful as to be intolerable.”
In this Berkeley Speaks editorial, we will take a look at how this is working out for him in Berkeley. Are we standing up for Berkeley’s values? Or are we, even in our deep-blue haven, afraid to dissent where it really counts?
The man-made crisis that is Trump 2.0 is already hitting Berkeley. According to Berkeleyside, federal funding for nine local non-profit organizations has either already been cut, or it is threatened. “Berkeley Food Network is getting less food. Berkeley Rep lost a $40,000 NEA grant to incubate new plays.” Immigrant and environmental defense groups, the YMCA Head Start program, and a raft of UC Berkeley research efforts have had their work cut or frozen.
And as of the first week of April, 23 Cal students and recent grads “had their visas terminated and non-immigrant status revoked,” without notice, reason, or any due process.
Many people in Berkeley are either directly affected by the attacks on immigrants or visiting students, or they know people who are. The government’s massive cuts to federal jobs, social program funding, and grants are already affecting local people, and it will soon get much worse, especially with the expected Medicaid/Medi-Cal defunding.
Trump’s “blitz” of terror quickly brought unexpected antagonists to heel in settings as diverse as universities, law firms, the U.S. Senate, and among tech titans and media moguls. Here in California, Governor Newsom is famous as an early booster of same-sex marriage, and more recently as a leader of the resistance to Trump. But in March he picked up on the right-wing wedge issue of trans people’s participation in sports; he is urging cities across the state to virtually outlaw sitting or lying outside; and on May 14, under pressure from U.S. Homeland Security, he called for a ban on new undocumented immigrants receiving Medi-Cal. See our story, “Berkeley Remains a Sanctuary City.”
Some may “bend the knee” to Trump due to fear of persecution, or of losing federal funding; others adopt right-wing positions for political gain, pandering to the worst instincts of voters. Either way, this is not the courageous leadership we need.
Berkeley Speaks is proud of the actions of the Berkeley government when it stands up for what is right. Mayor Adena Ishii has established a broad-based task force on immigration, and the city council is expected to funnel up to $200,000 into legal services for immigrants, despite a very tough budget year. See “Berkeley Remains a Sanctuary City.”
In the general population, residents of Berkeley are showing in practice what it means to be a community in resistance. People are signing up for rapid response to ICE raids. They are giving concrete support to homeless communities that are under pressure from our own city government, pushing for real accountability for the local police, and defending human rights of people in Gaza.
“As [Trump] returns to the Oval Office, we must find some way to keep from going mad….
“The worst thing we can do right now is to retreat into private life. Social isolation is harming our mental health….We also need to organize and fight the political horrors coming our way.
“This recommendation is shared by most psychologists: we must counter these feelings of powerlessness, and for that, solidarity and action are the best medicine.”
Liza Featherstone, “Solidarity Will See Us Through the Second Trump Term,” January 20, 2025, Jacobin magazine
Berkeley Speaks honors the many organizations and individuals who fight every day for our own traditional values: social justice and human rights. Their commitment to the homeless, to immigrants, for racial justice, for women’s liberation, LGBTQ rights, climate action, and transparent and responsive government is resistance to MAGA at the local level. They know you cannot say you are standing up to Trump when you treat the unhoused like they are problems, not people, nor when your police, schools, and employers continue to discriminate against people of color.
Let us take our example from these grassroots movements who know that hope, and love, not fear, will make Berkeley great.
A former Black Panther leader, Assata Shakur, said years ago:
“Fear is healthy when you’re dealing with the U.S. government.
“But when fear controls you, when you’re afraid to struggle, fear is a bad thing. “I’m more afraid of what will happen if I don’t struggle, than what will happen if I do.”
Editorial Part 2: Is Berkeley Standing Up?
To start with the most positive sign: Berkeley is responding to the needs of immigrants, one of the groups most heavily targeted by the Trump administration. See our “Berkeley Remains a Sanctuary City.” Building on its Sanctuary City, or City of Refuge, policy dating back to 1971 and the Vietnam War, in January 2025 the city council reiterated and strengthened its policy of non-cooperation with ICE, committed to codify that policy into a city ordinance, and is considering spending $200,000 to provide legal counseling to local immigrants.
Berkeley Speaks appreciates the mayor and city council for listening to the immigrants and their advocates. It is clear that those who stand up to Trump and say “we are not immigration police” will come into the cross-hairs of the federal government. Berkeleyans who see immigrants as valued members of our community will then have our work cut out for us in holding the City government to its professed values.
But in other ways, the City government is not so forward-looking.
Policing:
By an overwhelming vote, the city council rejected the Police Accountability Board report on the policy investigation of the BPD Downtown Streets Team / Bike Force texting scandal. See our story in this edition, “The Police Texting Scandal Ends with No One Held Accountable.” A number of specific PAB reform recommendations were set aside, either on procedural grounds, or because city management said there are no problems to fix.
City management hampered the investigation by refusing, or long delaying, to turn over requested records as they are required to do by the city charter.
People who care about police accountability and transparency will need to figure out how to use their power as community members to correct these practices so they can have the oversight they voted for in 2020 with Measure ii.
Palestine and Israel:
The Israeli armed forces have killed as much as 10% of the Palestinian population of Gaza, either directly or by famine and disease caused by siege. Essentially the entire territory is in ruins.
This intentional and ongoing destruction of an ethnicity was not caused by the City of Berkeley. However, it causes great pain to many in the city, those with family or ethnic ties to Palestine or Israel, and all those who hold on to Berkeley’s longstanding commitment to peace with justice.
An 18-month campaign to get the city’s elected leadership to take a moral stand against U.S. military aid for the genocide in Gaza came to a disappointing end in April, when a softened proposal for an end to the war fell short by one vote.
Now, by that one vote, Berkeley is in tacit agreement with Prime Minister Netanyahu, who wants to continue killing Palestinians until he can absorb that conquered territory, and with President Trump, who wants to treat Gaza as a real estate deal stripped of all its inhabitants.
This is no peace council; it is one that cannot bring itself to oppose war. Advocates who know that the majority of Berkeleyans prefer peace will have to find another path outside the city council to demonstrate it. For more insight into the record, see our story:”End of the Road for Berkeley’s Peace in Gaza Resolution.”
Homelessness:
An article in CalMatters from just after Election Day shows that Trump’s demonization of the unhoused is matched by our own Governor Newsom (“One issue Trump and Newsom agree on? Homeless encampments.”) And in May 2025, Newsom went further to demand cities enact local laws to outlaw encampments by declaring three-day limits. Our article in this issue, “Unhoused in Berkeley: Struggles in the Court and the Council,” depicts Berkeley’s current conflicts over whether to choose a humane approach or continue chasing homeless people around town.
Two events the week beginning May 19 were expected to be pivotal to the struggle for the human rights of the homeless.
- The item to study Alternative Housing Options for People Experiencing Homelessness was scheduled to come to city council on Tuesday, May 20. The item passed unanimously on consent.
- A court hearing in the case of Berkeley Homeless Union v City of Berkeley was held Friday May 23 in federal court. The two individual plaintiffs came to agreement with the City and will withdraw from the case. Judge Chen directed BHU attorneys to file for a restraining order if they want to block a sweep of 8th and Harrison, and now Ohlone Park. Updates will be forthcoming.
More information on both of these events can be found in the “Unhoused in Berkeley” article.
