Power to the People News — March 18, 2026
March 18, 2026: Power without accountability — abortion, ICE, and the courts. Power to the People News from People Power United.
When Power Abuses, the People Respond
This week's stories share a single spine: what happens when power operates without accountability — to law, to the people it governs, or to the bodies it controls. From pregnant children in federal custody being funneled into states where abortion is banned, to a nearly blind refugee left alone in sub-freezing temperatures, to a Supreme Court justice who reversed his own recusal to rule on a case tied to his billionaire friend's investments, the pattern is consistent: those who wield authority face no consequences, while those with the least power absorb the most harm. The question before us is not whether the damage is real — it is who will organize to stop it.
📰 Stories Shaping Power to the People Right Now
Reproductive Freedom
The Trump administration is transferring all pregnant unaccompanied minors in federal custody to a single shelter in San Benito, Texas — a state where abortion is nearly entirely banned. Some girls are as young as 13, and at least half became pregnant through rape. A former federal official confirmed the move is “100% and exclusively about abortion.” — The Guardian
Maine’s June 9 Democratic primary has become a national flashpoint. Abortion groups endorsed Gov. Janet Mills over polling-leader Graham Platner, largely because Mills supports keeping the Senate filibuster — the barrier blocking the Women’s Health Protection Act from becoming law. — Slate
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed legislation freeing 30,000 stockpiled mifepristone doses from a cost-recovery requirement that had left them sitting unused and nearly expired. The fix comes as federal lawsuits threaten to ban telehealth abortion prescriptions nationwide. — Seattle Times
ICE Accountability
René López, a U.S. citizen since 1998 through derivative citizenship, spent three years in ICE detention after agents arrested him despite having previously confirmed his citizenship. The 4th Circuit ordered his release last month. He now carries the court ruling everywhere, knowing it may not be enough if agents stop him again. — NBC News
Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a nearly blind 56-year-old Rohingya refugee, was released from Border Patrol custody and dropped alone at a closed Tim Hortons in near-freezing Buffalo temperatures — miles from his home, with no English, and no notification to family or attorneys. His body was found five days later. CBP called it a “courtesy ride to a warm, safe location.” — The Guardian
Body camera footage from local officers directly contradicts DHS’s account of the 2025 killing of 23-year-old U.S. citizen Ruben Ray Martinez, showing his car barely moving with brake lights on when he was shot. DHS had claimed he intentionally struck an agent. No federal charges were filed; the key eyewitness died before giving a sworn statement. — Washington Post
Courts & Democracy
The Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in April on whether the administration can strip Temporary Protected Status from roughly 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. In a rare departure, the Court declined to immediately lift protections. — (Bloomberg)
The Alabama Supreme Court expanded stop-and-identify powers, ruling police can demand physical ID from anyone who gives an “incomplete” verbal answer. The case stemmed from the 2022 arrest of Black pastor Michael Jennings, who was stopped while watering a neighbor’s flowers and arrested after declining to show ID — despite being confirmed innocent by the neighbor who called 911. — (Seattle Times)
Justice Samuel Alito reversed his own recusal to participate in a Supreme Court climate liability case involving oil companies in which he holds significant stock — and whose petitioner, Suncor, is a major holding of his billionaire friend Paul Singer, whose private jet Alito has used. Alito offered no explanation for the reversal. — (Slate)
💥 Your Power in Action: What You Can Do Today
👉 Take Action Now: Stop the Republican Attack on Voting Rights
📩 Take action: Tell Congress to reject the SAVE Act bills
⚡ Take action: Tell Congress to subpoena Hegseth about the Iran school attack
👉 Take action: Tell Congress to stop Trump from sending American troops into Iran — and vote no on the draft
📞 Take action: Call Congress at (202) 224-3121 today — and every day until the vote — and urge your senators and representative to vote no on Mullins for DHS and NO on the SAVE ACT
🗳️ Bonus action: Register to vote, vote in every election, and help your community do the same. Reproductive freedom is won and lost at the ballot box.
👑 Bonus action: Sign up for the next national No Kings Day of Action and show up in solidarity with everyone whose rights are under attack. The Complete Guide to the No Kings Day of Action is now available.
The movement for progress and power to the people starts here.
🔥 What Comes Next: The Work Is Ours
This week’s stories are not nine separate events. They are one story told nine ways — about what it costs when power goes unchecked. Pregnant children funneled into states where abortion is banned. A nearly blind refugee abandoned in the cold. A U.S. citizen detained for three years despite a court record proving his citizenship. A justice reversing his own recusal to rule in favor of his billionaire friend’s investments. The throughline is always the same: the people who bear the cost are never the people who made the decision.
And yet the resistance is working. The 4th Circuit ordered ICE to release a man it had wrongfully detained for three years. The Supreme Court declined to strip protections from 350,000 Haitian and Syrian families while the case is heard. Washington state fixed a bureaucratic barrier that had left 30,000 doses of mifepristone sitting unused — in time to distribute them before they expired. None of these are final victories. But all of them prove that organized people can slow the machinery of harm. Show up. Stay in. The work is ours.
Together, we can champion our rights, freedoms, and democracy, hold our leaders accountable to the people’s will, and inspire voters to make a meaningful difference.
Laurie Woodward Garcia (paid with hugs and kisses, not bought by special interests) Leader, People Power United
People Power United | In this community, we will always speak out against racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, antisemitism, homophobia, misogyny, sexism, ageism, ableism, sizeism, elitism, transphobia, misogynoir, and bigotry!
This is our moment to rise, resist, and reclaim our rights, freedoms, rule of law, and democracy. Millions of Americans are already refusing to back down — in the streets, at the ballot box, and in their communities.
Every movement that was ever won started with people who refused to quit. We are those people.
The future is not lost. It is being built — by us, right now.