Deployments At Our Doorstep

Deployments At Our Doorstep

From At Liberty by ACLU

October 31, 2025 · 1h 12m

About this episode

This episode explores how communities are responding to federal deployments with resilience and creativity.

Frog costumes. The Star Wars theme. Whistlemania. These could be the sights and sounds of Halloween—but this year, they've taken on new meaning. As federal agents and military troops arrive in their cities across the country, communities have used pop culture references, humor, and irreverence as an act of resilience. They’ve also banded together to form school escorts and other protective measures for their neighbors. This week, we’re exploring how residents of three cities have met this moment. We have three ACLU experts joining us. First up, we have Chandra S. Bhatnagar and Ed Yohnka of the ACLU of Southern California and Illinois. And around the 46-minute mark, Monica Hopkins of the ACLU of DC joins Kamau to discuss deployments in the nation’s capital. Want to get involved? Here are two actions you can take right now: action.aclu.org/send-message/tell-congress-no-troops-our-streets action.aclu.org/send-message/tell-congress-stop-masked-agents And if you’re still curious about the deployments, there’s a great explainer on YouTube: “Ask an ACLU Expert: President Trump’s Deployment of Federal Forces to Our Communities” with Hina Shamsi…

People in this episode

Host: Kamau

Guests: Chandra S. Bhatnagar, Ed Yohnka, Monica Hopkins

Topics covered

  • federal deployments
  • community resilience
  • pop culture
  • ACLU
  • protective measures

Keywords

  • federal agents
  • military troops
  • Halloween
  • community action
  • ACLU experts

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: ACLU, ACLU of Southern California, ACLU of Illinois, ACLU of DC

Books & works: Ask an ACLU Expert: President Trump’s Deployment of Federal Forces to Our Communities

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