u/Ask_Me_About_Roc-DSA

From Rochester to Rosendale, Buffalo to Brooklyn, utility bills are too damn high!

Energy is a basic human right, yet our society treats it as a commodity to profit off of. The results of that system in Rochester are dramatic and violent. RG&E cut power to nearly 15,000 ratepayers in our community in 2025 while their parent company, Avangrid, made over $1 billion in profits. People regularly get bills from the company costing thousands of dollars. Families have to choose between food on the table or heat in the winter.

This system is inhumane, and it needs to change.

Next week, NYS Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha and NYC Councilmember Chi Ossé are coming to Rochester to talk about building a statewide movement to take our power back from the profit-driven, investor-owned utility monopolies that own our energy sector.

Join us Monday, Oct 19, 6-8pm at First Unitarian Church
RSVP: https://rocdsa.solidarity.tech/take-back-our-power-roc

Co-hosted by Rochester DSA and Metro Justice's RED Committee.

This August saw the highest number of immigration arrests on record at 50,925, surpassing the previous record of 50,208 set in July. More than 65,000 people are currently being held in ICE detention. In the first eighteen months of Trump’s presidency, ICE detention in Monroe County increased by 1,500 percent. Most of those detained have no prior criminal record, and we know all too well of the hardworking and caring friends and family members who are missing.

Meanwhile, the federal government is building a detention center in our own backyard, and despite community concerns our County Legislature just approved grant funding that requires coordination with Customs and Border Protection (CBP). We need reassurance that our neighbors are being protected.

On Tuesday, September 8 @ 5:00pm, join ROC DSA and allies at the County Building [39 W. Main St.] to kick off the "Protect Our Neighbors" campaign. We're urging the County Legislature to pass legislation that will ban local law enforcement from coordinating with ICE, and to divest from companies involved in the construction and operation of immigrant detention centers.

Come show your support!

Also, consider speaking at the Public Forum following the conference at 6:00pm. Please call (585) 753-1950 to register to speak for public hearing(s) and public forum by 1:00pm on September 8.

We encourage our community to give voice to those too vulnerable to speak out. And we encourage our legislators to remember that they represent all county residents, and have a duty to use their privileged position for our protection.

In solidarity,
ROC DSA

On Tuesday, August 11, SIX Democratic legislators voted against the majority of their caucus and sided with Republicans to accept $161,285 in funding for Operation Stonegarden:

• Howard Maffucci [LD-10; Pittsford, Brighton]
• John Baynes [LD-11; E. Rochester, Fairport, Perinton]
• Michael Yudelson [LD-13; Henrietta, Pittsfod]
• Dave Long [LD-16; Irondequoit]
• Lystra Bartholomew McCoy [LD-18; Perinton]
• Yversha Roman [LD-26; Greece, Irondequoit, Rochester]

Operation Stonegarden is a federal border security program that will increase cooperation and data sharing between local law enforcement and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). This is the same agency responsible for carrying out Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda; the same agency responsible for the murder of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis and numerous shootings elsewhere; the same agency responsible for preventable deaths in detention; and the same agency responsible for contributing to the atmosphere of fear and racism in our community.

The program will also fund increased surveillance, making us all less safe. Who feels comfortable giving Trump’s federal government more information and capabilities to watch us? Supporters of Operation Stonegarden argue that it does not require direct support for anti-immigration efforts, but funds “terrorism” enforcement. We have seen who are considered terrorists these days: trans people, anti-fascists, and those fighting for democracy.

You cannot coordinate with fascism without becoming complicit.

We applaud those Democratic legislators who demonstrated moral courage by voting against the legislation. We hope they will be allies in future struggles to protect our neighbors in Monroe County.