Join Us Tomorrow: Youth Are Taking To The Streets Against ICE. We're With Them.

Over the past few weeks, YUCCA has been showing up in community, movement spaces, and in the streets to build collective power and support the leadership of young people rising up across New Mexico to fight for the livable future we deserve.

At the first-ever New Mexico Youth Climate Summit, we connected with young change-makers from across the state for a powerful day of skill-building, connection, creative workshops, and community visioning at Explora. As an educational partner for the summit, YUCCA helped to guide middle and high-school students through movement strategy and campaign-building work. From creative art-making spaces to hands-on, collaborative strategy sessions, students from across the state reminded us that the fight for real climate justice is bold, creative, and grounded in collective power.

The same day, we marched in the Albuquerque Pride Parade where we showed up with love and solidarity to say loud and clear: there's no Pride in genocide or ecocide. Not while our communities are under attack – in Palestine, on stolen land, and on a burning planet.

Pride began as a riot – an uprising led by Black and Brown trans folks who fought back against police violence and criminalization. Now, we're honoring that legacy through solidarity and action as we stand with every community member whose rights and lives are under attack and raise our voices to demand the future we know is possible.

As young people and our communities face the devastating impacts of compounding crises – the climate crisis, state violence, and rising fascism – we refuse to be silent. We refuse to abandon each other. We know that the fight for climate justice is inseparable from the fight against the systems of harm that drive climate collapse, from colonialism to state violence and criminalization. That’s why we’re taking action again tomorrow.

JOIN US TOMORROW IN ALBUQUERQUE: YOUTH-LED ACTION AGAINST ICE

As we organize for real climate justice, we know that this fight goes far beyond emissions or energy policy. It means confronting every system that treats our communities as disposable – and that includes I.C.E.

Tomorrow, June 20th at 5:00 pm, we'll be showing up in solidarity with incredible youth organizers leading a powerful march and protest against I.C.E. in Albuquerque, and we're calling on our community to take to the streets alongside them.

There is no justice in a system built to police borders that were never ours to begin with – in a world where people are displaced by crisis, only to be met with cages, walls, and armed troops when they seek safety.

We've already seen the power of community defense in Los Angeles, where protesters blocked ICE raids, bought time, and gave dozens of community members the chance to make it home safely. This wasn't chaos – it was courageous care in action. It was people standing up to protect each other. It was people refusing to let their neighbors be disappeared.

And that's exactly what we're being called to do here in New Mexico.

At YUCCA, we organize for climate justice — and that means fighting for a world where everyone can live with safety, dignity, and care. The climate crisis is already displacing people through droughts, fires, and extractive violence. And when they seek safety, they’re met with armed troops, border walls, and criminalization.

The same systems destroying our planet are targeting our communities. The same corporations, billionaires, and politicians who profit off fossil fuels are profiting off of raids and detention. They don't want us to realize it's all part of the same fight. But we know our struggles are deeply interconnected — and so is our resistance.

Come ready to march, defend our communities, and show that we keep us safe – not I.C.E., not cops, and not systems of harm. We'll see you in the streets. ✊

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROTEST

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR JUNE 23RD: WE LOVE PUBLIC LANDS RALLY

As we look ahead to next week, four of Trump's Cabinet Secretaries – Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin – are expected to headline the 2025 annual meeting of the Western Governor's Association in Santa Fe.

Right now, we're watching as the Federal Administration is once again threatening to gut protections for millions of acres of public land across the Southwest in a massive land grab for fossil fuel extraction – opening the door to private development and corporate control.

This isn't just about environmental policy. It's about a centuries-long pattern of extraction and exploitation. It's about ongoing settler colonialism. It's about prioritizing corporate profits over land, life, and the communities who have fought to protect both for generations.

We hope you'll join our friends at The Wilderness Society, the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, and Sierra Club next Monday, June 23rd in Santa Fe at 3:30 pm for a We Love Public Lands rally to send a clear message to those in power: Public lands are not for sale. They're not "assets" to be sold off for industry gain. These lands must be protected alongside those who have been stewarding them for generations. And we won't stand by quietly while extractive industries are given free rein.

JUNE 30TH DEADLINE: HELP DRIVE POLICY THAT PUTS PEOPLE OVER POLLUTERS

Deadline approaching! We're still hiring for our next Climate and Environmental Justice Policy Campaign Manager – and the application deadline is coming up soon on June 30th!

This is an exciting opportunity to take on a role working at the intersection of youth-led organizing and environmental justice. As Policy Campaign Manager, you'll lead YUCCA and Earth Care's policy efforts – shaping strategy, driving campaigns, and supporting young people as they lead the charge in our public policy work. We're searching for someone who's excited to advance bold policies that hold polluters accountable, keep fossil fuels in the ground, advance a just transition away from fossil fuel dependence, and meet the climate crisis with the urgency it demands.

We're looking for a collaborative, strategic leader who:

✅ Has at least 2 years of experience supervising others and managing work products

✊ Is deeply committed to the fight for real climate justice

📊 Has a strong background in policy analysis and development, member-led advocacy, and grassroots youth-led campaigns.

This is a full-time position based in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, with 60% remote work flexibility. Apply by our June 30th deadline by sending your resume and cover letter to yucca@earthcarenm.org, or click here to view the complete job description and learn more!