New Defendants Union Forms to Counter Trump Administration's Antifa Prosecutions
Texas teacher Darío Sánchez, charged under the Trump administration’s antifa crackdown despite not attending a protest, has become a founding member of the NSPM-7 Defendants Union.
Darío Sánchez, a 33-year-old middle-school teacher from Texas, has been repeatedly arrested and charged with tampering with physical evidence and hindering terrorism prosecutions, even though he did not attend the July 2025 protest at an ICE detention facility. His case exemplifies the Trump administration’s broad use of the NSPM-7 memorandum, which directs the FBI to investigate “violent and terroristic activities” associated with a loosely defined “anti-fascism” label.
On the same day, the NSPM-7 Defendants Union officially launched, offering legal clinics, media training, and coordinated defense tactics for individuals facing similar state or federal charges. The union’s initial roster includes anti-ICE demonstrators from Minnesota, New Jersey and Texas, Palestine solidarity activists from Michigan, and participants in the Cop City protests, among others. Organizers argue that by framing themselves as a union they can counter isolation, share discovery information, and present a unified front against government repression.
The initiative does not maintain membership rolls or dues, instead relying on a pledge to adopt collective legal practices and non-cooperation with law enforcement. Historians note the effort continues a tradition of solidarity among political prisoners dating back to movements like the 1998 Jericho coalition.
Why it matters
It shows how activists are organizing collective legal defense against expanding federal antifa prosecutions.
How this story developed
- Aug 13 San Antonio immigrants live in constant fear as ICE arrests surge
- Sep 1 ICE carried out a raid in Memphis that arrested more than 100 people, the largest raid in the city’s history.
- Sep 11 A judge dismissed the deportation case against the Andhra Pradesh woman, yet ICE continued to require her reporting.
- Sep 17 ICE agent Christian Castro turned himself in to Minnesota authorities on a warrant for assault after shooting a Venezuelan man, and faces both state and federal charges.
- Sep 18 Castro entered a not‑guilty plea to the federal false‑statement charges.
- Sep 20 A man was wounded after being shot by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in North Austin, Texas, and taken to a local hospital.
- Sep 27 A federal judge scheduled a personal appearance for the man on September 30 and issued a temporary order halting his deportation.
- Sep 29 The U.S. Supreme Court granted the Justice Department’s emergency request, letting the Trump administration continue deporting migrants to third countries while the policy’s legality is examined.
- Sep 30 Supreme Court issued an emergency order allowing third‑country deportations to continue.
- Sep 30 An immigration judge ruled that Salah Sarsour, head of Wisconsin’s largest mosque, can be deported on national-security grounds despite his claim that the case targets his Palestinian-rights advocacy.
- Sep 30 The Justice Department lodged complaints with the 8th Circuit alleging that Minnesota federal judges made partisan statements about a Trump-era deportation surge.
- Oct 1 A federal indictment charging Garces Perez with assault was filed.
- Oct 3 The filing requests that the judges be barred from hearing Department of Homeland Security cases.
- Oct 3 A Chicago immigration judge allowed a possible deportation of Salah Sarsour.
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