The summit explored the global rise in anti-immigrant sentiment and its ties to hate and authoritarianism, how movements across the world are pushing back against that trend and how people can and are fighting it in the U.S. Ambassador Nina Hachigian, an international affairs expert who served as U.S. ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the Obama administration and as the first Deputy Mayor of International Affairs for Los Angeles, said the global wave of authoritarianism began even before the current U.S. administration took power in 2025, sweeping Hungary, Turkey, Venezuela, India and elsewhere. Elected autocrats have acted out of the same playbook, she said, as they’ve closed independent media outlets, silenced opposition leaders, made courts less independent, used their power to enrich themselves and their cronies and attacked LGBTQ communities, immigrants and women.

The U.S. administration is “supercharging” the trend, she said, with brazen tactics even worse than those seen in Turkey or Hungary – such as sending militarized agents into cities.

But Hachigian also shared good news: people have thrown out autocrats in Brazil, Poland, Slovenia, Tunisia, Armenia and other countries. One main strategy, she said, was to build “really big tents” that unified groups not always in agreement but able to coalesce around the common goal against corruption, kleptocracy and incompetency.

Deepak Bhargava, Freedom Together Foundation president, shared four tactics that have been successfully used to defeat authoritarianism: nonviolent disruption, such as boycotts and work stoppages. Delegitimization, or making autocratic policies broadly unpopular. Recruiting defectors and leaders of key institutions to speak out, as Pope Leo XIV and the Roman Catholic Church have been doing. And offering alternatives to authoritarianism, such as a just economy and immigration system that work for more people.

“What we can take away is that authoritarian tactics travel across borders. So do the strategies for fighting back. We are not alone in this, and what we can do here will inspire the champions for democracy all around the world,” Hachigian said.

Eric Ward, executive vice president of Race Forward, said the current assault on immigrants and democracy should be understood as a backlash to 75 years of civil rights gains rooted in the Black radical tradition that “everyone, regardless of race, religion, gender, right, has the right to live, love, worship and work, free from fear and bigotry.” But he cautioned that progressive forces must deliver on actual benefits to people, such as affordable housing, to win them over.

“We have to show tangible radical changes that people can touch and feel in real time,” Ward said. “Otherwise, all we are putting forth are words.”

In other sessions, leaders representing immigrants, LGBTQ people, Black community members and others who are underserved examined how solidarity across movements can and must create a path to resist authoritarianism and rebuild a multi-racial democracy that protects everyone.

Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said truth-telling required acknowledging that some community members failed to object to immigration raids with a “not me” attitude – until it became evident that federal agents were taking not only violent criminals but were vastly expanding their targets to include U.S. citizens.  

Amid cutbacks in federal funding and philanthropic support for communities targeted by the federal administration, such as immigrants and LGBTQ people, panelists said new ways to generate revenue are needed. One experiment is the Progressive Multiplier Fund, which helps nonprofits brainstorm and activate ideas to raise money – such as a water justice walking tour of the French Quarter in New Orleans, offered by a local nonprofit through Airbnb Experiences.