CASA, Maryland’s most visible immigrant advocacy group, rebranded on Monday. Now it’s called “We Are CASA.”

Founded in a Takoma Park church basement in 1985, the group now represents more than 189,000 members in 46 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. In the past year, CASA has flexed its advocacy and organizing muscles as one of the most prominent groups battling against the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to deport millions of immigrants.

We Are CASA Executive Director George Escobar, who took the job on Jan. 1, told The Banner that the name change emphasizes the group’s inclusivity and resolve.

“We are putting every effort and every resource that we have to meet the moment,” Escobar said. “History will determine how it compares to other seminal moments in American history. … We’re on the forefront of a lot of fights, and we’re on the forefront of holding our government accountable.”

In Maryland, We Are CASA is focusing attention on Annapolis, where it’s championing legislation to prohibit cooperation agreements between local law enforcement and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, agreements, commonly known as 287(g), which enable local police, sheriffs and jails to enforce immigration laws.

We Are CASA is also supporting legislation that would ban law enforcement officers, including those with ICE, from wearing masks.

“We lean in on transparency in law enforcement to ensure they are not masking,” Escobar said of ICE. “We want to ensure that they are not hiding their identities when they are committing these violent atrocities and these warrantless arrests.”

In Montgomery County, We Are CASA is advocating for a bill the County Council has pledged to pass, the Trust Act, touted as legislation that would stifle ICE from easily deporting residents, while also making the community safer.

We Are Casa has helped realize big victories in Annapolis, including passage of the Dream Act in 2012 and securing driver’s licenses for all residents in 2013. Through its legal wing, the organization has defended temporary protected status and birthright citizenship in federal court.

We Are CASA has more than 10,000 active members in Maryland. Escobar said many members have working-class backgrounds and immigrant and Indigenous ties. Escobar’s father was born in Mexico and worked in California fields before landing a union food services job.

A yearly We Are CASA membership costs $35. An additional $5 buys a photo identification card.

Escobar said the group is growing because members soon learn how effective they can be as activists in their own cities and towns.

In Maryland, he said, We Are CASA will be ready if a surge of federal immigration personnel floods the state. He noted the recent revelation that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has purchased a massive warehouse near Hagerstown.

“We’re doubling down working with our families to ensure that they have safety plans in place, to ensure that they know what to do if they’re confronted by ICE, that they know how to exercise their constitutional rights.”

“We’re not going to be intimidated,” he added.