United Fort Worth

Founding and History

United Fort Worth was founded in response to the passage of Senate Bill 4 (SB 4) by the Texas Legislature in 2017. This bill banned municipalities from having a policy of not cooperating with the federal government regarding immigration enforcement. Local officials risk fines or imprisonment for failure to comply. The law also allows for law enforcement to inquire about the immigration status of anyone who is detained, not just those arrested. ^{2  1}

United Fort Worth was formed by activists who mobilized to resist the passage of the law, and then who urged noncompliance and lawsuits to overturn it. One notable activist who cofounded the group was Daniel Garcia Rodriguez, whose parents had illegally crossed the border from Mexico and traveled back and forth between the US and Mexico after he was born. ^{1  3}

The group eventually acquired a community center space in Fort Worth to provide free internet and co-working space once per week. The center is also available for free reservations on the weekends; the group’s website still declares that users must wear masks indoors as of April 2026. ¹

Texas SB 4 withstood court challenges, and as of April 2026, remains in effect. The group has expanded its left-of-center activism to include issues of immigration, prison abolition, and other intersectional causes related to the alleged oppression of American society. ^{4  1}

Working Families Organization

United Fort Worth is fiscally sponsored by the Working Families Organization, also known as Working Families Power. This group is a left-of-center labor union-aligned political activist group that is aligned with the left-of-center political party called the Working Families Party. ^{5  6}

Organization Philosophy

United Fort Worth adheres to left-of-center policies on many issues, including embracing a racialized conception of politics that uses the term “Latine” instead of Latino, referring to Black and Latino people as being part of diasporas, promoting prison abolition, opposing immigration restrictions, and claiming that the United States consists of stolen land. ¹

Projects and Initiatives

United Fort Worth was formed originally to mobilize opposition to Texas Senate Bill 4, which banned sanctuary cities that do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities in Texas, and allowed police to question the immigration status of people who are detained, as opposed to only those who are arrested. The group mobilizes activists to participate in the city government of Fort Worth and promotes resources, such as its political activism guide, My City, to train “systemically excluded persons.” ¹ The group seeks to eliminate cash bail altogether. ⁷

United Forth Worth signed onto an open letter defending Greenpeace from a lawsuit related to a pipeline protest. ⁸

The group also maintains a community center that provides a space to organize and conduct remote work. ¹

Leadership

Daniel Garcia Rodriguez is the co-founder of United Fort Worth. He was born to illegal migrants from Mexico who crossed back and forth over the border during his childhood. He eventually fell into crime during his adolescence and was charged with felonies. He co-founded the group after being moved to oppose Texas Senate Bill 4 in 2017, which banned sanctuary cities that do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. ³