A small, family-owned bookstore — People’s Book — in Takoma Park, Maryland wants to live up to its name.
The independent bookstore has made waves recently, announcing that it would donate all proceeds from the sale of a United States Senator’s newest book to a nonprofit that supports immigrants.
Sen. David McCormick is a Republican senator representing Pennsylvania in Congress. Voting in alignment with many of his Republican peers, McCormick lists “securing the border” as one of his top issues on his campaign website.
“As Senator, Dave will fight to secure the border, put an end to drug and human trafficking, and support our border patrol agents with the resources they need to do their jobs,” his website outlines.
McCormick has indeed voted to provide more funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement through what has been dubbed “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
Passed in July, the bill allotted about $170 billion for immigration and border security enforcement, including $75 billion specifically for ICE. This makes ICE the highest-funded law enforcement agency in the federal government, according to CBS News.
Since Donald Trump took office in January of this year, ICE has detained and arrested an estimated 109,000 individuals, many of whom do not have criminal records. Many of these actions have been reportedly carried out without due process.
Acting against ICE’s tactics — and specifically McCormick’s legislative backing of the agency — People’s Book wanted to do something with the lawmaker’s latest book: “Who Believed In You.”
“Senator McCormick’s lobbyists asked us to buy 500 copies of his recently published book. While we don’t want to be in business with someone who is partially responsible for the current crisis, we also don’t support banning books,” the store’s co-owner, Matt Bormet, said.
“So we filled the request. But in order to live our values, we’re taking his money and giving it to folks who can do some good with it.”
So far, the bookstore reports that it has donated more than $7,000 from the sale of McCormick’s book to CASA, a nationwide organization that supports immigrant communities with a variety of legal and social services.
“Independent bookstores do not support breaking up immigrant families, violent secret police, or the attempts to erase trans people,” Bormet added. “This is a small way of pushing back on that agenda.”
This is not the first time the bookstore has aimed to help those impacted by the Trump administration and the politicians who support its agenda.
Earlier this year, when thousands of federal workers in the Maryland and D.C. area were laid off by the Trump administration, People’s Book began hosting “Fed Fridays.”
Here, they’d offer fired federal workers free coffee, a book, and a supportive place to go.
“I’m disappointed that our community has to face this challenge right now. It’s totally unnecessary and insulting to people who have put their lives into public service,” Bormet told DC News Now in March.
“It’s nice to be able to do a little bit of something for them.”
While the kind gestures don’t immediately remove the threat from the communities made most vulnerable by the Trump administration, they represent something that Ninfa Amador, a CASA policy manager, is grateful to see.
“The vision of a more just world lives on with brave acts like those by Megan and Batt Bormet and People’s Book,” Amador told WUSA 9 News.
For the Bormets, it’s as simple as sticking to their values.
On Bluesky, the bookstore shared one simple message about their efforts: “We stand with our community.”
Header image courtesy of People's Book
