Project YANO

06/04/2026

06/04/2026

As the continues indefinitely, the are desperate for new recruits. Oren Robinson of Project YANO explains that anyone can be a counter-recruiter.

Subscribe for as little as $4 a month to watch the full interview at risingupwithsonali.com.

05/18/2026

Free film, dinner included. When this film opened at the Adams Avenue Theatre in 1990, it sold out the first night!

05/18/2026

May 17, 2026: Project YANO counter-recruitment presentation with veterans at high school student conference organized by UC San Diego MEChA chapter. www.projectyano.org

05/13/2026

RSVP link: tinyurl.com/demilitarizeJun13

04/26/2026

Project YANO: counter-recruitment booth at the annual Chicano Park Day Celebration in San Diego

04/11/2026

There's growing disquiet in the military. The Iran war made it worse

"Military members are choosing to retire early or to not reenlist when their contracts are up, according to those who spoke with NPR. Others are applying for medical separation or are breaking their enlistment contracts regardless of the consequences."

Since Trump began his second term, his administration's use of the armed forces has left a growing number in the military unsettled, according to NPR interviews with service members and advocates.

02/12/2026

Dear Friends:
These are trying times. DHS agencies and the military are invading our communities. Our military is waging war or threatening war on multiple fronts.
Meanwhile, in order to maintain such an active presence on the world stage, the military needs more recruits. Recruiters are appearing at our schools, community meetings, social media, on our phones, everywhere it seems.
At the same time, the number of groups actively involved in counter recruitment has plummeted. The National Network Opposing Militarization of Youth (NNOMY) hopes to push against that trend and spark activist groups into action. We cannot wait three years for a change. Too much is at stake.
We are planning a webinar March 21 and we invite you to participate. This will be a round table discussion of ways in which you can become involved in counter recruiting. We will be talking about tabling at high schools, speaking to high school classrooms, forming peace clubs, leafletting at schools, community involvement, peaceful career opportunities, the need for social media campaigns. Each area will be presented by people that have been deeply involved in this work for a significant period.
We hope you can join us: Saturday, March 21, 11 – 12:30 PST/12 – 1:30 PM MST/1 – 2:30 CST/ 2 – 3:30 EST.
Your attendance is vital. Big or small, everything we do helps prevent a young person from making a decision they may regret (and often do).

Please RSVP for this event:
RSVP link: https://tinyurl.com/demilitarize2026

12/28/2025

As part of Enero Zapatista 2026, we invite you to join Project YANO and community organizations to discuss the ongoing crisis of predatory recruitment targeting our youth and our communities by the military, border patrol, ICE, and other fascist agencies for the interests of U.S. empire. Together, we hope to share and translate lessons & strategies across our distinct but interconnected struggles to resist the ways our communities are positioned as both cannon fodder and targets of militarism–whether locally or abroad.  

Our event is inspired by the political strategy of “el común zapatista,” in that we aim to work across communities and organizations, collaborating with others who have resisted in their own ways.

Join us on Saturday January 24, from 4-6pm at the Centro Cultural de la Raza (2004 Park Blvd, San Diego CA 92101)

And check out other Enero Zapatista events happening throughout the month of January 2026!

12/18/2025

Project YANO 2025 Update

This personal message from a board member at Project YANO recaps and reflects on our work in 2025:

The militaristic scenes of masked agents snatching people off the streets playing on our TV and phone screens is routine terror these days.

So, imagine my family’s shock when one day our cousin tells us she wants to quit school and join the Border Patrol!

I knew her grades weren’t great and she is trying to figure out her life. She won’t be like those masked vigilantes, she says, and only wants the signing bonus and the possibility of a career. Too many times I had rehearsed ways to respond to such thinking but I failed in that moment. I asked her why and didn’t know what else to say.

I imagine similar conversations are taking place in households throughout the country at this moment. Earlier this year, the Border Patrol recorded the busiest four-month recruiting stretch with more than 34,000 applicants. While people are getting laid off from other jobs, losing SNAP benefits and struggling to make ends meet, the Trump administration’s response is to sow fear and chaos, and present deportation as the solution to the crisis.

“America has been invaded by criminals and predators. We need YOU to get them out,” an ICE recruitment ad reads. Young people are smarter than the presumed reader of this pitiful racist line. But still, the promise of student loan forgiveness and a $50k signing bonus surely entices.

At Project YANO, the bulk of our work is telling young people what recruiters won’t — signing bonuses are not guaranteed, you may be ordered to do what goes against your wishes and morals, and so on.

Our counter-recruitment presentations aim to inform young people about the reality of military life and present alternative career pathways, so they can make better decisions for themselves. YANO can do what I, individually, cannot — our presenters speak from personal experience,students learn to ask questions, we give them choices without telling them what to do.

Although we focus on countering military recruiters, we expect soon to see ICE recruiters at schools, too. They share the same playbook, preying on young people’s despair for the future.

Our work remains as urgent as ever. Since the school year started, we have kept very busy talking to students throughout San Diego County.

During the week of Veterans Day, we presented in a college lecture hall filled with students and veterans. Two days later we were at a high school student conference and, in the following week, we spoke to hundreds of students at Sweetwater High’s career fair. There, we amplified careers in peace making and drew larger crowds to our table display than we saw at the nearby police department’s table.

Every event brings us face to face with young people desiring alternatives to militarism. In these dark times, this is what gives us hope, keeps us going.

Project YANO is extremely grateful for the support of our many individual donors, the Peace on Earth Carolers, and a recent award from the AJ Muste Foundation for Peace and Justice. This year, Project YANO was one of three organizations nationwide awarded the “No Justice, No Peace!” Award.

Because of the challenging organizing environment for our work, we have always had to operate on a very limited budget that relies primarily on individual donations. If you see the critical need for our efforts, please consider becoming one of those contributors.

Looking to next year, we commit to deepening our struggle against predatory recruitment targeting our youth and communities by the military, Border Patrol, ICE,and other fascistic agencies.

To help us continue our work in this pivotal moment, we ask you to please support us with a donation this holiday season. Your financial support is critical to sustaining our work, including the literature we provide, the maintenance of our website, our presence at community events and schools, and more

Thank you so much for your ongoing support. Give today at https://projectyano.org/donate

Founded in San Diego in 1984, Project YANO is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization. Visit projectyano.org for more information about our activities and to download educational materials for young people.