It's Going Down • Losing Their Homes To Foreclosure Some Americans Say 'Fuck It' We Aint Leavin'

Vowing to fight eviction, Frank Torres barricaded himself in his foreclosed house in Carson, Calif., for several hours last week.

As resistance to foreclosure evictions grows among homeowners, community leaders and some law enforcement officials, a broad civil disobedience campaign is starting in several American cities to support families who refuse orders to vacate their homes.

The community organizing group ACORN introduced the campaign with a spirited rally last week in Brooklyn, New York, and will roll it out in at least 22 other cities in coming weeks. Through phone trees, Web pages and text-messaging networks, the effort will connect families facing eviction with volunteers who will stand at their side as officers arrive, even if it means risking arrest.

"You want to haul us out to jail? Fine. Let the world see how government has been ineffective," Bertha Lewis, ACORN's chief organizer, said in an interview. "Politicians have helped banks, but they haven't helped families in the way that it's needed, and these families are now saying, enough is enough."

Sheriffs in some places have also taken a stand. In Wayne County in Michigan, Sheriff Warren Evans suspended all evictions starting Feb. 2 until the federal government implements a plan to help homeowners facing foreclosures.