By CARLOS SAPIR
While the exact details of Trump’s plans for his second administration remain unclear, one of the key rhetorical points of his campaign was a widespread—a vicious rhetorical assault against immigrants. According to Trump’s campaign, those of politicians close to him, and even some of their opponents running as Democrats, immigrants today represent a literal military “invasion,” as well as supposedly threatening to destroy the economy and drown the U.S. in drugs, sex trafficking, and other crimes.
Of course, this “invasion” does not exist; immigrants do not cause crime, and rather than hurting the economy, they are a vital pillar of the U.S. working class. But the fact that Trump’s accusations against immigrants are lies does not change the reality that he is repeatedly and publicly promising to use all of the resources of the state to carry out mass deportations. Whether or not he manages to deploy even the military to this end, we must prepare to face these potentially massive attacks against our communities.
While the threats facing us are significant, there is a long history of community-based and union-based organizing to protect undocumented immigrants in this country, a history that includes Trump’s first term in addition to other administrations.
Throughout his first term, Trump’s brazen attacks against immigrants were met with outpourings of massive solidarity, not only from the immigrant communities that to a great extent led and bore the brunt of this struggle, but from the broader population as well, with moments such as the attempted Muslim ban leading to spontaneous mass mobilizations that occupied airports. Rapid response networks were formed and grew throughout the country, providing immediate support to immigrants in need as well as scaffolding for further political organizing.
Perhaps the most significant moment of the U.S. immigrant rights’ movement, however, was the mass mobilizations of the “Day Without an Immigrant,” on May 1, 2006. In response to similar demonization by the Bush administration (itself building on border militarization policies greatly expanded by Bill Clinton), millions of people took to the streets and demonstrated the size and power of the working immigrant community. Not only did these mobilizations put a halt to reactionary policies and rhetoric, they revitalized the entirety of the workers’ movement. After decades of anti-communist suppression, May Day once again returned to its birthplace in the U.S. labor movement as a day of celebration, solidarity, and struggle, and has been annually recognized by unions and other working-class organizations since then.
Now is the time to concretely discuss how we will defend ourselves, our coworkers, and our neighbors. In labor unions, we need to prepare ourselves to respond against raids that attack our workplaces. This is a vital task not only to defend immigrants, but also for unions to be able to function: A union that cannot defend its members from arbitrary deportation is not going to be able to credibly defend any of its members when facing the bosses.
Solidarity resolutions can help to educate coworkers about the importance of this fight, and can also provide a basis for rallying the unions toward further political action in defense of immigrants. In tandem with this organizing, we need to form and strengthen community rapid-response groups that keep a lookout for ICE activity, provide aid to those targeted, and allow people to live with a measure of security.
By turning out dozens to hundreds of people to rally in front of attempted anti-immigrant attacks, we can protect our communities against raids. By proactively organizing large protests to demand an end to deportations and full rights for all workers, we go on the offensive and demonstrate the economic and political weight that immigrants actually have as the backbone of the economy. We demonstrate that these are our communities that the government is attacking, and we will not let our communities be torn apart without a fight.
It is also distinctly possible that the next wave of attacks against immigrants may target communities that have not faced as much persecution in the 21st century. Chinese immigrants in particular are already being demonized as supposed “foreign agents” by Trump as part of a bipartisan march towards possible war with China. Existing immigrant rights’ networks need to expand their reach and form ties with every immigrant community in order to strengthen ourselves and prepare for the possible threats to come.
While there are significant obstacles ahead and lots of work to do, these challenges have been surmounted in the past and can be beaten again. Both the U.S. labor movement and the international workers’ movement would be nowhere if not for the tireless contributions of immigrant workers from all over the world—working, organizing, and struggling under conditions of fierce state repression and anti-immigrant xenophobia. We now face a terrible threat against our existence once again. But by successfully mobilizing on a mass basis, with the support of our unions and the broader layer of people who are willing to stand up and confront racist attacks against innocent people, we can not only beat back these attacks but at the same time build a movement ready to wield its power and fight for political change.