Social movements, unions, community organizations, activists and celebrities demand a “national strike” against ICE for this Friday. This comes after the historic day of protests and strikes on January 23, when more than 50,000 people took to the streets of Minneapolis, the epicenter of the fight against ICE, in the midst of freezing weather to raise their voices. Thousands more did the same across the country.
In recent days, both Republicans and Democrats have sought to reduce tension in Minneapolis. The Trump administration was forced to remove Greg Bovino as head of “Operation Metro Surge” and has appointed White House “border czar” Tom Homan to take charge of ICE operations in Minneapolis. Despite praise from both Democrats and Republicans, Homan has a history of pushing for some of the biggest escalations in national anti-immigrant policies. But the simple fact that Trump had to replace Bovino with Homan is a result of the enormous resistance to ICE in Minneapolis and the strength of the community.
Democrats are now quick to praise the growing social movement against ICE, with some, like Senator Ed Markey, even calling for the agency’s abolition. But their words ring hollow when they are complicit in this escalation against immigrants and the American people. These same politicians defend the budgets, laws and police coordination that make raids and deportations possible.
The union leaders issue statements of solidarity but avoid calling for a strike for this Friday. Several of the unions that contributed to the January 23 strikes have remained silent about this Friday’s new day of action, considering last Friday’s mass mobilization as an isolated protest rather than the start of a broader struggle. Support on paper is not support in practice; Without strikes, without stoppages, without an organized refusal to collaborate with deportations, ICE continues to operate as always.
Meanwhile, the courts have done their part to legitimize the repression. Through court rulings, they have paved the legal ground for ICE operations, once again reaffirming that the judicial system exists to stabilize the existing order, not to defend those who suffer from it.
We cannot trust the Democrats or the courts. They won’t save us. Enough of people being beaten, arrested and murdered while those in power do nothing but promise investigations.
Union leaders must now take up the fight against ICE in Minneapolis, the Midwest and across the country. Simply supporting but without mobilizing the power of the workers and their ability to paralyze the economy is not neutral; It is a way of leaving immigrant communities to face repression alone.
For several years, America’s multiracial working class has been organizing strikes and fighting to unionize their workplaces. Hundreds of thousands of workers across the country have already shown their willingness to fight following last week’s national day of action.
In Minneapolis, immigrant workers and communities have already taken important steps to sustain this fight beyond a single day of protest. In recent days, students have abandoned their classes, neighbors have organized to defend their neighborhoods, and workers have begun to debate how to bring the fight to their workplaces. But their struggle must become the struggle of the entire labor movement. They are showing the way forward, but they cannot fight alone.
Unions and social movements in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St Paul) must invest real resources—money, infrastructure, and political energy—to join existing anti-ICE committees. They must urgently help build new committees in neighborhoods across the city: committees rooted in workplaces and communities, able to mobilize quickly and act collectively to block raids and defend families.
These committees can focus on what has already emerged on the streets: the determination to expel ICE from Minneapolis and the understanding that defending immigrants means defending the working class as a whole. By organizing anti-ICE committees, coordinating rapid responses to raids, and preparing ongoing days of action, they can transform protest into a sustained fight.
This article was originally published in English on the Left Voice site, part of the La Izquierda Diario International Network in the United States.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
