By Travis Morales, Revolution newspaper #101, 9/16/07
In July, after the Senate failed to pass Bush-backed “comprehensive
immigration reform,” Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff
warned that the increase of arrests of undocumented immigrants is “gonna
get ugly.”
What does he mean by ugly?
He means arresting a Mexican mother, ripping her child from her, and
deporting her to Mexico-splitting up her family. Like millions of
other Mexicans, Elvira Arellano was forced to come to the United States
to survive but was quickly captured and deported for the first time. Forced
to return to the U.S., she worked cleaning O’Hare International Airport,
super-exploited like millions of other Mexicans. In a post-September 11
“anti-terror” raid, she was arrested and convicted of using
a fake Social Security number in order to work, like so many others who
have decided not to starve. Convicted and demonized, she refused to be
deported once again, taking refuge in a Chicago church with her U.S. citizen
8-year-old son and advocating for immigrant rights for a year before being
arrested and deported.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) web site bragged, “ICE
deports high-profile criminal fugitive alien to Mexico. Woman who sought
refuge in Chicago church arrested during weekend trip to L.A.” What
the fuck do they mean “criminal fugitive alien”? Who pillaged
and ruined the economy of Mexico, making life impossible for her and millions
more? Who super-exploited her and millions more like modern-day slaves?
Who acts like modern-day slave catchers? Who are the real criminals?
“Gonna get ugly” means armed ICE agents storming through
garment sweatshops and life-numbing meat packing slaughterhouses to arrest
and deport immigrants. Only a generation or two ago, the grandsons of
African-American slaves were super-exploited on the killing floors of
slaughterhouses but then their wages got too high and their attitude too
rebellious, so they were replaced with immigrants. First they super-exploit
immigrants in these hellholes-under conditions that are close to
those in factories 100 years ago in this country. Then they demonize them
in the media, and send in the immigration police to round them up. It
means random sweeps of whole communities, grabbing up and packing off
everyone “without papers.” “Gonna get ugly” means
local ordinances and state laws making it illegal to rent an apartment
or house to anyone who is undocumented or to hire them to work or to provide
them with social services or let them post bail.
Important New Resistance
The system’s “gonna get ugly” attacks on immigrants
have meant ICE agents sweeping into neighborhoods, kicking down doors,
dragging people out in the middle of the night to be deported, leaving
crying children behind. But on September 6, when ICE agents in South Los
Angeles swept into a neighborhood, trying to force their way into apartments
and arresting at least two people, residents of the neighborhood made
a sign that said “ICE OUT!” and stood on the street. Some
took pictures of what the ICE agents were doing and collected badge numbers.
The ICE agents harassed these people. First, they were told to hand over
their camera. Then ICE agents asked for their identifications and wrote
down their information. Then the agents told them that they were not allowed
to be on the street. “But we stood our ground,” said Cristina,
a resident of the neighborhood. “Finally, they backed down. We had
hidden our camera, and they finally admitted that we had the right to
take pictures and to be on the street with our protest signs. They couldn’t
stop us.”
There are important shoots of resistance breaking out in response to
all this that need to be supported and spread. As I write this, a work
stoppage and economic boycott is in progress in Phoenix, Arizona, lasting
from September 3 through September 9. An organizer with La Coordinadora
3 de Septiembre told me that estimates are that 20,000 to 40,000 people
have left work for the week to protest the Bush decision to require companies
to fire employees whose names do not match their Social Security number.
Their leaflet asks, “What would YOU do if” Your child came
home, found you had been taken, and your location unknown?” People
are demanding in part, “To have a real immigration reform that does
not simply reduce us to the level of a modern slave (guest worker).”
On September 2, an estimated crowd of 5,000 to 10,000, overwhelmingly
immigrants, marched through the streets of Woodbridge, Virginia, which
has a population of about 32,000, located about 30 miles from Washington,
DC. They were protesting the passage of anti-immigrant legislation by
the Prince William County Board of Supervisors. Organizers are calling
for a work stoppage on October 9. On June 4, in Houston, two activists
chained themselves to the front gates of the privately run Corrections
Corporation of America immigration detention center to demand freedom
for all the detainees and blockade the entrance.
Early this year, the New Sanctuary Movement, composed of Jews, Muslims,
Sikhs, Christians, and other faiths, was formed. Their goal is to protect
immigrant families from unjust deportation by providing sanctuary in their
houses of worship. Earlier this year, in both Chicago and the San Francisco
Bay Area, people protested and rallied to oppose ICE raids in their communities.
All of these are important developments. This movement of resistance
must spread rapidly and broadly among immigrants and non-immigrants alike.
Think about what a difference it made in L.A. when, in the midst of these
raids, people on the spot mobilized to protect people. Imagine the impact
if the movement of churches, mosques, and synagogues spreads. If in border
communities, people politically challenge the brutal treatment of immigrants.
And if all this is contributing to a broader spirit of defiance throughout
society to the whole broader repressive agenda.
What Kind of World Do You Want to Live In?
Life has always been hell for immigrants. Until recently, the undocumented
lived with the constant threat of deportation because of any unexpected
encounter with the authorities. But, by and large, once here, they were
allowed to be super-exploited, face discrimination and police brutality,
but stay. Now something much more sinister is being hammered into place.
Open season has been declared. Rules, for example, that in many places
supposedly separated the normal police from the Migra are being changed
to make every cop into an ICE agent. Anything goes. People who “work
hard” and “play by the rules” can be snatched up at
any time, their world and that of their families devastated.
On August 10, Bush announced a whole series of measures to be implemented
by executive order. Many of these were contained in the so-called “comprehensive
immigration reform” bill that failed in the Senate in June. They
were not passed in Congress, so essentially by decree, Bush is ordering
the enforcement of these regulations. The measures include 8,000 more
Border Patrol agents, more walls, more detention camps, more raids, a
campaign to go after workers whose names do not match their Social Security
numbers, the importation of more “guest workers” to toil in
slave-like conditions, and moves to require everyone applying for a job
to have their identity run through a national government database.
Look at the kind of society that is emerging if we don’t STOP this:
In Minnesota during the Swift raids, workers and advocates in the Swift
meatpacking plant reported that individuals were first divided into groups
by the color of their skin and that only non-white workers were questioned.
In raids across the country, agents have arrested people based on their
racial or ethnic appearance, accent, or limited English skills. People
are presumed to be “illegal” with no rights based on how they
look, the color of their skin, and the language that they speak.
And for those who still harbor the illusion that the Democrats will fight
for immigrant rights, listen to the words of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
upon hearing Bush’s announcement: “Securing our border remains
a top priority for the New Direction Congress.”
All of this is no good. It is very, very bad for the people.
Throughout the spring of 2006, millions of immigrants and their allies
poured into the streets all across the country, from the largest cities
to numerous small southern and mid-western farming communities. This was
a historic mobilization to defeat the draconian anti-immigrant Sensenbrenner
bill (H.R. 4437) that would have made felons of the estimated 12-20
million undocumented immigrants in this country and anyone who aided them
in any kind of way. People filled the streets to demand legalization and
for immigrants to be treated like human beings. City after city saw the
largest protest demonstrations in their history.
In the face of this escalating onslaught, there is great importance to
promoting, supporting, and spreading new resistance. After being deported,
Elvira Arellano called for a national day of action on September 12. This
call has been taken up by activists in such places as Los Angeles, Chicago,
Madison, Wisconsin, and New York who are organizing press conferences
and protests that day to announce an October 12 National Day of Action
for Workers Rights Against No Match (Letters), Raids and Deportations.
If you refuse to live in a world where human beings are categorized as
“legal” or “illegal” based on the color of their
skin, the language that they speak, and where they were born, with life
and death implications, then you have the responsibility to resist. If
you refuse to live in a world where millions are condemned to be super-exploited
modern-day slaves, then you must act.