LOS ANGELES (USA), July 25— “Hey, hope all is well with you. I have not heard from you, please, get back!” Carlos, a former student, reached out to Alberto, a retired high school teacher comrade, amid the ICE (immigration police) onslaught on migrant communities here.
Carlos has been part of the resistance against the raids. Alberto interviewed him for Red Flag.
“My first real experience getting involved was through you when I was in high school,” said Carlos. “I’ve always had a passion for supporting the people and my community. It was about a year after the 9/11 attacks.
“Around 2017, after Trump’s election, my political focus shifted more toward my people, mi Raza,” Carlos continued. “Recently I’ve become even more active. My main goal now is to help be a voice for the migrants.”
“These raids have been terrorizing immigrants as well as non-immigrants nationwide,” said Alberto. “The unity and resistance of the people has been admirable. What do you think is the reason for the deportations?”
“One of Trump’s main campaign promises was mass deportations,” Carlos responded. “They’re mostly targeting Latinos. Whether they’re threatened by how educated and successful our community is becoming, or just emboldened by their own racism, the goal is clear. They want la Raza to feel isolated, powerless, and too afraid to speak out or even leave the house.
“Migrants and US citizens are living in fear,” he went on. “In my thirty-nine years I have never asked myself when leaving the house, ‘Do I have my ID in my pocket? Should I bring my passport to do groceries?’
“People are being grabbed off the streets by masked agents with no name, no badge, no explanation: just snatched and disappeared. It’s racial profiling and kidnapping. But the community is pushing back. Thanks to people staying alert, organizing, and warning others, the raids aren’t reaching their goals here in LA County. Deportation numbers are falling short because we’re helping each other escape and resist.”
“Mass deportations are in part due to the worldwide crisis of capitalism,” Alberto explained. “The capitalists are forced to attack the entire working-class, immigrant or not, Latino, Black, Asian, Indigenous, and White.
“The fascist attacks come in different forms around the globe: deportations, layoffs, cuts in vital social services and so on. Capitalists can only get out of this crisis by going to war with each other, using the sons and daughters of the working class. For the international working class, the answer is to mobilize the masses to destroy capitalism with revolution and build communism,” Alberto concluded.
“I do believe capitalism is waging a constant attack on the working class. The greed of major investors grows unchecked, as they push to squeeze even more profit from the working class,” Carlos responded.
“It feels like the lead-up to the 1929 ‘Great Depression’ when a global economic collapse triggered mass deportations of immigrants and US-born Latinos. It laid the groundwork for global conflict.
“Real lasting change does require a revolution, one that overthrows the existing systems of power. Then we can dismantle private ownership at the top and put an end to the greed that drives this exploitation. We have the saying, ‘the rich get richer; the poor get poorer” because everything we work for always favors the wealthy class,” said Carlos.
“The Red Flag that I sent you has an article from our comrades in South Africa titled ‘Youth Day: The International Working Class Is Our People,’” Alberto said. “It mentions, ‘we should unite with all immigrants and win them over. We must unite all workers of the world from anywhere. Even those from corners we have never heard of should join the party.’
“What do you think about this in relation to your focus on ‘your people’? And would you consider joining the ICWP?” asked Alberto.
“Lately I’ve noticed people from many different nationalities joining coalitions and I agree that if we come together, we can definitely make a real impact,” Carlos answered. “I’m not looking to join at the moment, but I’m open to attending the meetings. It’s been so many years!
Fight For the Day When No Worker Will be Called Foreigner : here