SAN GABRIEL VALLEY (California, USA), August 20— Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez, 52, worked as a day laborer to send money for his four daughters in Guatemala. He was waiting with others at the Monrovia Home Depot (HD) on August 14 when “la Migra” (ICE) swept through. They kidnapped a dozen workers. They chased Carlos over a barrier and onto a freeway. A vehicle struck and killed him. But the fascist ICE agents were the murderers.
Many hundreds turned out the next evening for a vigil and march honoring Carlos. This, after another raid that morning at the HD in neighboring Pasadena. Many took copies of Red Flag. Speakers denounced the attacks on immigrants as part of a broader fascist assault. Almost $40,000 has been raised for Carlos’ family.
Since ICE kidnapped six workers at a Pasadena bus stop in June, hundreds in this area alone (some immigrants, some not) have organized themselves to defend neighbors from the ICE Gestapo. “What we do makes a difference,” said an organizer of the Pasadena HD Community Defense Center.
When la Migra descended, volunteers there quickly sounded the alarm. One directed cars away from the now-dangerous parking lot. Others alerted day laborers so most got safely away. Word spread over Signal chats. More volunteers arrived. Some followed the kidnappers’ vehicles. More neighbors were warned. At least one more was rescued. This went on for hours.
Still, many dedicated volunteers felt like they hadn’t done enough. So some felt it almost like a slap in the face when a socialist speaker in Monrovia cried out, “Not one more!” Nobody wants any more racist kidnappings! But it’s misleading to say just that “building a movement” will stop them.
We will only see “not one more” kidnapping when there is “not one more” fascist government agent to terrorize us. When there is “not one more” capitalist to use their government to suppress our working class as they always do. When there is “not one more” border to divide us.
That is, capitalism cannot be reformed to end attacks on immigrant workers and on all workers. Sure, some things could change. There could be more food and blankets in the concentration camps called “detention centers.” Immigration raids could target individuals instead of sweeps based on your skin color or your work.
But the swerve to open fascism reflects the desperation of a US capitalist class in profound crisis. A declining world power whose bosses can salvage their profits only by squeezing workers harder and dividing us more. Who can try – but probably not succeed – to regain a dominant global position by fighting ever-growing wars with the workers’ blood and treasure.
Is our goal a somehow “kinder, gentler” fascism? Or is it a communist world without hierarchy or exploitation? Where workers welcome each other everywhere. Where we produce for each others’ needs and collectively make the decisions that shape our lives.
Because if we want communism, that takes revolution. It takes a new kind of revolutionary party. Not one seeking to lead a hierarchical socialist state that manages an economy based on wages and markets. But a party that seeks to incorporate masses directly and immediately into the project of building a classless, moneyless society in every area we can liberate.
“I love this community,” reflected a Pasadena anti-fascist organizer. “Even in the darkest of days, we know how to show up for one another and we know how to show up for our neighbors.”
Our community is truly global. Our neighbors are everywhere.
Mass migration worldwide shows how the world is shrinking. Networks of autonomous collectives cannot integrate our international working class into a force capable of communist revolution. They couldn’t manage a global communist society.
For those things, we need masses of workers, soldiers, and youth – not just an “elite” few – to join the International Communist Workers’ Party. Join to honor the memory of Carlos Montoya and so many more around the world.
