Labor Must Act!

On January 7, ICE killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. Good had just dropped her six-year-old son off at school when she encountered these thugs, who claimed “self-defense” after putting a bullet in her head. Outrageous is too mild a word to describe what happened in Minneapolis, the latest deadly milestone in Trump’s anti-immigrant terror campaign as his goons round up immigrants and brutalize their defenders from Los Angeles to NYC and everywhere in between. Don’t let the killers get away with murder! There needs to be a real fight to stop ICE—no more Renee Goods, no more deportations, ICE out of our cities!

Many have noted Good was gunned down not far from where Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd nearly 6 years ago, setting off a firestorm of protest kindled by anger against decades of racist killer cops getting away with murder. Many leftists say that what we need is a revival of the BLM protests that brought millions out to the streets. But what was the result? Cops continue to kill with impunity, there are barely any protests against the killer cops, and many are demoralized. Millions wanted to fight back, but the movement’s liberal politics of cop reform and the liberal Democrats it aligned itself with led BLM to defeat.

We cannot keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. Mayor Jacob Frey was in office when George Floyd was killed and took a knee promising to reform the police, but didn’t do shit. Now he is talking all big and bad against ICE. And “tear gas” Tim Walz is telling protesters that he feels their anger, before he threatens to sic the National Guard on them if they don’t go home. It should be obvious by now that we cannot rely on these charlatans to do a damn thing for us. They say nice sounding things when it’s convenient, but they always stab you in the back. That’s because the libs represent the same capitalist class Trump answers to—and its only interest in immigrants is in using them as cheap labor and pitting them against native-born workers in a race to the bottom for us all.

What’s necessary is for pro-immigrant fighters and the left to ditch the liberals and turn to the working class, which has both an interest in, and the power to, beat back Trump’s attacks. Labor has been noticeably absent from the anti-ICE protests, and certainly has not brought their social power to bear against Trump’s attacks. This will not do. Trump is doing everything he can to make sure that the U.S. rulers can throw their weight around and trample over whoever they want. Labor can not let this continue without a fight. Trumps attack on Venezuela is not about drugs, and his ICE terror is not about getting rid of criminals. These are smears to justify the U.S. rulers escalating rampage. If the Feds can get away with killing a 37-year-old poet and mother of three while branding her a “domestic terrorist,” what won’t they try against picketers demanding pay raises against spiraling inflation? Labor, it’s time to throw your weight around! Go to your unions and demand that they take a side against ICE and do something against the government’s attacks! If your leaders say no, then it should be clear: if they don’t have the spine to stand up against this egregious killing they will not stand up for you when the time is needed.

Enough is enough! To the left: stop trying to revive failed movements and fight to get labor on our side. To workers: keeping your head down will not save you from the encroaching attacks, only standing up and fighting back will!