Category: Immigration
Why Mass Action?
The broad outlines of Socialist Action's views on the centrality of mass mobilizations in building an irresistible antiwar movement have been published in previous issues of this newspaper (see Jeff Mackler's article in our November 2007 issue). But some additional elaboration can be helpful at a time when activists are today discussing concrete measures to … Continue reading Why Mass Action?
Public Enemy Video: “By the Time I Get to Arizona”
Homeland Security Operates Sting Against Migrant Workers
DANBURY, Conn.—The U.S. Department of Homeland Security snatched 11 Ecuadorian day laborers from a public park here in a sting operation on Sept. 19. An agent from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), posing as a construction contractor, lured the day laborers into an unmarked van with the promise of work. He then drove them instead … Continue reading Homeland Security Operates Sting Against Migrant Workers
Hundreds Meet to Launch New Immigrant Rights Alliance
By Jason Cain & Wayne McElyea / September 2006 issue of Socialist Action The biggest and most authoritative assembly yet of immigrant rights activists debated strategy and tactics, and launched a new organization—the National Alliance for Immigrant Rights (NAIR)—at the National Immigrant Rights Strategy Convention, held in suburban Chicago Aug. 11-13. Such a gathering was … Continue reading Hundreds Meet to Launch New Immigrant Rights Alliance
ICE Steps Up Immigrant Raids
September 2006 issue of Socialist Action newspaper The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is cooperating to an unprecedented degree with local and state police across the country to apprehend undocumented workers. The pretext is often a manhunt for an immigrant with felony convictions. Anecdotal evidence shows that ICE raids may also be targeting prominent activists … Continue reading ICE Steps Up Immigrant Raids
The Basic Contradiction of U.S. Immigration Policy
by James Frickey / June 2006 issue Socialist Action For the past 20 years, the U.S. has sought in earnest to remove its southern border as a barrier to foreign trade and investment, while continuously reinforcing it as a barrier to the free movement of workers. Over the years, the Mexican peasantry has been uprooted, … Continue reading The Basic Contradiction of U.S. Immigration Policy
Congress Debates ‘Reform’ Bill on Immigrant Rights
by James Frickey / June 2006 issue Socialist Action Andrew Stern, president of the 1.7-million-member Service Employees International Union, once likened the leadership of a mass movement to the crew on a sailboat. What matters is the wind in the sails, he said, not the fight over who steers. The wind behind the movement for … Continue reading Congress Debates ‘Reform’ Bill on Immigrant Rights
A Chicana Activist Speaks Out on Immigrant Rights
by Mark Ostapiak / June 2006 issue of Socialist Action Newspaper The May 1 demonstrations that rocked the nation with a political strike and economic boycott saw immigrant workers—largely Latino—bring back the true character of international workers day, begun by immigrants in the United States in 1886: relying on working-class mass action in the streets … Continue reading A Chicana Activist Speaks Out on Immigrant Rights
New York’s Governor Betrays Immigrants
by Marty Goodman / November 2007 issue of Socialist Action newspaper NEW YORK—In a reversal of his campaign promises, Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) announced on Oct. 27 a new driver’s license just for “illegal” immigrants. Spitzer earlier had promised a single license for all New York drivers. The new Spitzer plan is part of a … Continue reading New York’s Governor Betrays Immigrants
Solidarity actions in Mexico
May 2006 issue of Socialist Action newspaper Workers throughout Latin America watched the build-up to May Day closely, nowhere more so than in Mexico. Unions raised slogans at May Day rallies in Mexico City in solidarity with immigrant workers in the United States. A call also went out to boycott all U.S. products and U.S.-owned … Continue reading Solidarity actions in Mexico
Walkout by immigrant workers rocks the nation on May Day
by ANDREW POLLACK / May 2006 issue of Socialist Action newspaper The outrage and determination of millions of immigrant workers turned El Gran Paro Americano 2006—May Day’s Great American Boycott 2006—into the first nationwide political strike in U.S. history. Estimates of participation in the day’s events vary, but the total clearly tops the record previously … Continue reading Walkout by immigrant workers rocks the nation on May Day
Millions Fill the Streets to Defend Immigrant Rights
by Andrew Pollack / April 2006 issue of Socialist Action newspaper Seemingly overnight, a mass movement of immigrants demanding their rights has sprung up in the United States. It is mass in the real sense of the word, bringing millions into the streets—striking workers, students walking out of schools, grandparents, babies in strollers, all with … Continue reading Millions Fill the Streets to Defend Immigrant Rights
Immigrant Workers & the AFL-CIO Split
by Andrew Pollack / September 2005 issue of Socialist Action On July 18, the week before the AFL-CIO split convention, John Wilhelm resigned as head of the federation’s Immigration Committee. Wilhelm, president of the hospitality industry division of UNITE HERE, led the committee at a time when the federation had changed its long-standing opposition to … Continue reading Immigrant Workers & the AFL-CIO Split
Immigrants Protest Bigotry in CT
by Jason Cain / July 2005 issue of Socialist Action newspaper Anti-immigrant xenophobia has surfaced across Connecticut in the past two months, activating a powerful and disciplined mass response from immigrants and their supporters. The town of Danbury on the northwest border of the state has found itself in the eye of this storm. In … Continue reading Immigrants Protest Bigotry in CT
THEATER REVIEW: ‘NO’ for an Answer
By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH The music and lyrics for "No for an Answer" were written by Marc Blitzstein in 1937, whose earlier musical play, "Cradle Will Rock," became a popular rallying cry for theater artists during the depression after federal agents closed the theatre in which it was to open. Led by the director and … Continue reading THEATER REVIEW: ‘NO’ for an Answer
Immigrant Rights Under Attack
By DAVID BERNT Amidst broader threats to civil liberties in the aftermath of recent terrorist actions, U.S. rulers are attacking the rights of immigrants. Using the events of Sept. 11 as a pretext and the recent wave of xenophobia and racism toward Arabs and Muslims as a base of popular support, the Justice Department … Continue reading Immigrant Rights Under Attack
Body Count Rises Along the Border
By MIKE SCHWARTZ Mario Castillo and Raymundo Berreda were two of the 14 immigrant workers who were found dead in the Arizona desert in late May. Every day thousands of people leave Mexico with the hope of finding a decent paying job in the United States. This situation arises out of the massive poverty that … Continue reading Body Count Rises Along the Border
LABOR BRIEFING
by CHARLES WALKER 20,000 in L.A. rally for immigrant workers At long last, the AFL-CIO has done an about-face concerning immigrants' rights. At its February executive meeting it adopted a resolution supporting amnesty for undocumented workers. It now says that it opposes sanctions against employers who hire undocumented workers, and it's calling for new … Continue reading LABOR BRIEFING
The Myth of ‘Too Many People’
by Nat Weinstein The March 27 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle published a debate in its "Open Forum" section on the recent decision of the AFL-CIO to reverse its long-standing hostility to the rights of immigrant workers. The writer taking a position in support of the AFL-CIO decision was David Bacon, co-chair of the … Continue reading The Myth of ‘Too Many People’
Labor’s Turn Toward Immigrant Workers
By NAT WEINSTEIN The following report is based on the lessons drawn in last month's article by Charles Walker on the AFL-CIO's policy shift; that is, the reversal by labor's top officialdom of its long-standing hostile stance toward undocumented immigrant labor in the United States. Rather than viewing undocumented immigrant workers as unfair competition, the … Continue reading Labor’s Turn Toward Immigrant Workers
AFL-CIO Backs Amnesty for Undocumented Workers
Give me your tired, your poor.... Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! -Inscribed on the Statue of Liberty By CHARLES WALKER In February, the AFL-CIO Executive Council unanimously adopted a resolution urging the end of sanctions against employers who hire undocumented workers, as mandated … Continue reading AFL-CIO Backs Amnesty for Undocumented Workers
You Can’t Kill Us All!
By JANE KELLY LONDON-In April, three nail bombs exploded here. Two went off in areas of Black communities-Brixton in South London, where about 40 percent of the population is Afro-Caribbean and Brick Lane in East London, home to the Bangladeshi community. Then April 30, another bomb was detonated in a gay bar in Old Compton … Continue reading You Can’t Kill Us All!
The Persecution of the Los Angeles Eight
In a Feb. 24 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court gave the American rulers a new license for political repression against foreign-born residents. By a vote of six to three, it rejected the appeal of eight supporters of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in Los Angeles who immigration officials have been trying … Continue reading The Persecution of the Los Angeles Eight