In the last few weeks, immigrants and their supporters have launched a nationwide wave of resistance against the repressive attacks on them. Last issue we covered both the massive march in Chicago on March 10 and militant streetcorner, grassroots resistance in L.A. In this issue we bring you news of a demonstration of 30,000 to 40,000 in DC and an anti-war march that went from Tijuana to L.A., crossing more borders than just the physical one in doing so. On this page we bring you excerpts from a statement by the Chicago branch of the RCP which puts the struggle in the larger context of revolution, communism, as well as a basic and brief analysis of what is up with the anti-immigrant bills.

Nationwide Upsurge of Resistance

Immigrants Stand Up and Say NO to Repression
Revolution #040, March 26, 2006, posted at revcom.us

In the last few weeks, immigrants and their supporters have launched a nationwide wave of resistance against the repressive attacks on them. Last issue we covered both the massive march in Chicago on March 10 and militant streetcorner, grassroots resistance in L.A. In this issue we bring you news of a demonstration of 30,000 to 40,000 in DC and an anti-war march that went from Tijuana to L.A., crossing more borders than just the physical one in doing so. On this page we bring you excerpts from a statement by the Chicago branch of the RCP which puts the struggle in the larger context of revolution, communism, as well as a basic and brief analysis of what is up with the anti-immigrant bills.

The Resistance of the Immigrants – and the Future We Must Fight For
The following are excerpts from a statement released by the Chicago branch of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA.

On Friday, March 10 in mid-day, the streets of the Chicago downtown loop swelled with a tremendous outpouring for immigrant rights, dignity, and opposition to the anti-immigrant bill HR4437 currently pending in Congress. Reliable estimates said the march called by a large coalition easily topped 300,000. Overwhelmingly Latino, it was joined by small yet significant groupings of other immigrants, as well as backed by humanitarian forces: immigrant rights groups, priests, union members, and others. The Chicago Sun Times described it as the largest demonstration in defense of immigrant rights in U.S. history.

In the wake of such a massive outpouring, it was an outrage that this protest was mainly NOT covered in the national or major English language media outside of Chicago.

It was a joyful sight, wave upon wave of determined people who through their sheer numbers brought the downtown of the 3rd largest city in the U.S. to a standstill. People who daily live with the constant terror of deportation proudly stepped out of the shadows. The RCP salutes all those who demonstrated. The city looked on in amazement. Protestors emptied many factories, restaurants, stores, shops across the region and in so doing demonstrated the extent to which U.S. society depends on their labor.

This kind of massive refusal to go along that was seen in the streets in Chicago on that day is exactly the kind of response that is needed not only to this bill but also to all the other monstrous crimes being carried out by the U.S. government. The current treatment of immigrants is already a nightmare. These draconian new laws, or any variation of them, must be stopped by people of all nationalities together with immigrants.

For those who don’t know, HR4437, if passed, would make all undocumented immigrants felons, subject to immediate arrest and deportation. People who provide any help or services—such as priests, doctors, landlords, family members who are citizens—could also be charged with felony crimes. Families could be split up and parents of children who are citizens could be deported. The bill also calls for building additional border fences and paying bounties to local police who hunt undocumented immigrants and turn them over to the INS.

WHO ARE THE REAL CRIMINALS AND PARASITES?
The everyday normal workings of imperialism (the effect of imperialist globalization) force people to migrate. Every year, worsening economic conditions compel millions to migrate in search of jobs. Today more than 200 million people are crossing national borders as migrant workers. The U.S. has perpetrated economic destruction on Mexico through free trade agreements. In the last 10 years, this has caused almost two million Mexican farmers to lose their jobs and forced ten times that many deeper into poverty. Major imperialist countries like the U.S. grow wealthy and powerful on the backs of oppressed nations.

Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP), captured the reality of the American nightmare for immigrants who are forced to come to the U.S. in the following from an article run in Revolution newspaper: “Immigrants will come to this country, looking for work. And if they make it here past the border patrol and all that—and if they aren’t thrown in jail and aren’t killed by the state or by vigilantes, and don’t die from starvation or exposure to the heat in the desert or the cold in the mountains—they’ll be forced to live together in sub-standard housing. They’ll be told that it’s their own fault, that they’re law breakers, that they’re parasites—get that!—that they are parasites on society while the society, and particularly the bourgeoisie, is parasitically living off of them. And throughout the country, in the farm fields, in the inner cities, even in suburbs and small towns, immigrants are picking crops, making beds, cleaning up after other people, doing janitorial work and being viciously exploited and disrespected.