Matt W, Chicago
The Trump administration has chosen Los Angeles for a showdown with street opposition and deportation resistance. He has sent in 700 Marines and commandeered the California National Guard in an unprecedented show of force. He has considered invoking the Insurrection Act, and wants to set authoritarian precedence to declare any oppositional movements to be “rebellions” or “insurrections” against the US Government.
ICE Raids
Raids in LA occurred after a visit to ICE by Stephen Miller, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, demanding ICE “just go out there and arrest illegal aliens.” The protests began against ICE’s attempt to round up immigrant workers looking for jobs outside of a Home Depot. Such gatherings are a normal part of daily life in major US cities. This was a brazen attack against workers simply looking for work.
Since 2017, Trump and his authoritarian spirit have been met consistently by oppositional movements on the streets. Thus far, the protests lack the size and strength of those of his first term. But large protests took place in April, and another round had already been planned for this Saturday with the slogan “No Kings”.
Trump’s rapid escalation is an attempt to revive his political momentum at a time when his agenda is faltering. His “Big Beautiful Bill” is grinding through Congress, sparking internal conflict on the right. DOGE did not deliver as promised and led to an acrimonious split with Elon Musk. His “dozens” of tariff “deals” have not materialized. Deportation numbers are lagging behind Trump’s promises.
Trump’s militarized response to protest is an attempt to intimidate and pre-empt a serious challenge from the streets. He is seizing an opportunity to assert strength and crush enemies. He wants to provoke the anti-Trump movement in order to smother it in the cradle. He regrets that he did not repress Black Lives Matter more severely in 2020.
Protests Spreading
But repression can backfire. Pro-immigrant protests are spreading across the country, and have invigorated the existing movement. The movement’s task is not to allow Trump to strike a successful blow. We need to organize, mobilize, and fight back. There is a danger in allowing ourselves to be provoked by Trump into excesses of rage or destruction that were not effective in 2020. The power of the masses is our greatest weapon.
Trump wants to consolidate support for his anti-immigration and anti-“crime” platform, and to trap the Democrats in their own contradictions. The Democratic Party has spent the last five years trying to distance itself from the concessions it made to the Black Lives Matter movement. They want to insulate themselves from their activist base. Another mass, progressive street movement would complicate their efforts to move right in the 2028 elections.
It is also a clear authoritarian attempt by Trump to expand his powers, sparking a crisis within the ruling class. The escalation from ICE, to the National Guard, to the Marines is unprecedented. Trump’s former Defense Secretary, “Mad Dog” Mattis, issued a remarkable letter denouncing these moves. Regardless of the outcome of California Governor Gavin Newsom’s lawsuit against the administration, Trump has de facto expanded the martial powers of the Presidency vis-a-vis the states, declaring protests against ICE and deportation to be “rebellion” against the government. Invocation of the Insurrection Act would set an extremely dangerous, anti-democratic precedent for the Presidency.
Trump’s immigration policies poll at 54% in favor. It’s not yet clear how military escalation is affecting public opinion, but it will embolden the far right and the fascist thugs. The author of this article witnessed two armed vigilantes standing on the side of Tuesday’s protest in Chicago. A car sped through the protests, possibly injuring protestors.
LA’s Solidarity Leads the Way
Action is needed to shut down Trump’s attacks on working people’s rights and authoritarian drive, building on the current momentum. Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and union leaders like Shawn Fain have been notably absent. Sanders made a mild statement against authoritarianism but has made no call to action. Sanders is right that Trump is a threat to democracy, making it all the more baffling that he is doing so little to concretely fight back. In April, Sanders and AOC held their largest rally ever with 36,000 estimated in attendance in LA! He could use his uniquely high profile position to make calls for the movement to get seriously organized – its key limitation – and prepare to disrupt business as usual like the historic Civil Rights movement that Sanders invokes.
The union leaders have been weaker still. UAW President Shawn Fain is silent. The Service Employees International Union has made statements and has organized some small rallies against the arrest of SEIU leader David Huerta, who still faces up to 6 years in prison. But these rallies do not come anywhere near the scale of mass action required. The labor leadership should be organizing major strikes across the country, defying any attempt to label these actions “illegal!”
All forces need to help organize the largest possible “No Kings” protests on Saturday. Labor contingents should be organized, and union locals should mobilize their members and organize to push the unions towards strike action. The Left and the labor movement need to organize all out against deportations and Trump’s authoritarian attacks!
Leadership
The Democrats will attempt to head these mass protests. The brave and militant LA protests have slowed down ICE and inspired national action. They’ve also moved Gavin Newsom off the right-wing podcast circuit into a high profile confrontation with Trump – daring Trump to follow through with threats to arrest him. There are millions with illusions in the Democrats political shape-shifting — but while Newsom gets positive headlines, LA’s Democratic Mayor imposes a curfew on protestors. Nevertheless, the Left, while being clear that the Democratic Party is in the end an enemy of the movements, should welcome every rift inside the establishment and should try to take advantage of it in order to build the fight. Even Republican representatives could be pressured by mass protests to break with Trump’s authoritarianism in some cases. We need to build the widest street action possible against Trump now! At the same time, it is crucially important not to let the Democratic Party establishment derail the movement into a “vote Democrat” dead-end, which is what got us Trump in the first place.
The Left should spearhead efforts to build mass unity and to organize, march, and disrupt. But this fight is only just beginning. The capitalist crisis, churning consistently since 2008, will continue to fuel the Right. The Trumpist Right will only be defeated if we can build independent working-class politics that contests the streets, elections, and workplaces with powerful organizations out of the control of the rich. The Left must seize this opportunity to regroup and rebuild, and raise a fighting anti-capitalist banner to rally the many workers and oppressed people who want a radical fight against the system.
