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On 8/15/2018 11:58 AM, John Reimann via Marxism wrote:
Now, a wing of the Democrats is accepting the "abolish ICE" slogan, so DSA has taken up that slogan.
"Abolish ICE" does not come from "a wing of the Democrats." It comes from Mijente, which is composed of the leading people in the left wing of the immigrant rights movement nationwide and came together especially the around the "Not One More" protests against Deporter-In-Chief Barack Obama.
The "Abolish ICE" campaign was actually started in Spanish and had a more aggressive name: "Chinga la migra," which means "Fuck la migra" [the immigration cops]. I personally wasn't a big fan of the slogan although I understand perfectly where it is coming from.
ICE has been carrying out increasingly provocative actions, like kidnapping children and taking them from their parents at the border, arresting people to deport them when they have been called by US Citizenship and Immigration Services to bring proof of their marriage to a U.S. citizen so they can obtain legal status, arresting people in courthouses when they are the victims in domestic violence cases.
Ten days ago ICE hit a tiny town of 3,700 people called O'Neill in an isolated area of Nebraska, sending dozens of agents who arrested the bulk of the workers at the two main employers in town, a tomato growing hothouse and potato packing plant, more than 100 all told. In this case they also arrested management people for hiring the undocumented. I think that basically the town has been nuked. And it was the county seat.
Just last week a father was pulled over taking children to school, arrested and driven away. Another: a husband taking his pregnant wife to the hospital to deliver their baby.
That's why "Fuck la migra." The rage is such that I fully expect that one of these days some ICE agents will get themselves killed or provoke a riot. So the campaign in Spanish has chinga la migra as its slogan, in English, abolish ICE.
DSA did not adopt the "Abolish ICE" slogan to curry favor with Democrats. It did so as a result of the collaboration of DSA chapters and the National Office with the left wing of the immigrant rights movement. In fact, we had a national online session three or four weeks ago where the presenters were mostly not DSA people, but from Mijente, Southerners On New Ground (SONG), Cosecha, as well as, if I remember right, folks who explained about precautions and preparations in carrying out direct actions against the immigration cops. Although maybe that was at the second session, because we had two.
And, yes, a handful of Democrat Congresscritters are saying "Abolish ICE," arguing that the agency has become discredited and ineffective, but the demands of the left wing of the immigrant rights movement in this campaign are three: Abolish ICE, Decriminalize immigration, Dump Sessions.
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