Irina Park
Three weeks ago, 238 Venezuelan migrants were flown from Texas to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador by the Trump administration, claiming they are terrorists and gang members. An overwhelming majority, however, have no criminal conviction or criminal charges, according to an investigation by CBS, and were fleeing conditions created by US imperialism.
On April 2, federal immigration agents arrested 37 workers in Washington during a roofing firm raid. ICE Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection arrived at Mt. Baker’s Roofing warehouse wielding their guns, corralling roofing workers into a room, and taking everyone who was undocumented in two busses, according to a worker who spoke to Cascadia Daily News.
On April 7, a mother and her three children were released from federal custody after being detained on March 27 at a dairy farm in Sackets Harbor, New York. Immigration officials arrived at the dairy to arrest a South African man as well as several others “deemed to be” in the US illegally, according to Thomas D. Homan, acting director of ICE. After a thousand people rallied for the family demanding their release, the government returned them.
Such actions aim to terrorize the immigrant and migrant sections of the working class, who are already facing lower wages, longer hours, and a faster working pace, exposing them to worsening conditions.
In one high-profile case, the Trump administration filed that it had mistakenly deported Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Maryland sheet metal worker and father of three with protected legal status, to El Salvador. Abrego Garcia was pulled over on March 12 and taken to jail where he was questioned about the MS-13 gang and then sent to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) three days later on a deportation flight, even though an immigration judge determined he could remain in the United States. On April 7, Chief Justice John G. Roberts temporarily blocked a judge’s order directing the US to return Abrego Garcia. On April 10, the Supreme Court instructed the government to return Abrego Garcia, stopping short of an order. During an April 14 Oval Office meeting with Trump, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele stated that he will not return Abrego Garcia.
The terror extends to the means of confinement as well. On April 4, a Chinese woman detained by US border officers died by suicide while being held in Arizona. The woman was detained for overstaying her visitor visa. Initial reports raised concerns that welfare checks were not properly conducted and could not be verified that they ever occurred.
By scapegoating the deepest and most profound sections of the US proletariat, the ruling class deflects blame for economic crisis, low wages, and deteriorating material conditions away from the imperialist ruling class. However, the efforts to terrorize working people and pit them against each other have never and will never prevent them from rebelling.
Photo: Sheet Metal Workers International Association union members rally for Abrego Garcia. Photo retrieved from the union.
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