On Tuesday March 4, activists and community members of the People’s Assembly (Asamblea Popular Detroit) organized a march to demand immigrant rights and an end to ICE raids. This march coincided with a walkout in defense of immigrants at several Detroit high schools.
Many schools joined the protest. However the majority that joined were from Western International High School which has a large immigrant population. Many expressed fear that they or their families might be deported. One student said how fear of deportations caused her to have trouble studying.
Another student who has 11 siblings and multiple family members who are undocumented said that her family had worked extremely hard in order to attend Western but also to establish a more sustainable life in the United States.
During a speech another student expressed how hard her dad works in construction to provide for her. It’s important to remember that the efforts of the capitalist class sow division amongst the working class through racist, sexist, and chauvinist propaganda.
The comments of these young people highlight the reality that many immigrants are workers, and as workers share common goals and aspirations with the rest of the U.S. working class. They also have common enemies: the bosses who live off of exploiting workers as much as they can.
The rally had powerful speeches that denounced Trump’s racist attacks on immigrants, and pushed back against the racist lie that portrays undocumented immigrants as criminals. Unfortunately, the rally also had speeches that promoted reformist strategies that rely on convincing those in power to defend immigrant rights instead of relying on the power of the movement itself to win its demands.
More than one speaker told the crowd to call their senators as a way to fight against Trump’s attack on immigrants. The issue with this strategy is that both Michigan senators — who are Democrats — voted for the “Laken Riley Act,” an anti-immigrant rights bill that received bipartisan support in congress. This is further proof of why the immigrant rights movement cannot rely on the Democratic Party to defend and advance immigrant rights.
Despite the shortcomings of the political messaging of the march, the fact that almost 200 students joined on a cold rainy day shows that there is a growing movement taking shape. It showed the potential the movement has of building a united front to confront ICE and Trump’s chauvinist and reactionary agenda.
To build off of the power of the rally, the movement has to fight for a united struggle that centers the power of the immigrant community itself, and fights for unity of the working class and other oppressed communities and movements — like the labor movement, Black Lives Matter, and the movement in solidarity with Palestine — on a class independent basis that rejects a reliance on the Democratic Party and conservative messaging that seeks to prove how “assimilated” and “American” we all are. We need a socialist, anti-capitalist, and anti-imperialist movement that fights for the rights of the whole working class and oppressed, no matter where you come from, or how “American” you are.