Trump is responding to Minnesota’s wave of struggle against mass deportations by threating to invoke the Insurrection Act. If he does so, it will be a case of lifting a rock only to drop it on one’s own feet.
In December the Department of Homeland Security announced the Twin Cities would be the focus of “Operation Metro Surge,” accompanied by the claim it would be the largest anti-immigrant action in U.S. history.
The response was mass protests and confrontations with ICE agents on the ground. On January 7 Renee Good was murdered by ICE and the result was a storm of struggle, including a 100,000-person march in Minneapolis and demonstrations all over the U.S.
Then on January 14, ICE shot a man from Venezuela in North Minneapolis. Protesters converged on the scene. ICE fled, leaving behind some of their vehicles, which were then destroyed.
So, Trump is threatening the Insurrection Act to scare people. That won’t work. When Trump sent troops to LA this past summer it was like pouring gasoline on a fire. The fight against mass deportations did not stop – it intensified. Same thing in Chicago and Washington DC: Trump threatens or deploys troops, and people still fill the streets. The same thing will happen if Trump uses the Insurrection Act.
There are some people who say that mass, militant resistance to deportations is a provocation that allows additional political space for Trump to employ repression. This is exactly wrong. Militant struggle is how to defeat ICE and how we defeat the entirety of Trump’s agenda.
It is no exaggeration to say that millions of people have taken to the street since Trump took office. We can be certain that millions more will join us. We will unite the many and defeat the few!
Stop mass deportations!
Stop ICE!
We demand legalization for all!
