https://socialistaction.org/2017/06/13/no-sanctuary-for-immigrant-workers-in-chicago-and-los-angeles/
No sanctuary for immigrant workers in Chicago and Los Angeles
/ 21 hours ago
June 2017 Immigrants
By MARK UGOLINI
Democratic Party Mayors Eric Garcetti and Rahm Emanuel proudly declare
that they run “Sanctuary Cities.” They claim that Los Angeles and
Chicago offer “sanctuary” for immigrants; that local police will neither
ask about immigration status, nor will they detain immigrants for ICE
(Immigration and Customs Enforcement).
These reassurances are phony, designed to create a sense of security in
the largest immigrant communities in the country, and generate votes for
Democrats in coming elections.
Local police in both cities continue to play critical roles in the U.S.
deportation machine, an integral cog in a massive prison-industrial
complex. While many immigrants are deported, large numbers end up in
detainment centers and U.S. prisons. Police agencies partner with ICE in
both cities in the ever-expanding “war on crime” that has resulted in
mass incarceration of Black and Latino working-class youth as well as
deportations.
Of course, Chicago and Los Angeles are hardly unique among U.S. cities.
Throughout the country, fingerprints for people who are booked by police
departments—even for minor infractions—are routinely shared with federal
law-enforcement authorities, including ICE.
In April, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced continuation of Bill
Clinton’s famous “war on drugs,” a program that has increased the U.S.
prison population from 500,000 in 1980 to over 2.2 million in 2015.
Implemented by law-enforcement in all major U.S. cities, it targets
Black and Latino youth, strapping them with lengthy prison sentences of
10 or 20 years, and sometimes life without parole for first-time drug
offenses.
Recent immigration raids in LA and Chicago show that there is no
“sanctuary” from the long reach of the U.S. “justice” system and its
highly militarized policing apparatus. Almost 200 people were arrested
by ICE in cooperation with the LAPD in Southern California as part of a
five-day dragnet ending May 24. The vast majority of immigrants detained
were from Mexico, but others came from 10 other countries.
Since Trump took office, the Los Angeles enforcers made nearly 2300
arrests, roughly the same number as last year during the same time
frame, but 20 % less than 2015, when Obama’s deportations were in full
swing.
There was no “sanctuary” from these raids, which targeted immigrants
with “previous records,” all victims of the U.S. court system,
especially the working poor. They show up in a growing police database
with “offenses” and “violations” of all types, including drug
trafficking, and failure to provide “proper” immigration documents.
Local police systematically turn over arrest records and fingerprints to
ICE. Anyone with any kind of police record is a target for ICE and the
local cops.
The LAPD partnered with ICE in joint “task forces” that are supposed to
target gangs and other’s labeled as “criminals.” Many times the raids
become little more than an excuse for mass arrests; and those caught in
the dragnet are prime candidates for deportation—“criminal record” or not.
“By taking these individuals off the streets and removing them from the
country, we’re making our communities safer for everyone,” said the
local ICE officer. Safer? Really? The five-day roundup in Los Angeles
spread terror. Police and ICE teamed up to harass the community 24/7,
with raids to homes, workplaces, churches, and other places the
community gathers.
How about on Chicago’s Northwest side? In late March, when 53-year-old
Felix Torres, a permanent resident, was confronted by ICE agents at 6:20
a.m. at his front door, he was shot for no reason and later hospitalized
in serious condition. Of course, the enforcer that shot Torres said he
had a gun, but multiple family members verified that was a lie. He
didn’t even own one!
The agents then forced their way into his house and threatened family
members at gunpoint, including his one-year-old granddaughter. The
family was terrorized, unable to explain their situation before they
were forcefully ejected from their home. Finally, ICE and local
authorities admitted that they were at the wrong house and the Torres
family was not guilty of any immigration violations.
Acting as defenders of the immigrant community against Trump, Chicago’s
city government promotes itself as a “sanctuary city.” “You’re going to
be safe here,” says Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “You are going to be secure
here. You’re going to be supported here.”
What callous hypocrisy! As a Congressman, Emanuel supported the
Sensenbrenner bill, which proposed making “unauthorized presence” in the
U.S. a felony, and threatened to punish churches and other charities
that offer assistance to immigrants. As White House Chief of Staff,
Emanuel helped craft Obama’s immigration policy, which ended up
deporting nearly 4 million people. He also advised Obama against any
significant attempt to legalize undocumented workers.
In Chicago, Emanuel oversees the closure of inner city schools, a
decline in public services that immigrants and other workers rely on,
and a massive shift of wealth from poor and working-class neighborhoods
to wealthy ones.
Chicago’s immigrant communities have been on edge for months, fearful of
what’s coming next, aware of recent raids at O’Hare airport and
elsewhere. Rumors run rampant of suspected raids at various neighborhood
events and “El” transit stops.
Minority communities have years of experience with Chicago cops, and a
long memory. There is no lack of familiarity with the terror that police
unleash on a regular basis. Recorded is a long, ugly history of police
violence, including utilization of department facilities to torture
prisoners. Also common are cop killings, like the cold-blooded murder of
17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014. Videos recorded 16 shots from the
revolver of Officer Jason Van Dyke, pumped into McDonald’s body for no
reason. Van Dyke still walks the streets of Chicago a free man.
Raids like these take place amid a surge in such crackdowns since
President Donald Trump took office. He vows to deport as many as three
million so-called “undesirable” immigrants. This might not be a big
change from the Obama presidency, which deported over five million people.
Deportations in these numbers are not possible without a close working
relationship between ICE and the local cops. Even when local police are
not directly involved, they certainly don’t place any obstacles in the
way of federal officers looking to harass immigrants and the working poor.
Sanctuary cities can only offer a small degree of protection to
paperless immigrants. They certainly can’t prevent ICE agents from
hunting down workers at businesses, or forcing their way into people’s
homes. For these, all cops need is a warrant, which immigration judges
issue liberally as needed.
While U.S. capitalists have some interest in minimizing the flow of
immigrants into this country and expelling others, they have more
interest in terrorizing the immigrant population that remains here to
maximize their profits.
The bosses hope that a fearful and desperate community of the working
poor will submit to the lowest wages, longest hours, and the most
horrendous working conditions. This serves to drive down the wages and
working conditions of all other workers, funneling super profits into
the coffers of the super-rich.
For U.S. rulers this has the added benefit of dividing the working class
against itself. They have an interest in getting U.S.-born workers to
blame immigrants for their problems—rather than the bosses themselves,
who are the true source of the problem.
The capitalist Republican and Democratic parties promote the interests
of Wall Street and the banks. The Republicans say they will deport
immigrants and therefore protect native-born U.S. workers; the Democrats
create the illusion of “sanctuary” for immigrant workers. Both parties
lie, and pit workers against each other in the process.
The only winning strategy is one that unites all working people in
solidarity and common struggle, unleashing a powerful movement in the
streets and in the political arena as well.
.
.
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June 13, 2017 in Chicago, Immigration, Latino Civil Liberties.
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