This move aims not only to help the bosses control the flow of immigration in order to maintain a permanent pool of superexploited labor—whether as undocumented workers or as “guest” workers. It is also another step in the U.S. rulers’ efforts to gain increased acceptance for the domestic use of the military, whose target will be working-class struggles.

In the first year, the planned three-week rotation of forces on the border will involve a total of 100,000 soldiers—one-fourth of the U.S. National Guard. Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld called this operation “useful, real-life training.” And from the perspective of the class he represents, it certainly is.

Above all, it is “training” for the U.S. population—in the name of “homeland defense” and the so-called war on terror—to accept a stepped-up military presence in civilian life. And it is training for the military to develop its domestic command structures and capabilities to be used as needed against the future struggles of workers and farmers at home.

This course was begun by the Clinton administration, which set up what became the Northern Command, one of the nine “warfighting” command structures that make up the Pentagon’s Unified Combat Command structure. It is the first time a U.S. armed forces command has been charged with carrying out military operations inside the country.

“Homeland defense” is part of the U.S. capitalist rulers’ response to the growing world disorder of their system, which drives the bosses to brutally increase production speed, push down wages, disregard job safety, and trample on the dignity of working people. They are preparing for the future use of their military in anticipation of the working-class resistance they know these conditions will produce.

Without a steady inflow of immigrant workers, the U.S. bosses know they would face deep economic problems. They have no intention of getting rid of a pool of millions of workers with second-class status. The existing laws and current immigration “reform” bills are designed to perpetuate this setup through a combination of tightening the border, setting up a “guest worker” program, and legalizing the status of some of the 12 million undocumented workers.

The labor movement should call for an end to the immigration raids and oppose the border deployment of the National Guard. It should champion the call—heard resoundingly in the recent nationwide mass mobilizations—for immediate and unconditional residency for all undocumented immigrants.
 
 
Related articles:
N.Y. march calls for legalization of immigrants
Senate backs use of Nat’l Guard on Mexico border  
 
 
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