Vol. 74/No. 18      May 10, 2010

The Arizona law is an attack on the entire working class, giving the cops another tool to selectively intimidate working people. It will mean more arrests and deportations and more harassment of workers—both U.S.- and foreign-born.

Some Democratic Party politicians have likened the bill to measures imposed under Nazi rule in Germany. These exaggerations are designed to let the federal government, which is leading the assault on immigrant workers, off the hook.

Last year Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carried out the highest number of deportations in U.S. history. It has conducted massive sweeps for alleged “criminal” immigrants, and has increased the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border. The administration has made it harder for workers without papers to get jobs.

The charge of Nazism is also aimed at winning support for “lesser evil” anti-immigrant laws. President Barack Obama calls the Arizona law “misguided” and says it shows the need for Congress to quickly pass immigration “reform” legislation. The reform Obama favors is one being discussed by senators Charles Schumer and Lindsay Graham. It would force all workers to carry an ID card, beef up immigration cops on the U.S.-Mexico border, and make undocumented workers pay fines and go through demeaning background checks before even being considered for residence papers some time in the future. It represents no step forward for workers.

We will see more anti-immigrant measures as the economic crisis continues and the capitalist class seeks to deepen divisions among working people. Their central goal is to maintain a superexploited layer of intimidated workers who will work for less and boost the profits of capitalist factory and farm owners.

Defending immigrant workers is vital to unifying the U.S. working class. Immigrant workers, with their experience and traditions of struggle, help internationalize and politically strengthen our class, putting us in a better position to build labor unions and forge a movement that can take political power out of the hands of the rich.

The answer to the antiworker, anti-immigrant course of the Arizona state government is to fight for unconditional legalization for all undocumented workers now. Workers should be able to move freely across borders to work wherever they choose without fear of harassment, arrest, or deportation for lack of “proper” papers.

Overturn Arizona law 1070! Stop immigration raids and deportations now! Legalize undocumented workers!
 
 
Related articles:
Arizona protests hit anti-immigrant law
High school students lead walkouts
‘Guest worker’ program bolsters capitalist profits  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home