Standing Up for Immigrant and Refugee
Rights in
the United States
Students and Workers Oppose Escalation of Trump Administration Attacks
- Voice of Revolution -
Students at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore,
Maryland, organized a month-long sit-in
demanding the university end all contracts with Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) and use the funds instead for an
immigrant defence fund. They also made the connection between ICE
repression in their communities and a university plan to have a
private armed police force. As their chants brought out, No
Justice, No Peace, No Armed Police! No Justice, No Peace, No ICE
in Our Streets! Communities in Wisconsin, Arizona and
elsewhere are also taking their stand against detention centres
and for the rights of migrant families. As well, asylum officers --
civil servants who are distinct from ICE and Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) and not an armed force -- are speaking out against new
protocols that are forcing people with legitimate claims and
fears back to Mexico. Many May Day actions also stood up for
immigrant and refugee rights, including the right to driver's
licences and other basic requirements of daily life. All are
standing up for rights and for a rule of law that actually
functions to the benefit of the people.
Contending with this growing resistance, the Office of
the
President is acting to further attack rights and eliminate rule
of law. In yet another presidential memorandum, Trump is acting
to block asylum seekers from obtaining work permits. Given that
the processing of asylum claims commonly takes at least six
months and sometimes years, given the current backlog, this is an
effort to starve people out even though they have committed no
crime and have the right to asylum. He is also demanding that a
fee be charged simply to apply, which would turn a right
into a privilege for those with sufficient funds.
In addition, Trump is demanding that all cases be
adjudicated
within 180 days. This is yet another attack on immigration
judges, who are already under quotas. Judges have spoken out
against these measures, saying it is robbing them of their
discretion and authority as judges to decide cases. Forcing
faster trials also undermines the ability of the migrants
involved to secure lawyers and prepare their cases. Both these
demands, and the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) issued in January,
are
undermining those judges and asylum officers trained in refugee law
and acting to uphold it.
The memorandum directs Attorney General William P. Barr
and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan to propose
regulations within 90 days that would enforce these demands. The
memorandum states the goal is "to strengthen asylum procedures to
safeguard our system against rampant abuse of our asylum
process." There is no evidence any such abuse exists. It is the
case that a large number of families are being forced to leave
their homes as their countries are engulfed in anarchy and
violence as a result of U.S. interference of various kinds,
especially in Honduras and El Salvador, where most migrants are
currently coming from. Thus more than 103,000 migrants crossed
the U.S.-Mexico border last month, the highest level in more than
a decade. About 60 per cent were Central American parents
travelling with children who, upon arrival on U.S. soil, wherever
they crossed, have the right to asylum.
While there is no evidence the migrants are abusing the
system, something confirmed by judges and asylum officers, there
is abundant evidence that refugees are being unjustly
criminalized and terrorized by the government -- with families
being separated, mothers and children detained for long periods,
minors being kept in cages and denied medical care such that children
are dying while in the care of CBP and ICE and people with just
claims being sent back to Mexico.
Trump and the government clearly have no solutions to
the
problems the U.S. state has created, both at home and abroad.
They refuse to defend rights while systematically eliminating
rule of law. Whether dealing with immigrants and refugees, with
police killings and brutality, or with issues of war and peace,
such as plans to now militarily invade Venezuela, the action taken is
the use of police powers, of which presidential memorandums are one
example. As further evidence of this, Trump is sending
hundreds more troops to the border with Mexico and has extended
their deployment indefinitely. Clearly there is a connection
between imperialist war, potentially against Mexico as well as
Venezuela, and the repression of ICE and armed police at home. A
government with no solutions and which refuses to modernize its
institutions can only rely on use of force.
As the growing resistance indicates, defending the
rights of
all is crucial at this time. A common aim for these struggles,
both against U.S. wars and interference and for rights, is an
anti-war government. An anti-war government upholds the rights of
all at home and abroad, brings all U.S. troops home, and stands
against war, interference and the genocide of police and military
killings. An anti-war government recognizes that democracy today
requires the people themselves to be empowered to decide these
vital issues and ensure that positive relations are developed
that serve the interests of the people at home and abroad.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 17 - May 11, 2019
Article Link:
Standing Up for Immigrant and Refugee
Rights in
the United States: Students and Workers Oppose Escalation of Trump Administration Attacks - Voice of Revolution
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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