Stephen Miller, Homeland Security Advisor to the Trump Administration helped the government in preparing the notorious travel ban during the first Trump presidency in 2017. An executive order signed on January 27, 2017, prevented citizens from 7 majority Muslim countries from entering the US for 90 days separating families and causing enormous distress. In 2023 speaking to the New York Times, as Trump's advisor on immigration, he said “Any activists who doubt President Trump’s resolve in the slightest are making a drastic error: Trump will unleash the vast arsenal of federal powers to implement the most spectacular migration crackdown.”

Miller is only one of the powerful representatives of the vicious anti-immigrant, anti-poor, most reactionary wing of the ruling class who are in power in the US. True to those words he uttered, the Trump administration since being elected to power has been wreaking havoc on hard working immigrants across the country. Again in June this year another travel ban has gone into effect which will affect 12 countries, at least half of those with a majority Muslim population.

Workers Creating Wealth, Facing Terror

On June 6 in Los Angeles (LA), California, the US Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sent several agents to carry out raids in the Fashion District where largely immigrant workers from Guatemala, Mexico, Ukraine, Spain and China work long hours and often for less than minimum wages. LA is the hub of the garment manufacturing centers in the US. Center for Public Integrity reports that 42% of garment workers in the US are immigrants.  

A total of 2 dozen workers have been arrested from Ambiance Apparel Warehouse. The Director of Garment Workers Center in LA, Marissa Nuncio in an interview with In These Times said "… what we know to be commonplace in the garment industry is that when a worker complains about their rights, their immigration status is used against them ..." 

More than 300 immigrants in California without documents have been arrested in the last few days and many of them have already been deported. Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a spokesman for CHIRLA, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights speaking to the Washington Post said "… their emergency line had received more than 120 calls from distraught families ..."

Huge protests broke out after the raid on June 6, thousands of people in civil rights organizations, unions, immigrant rights groups, and concerned citizens came out in support of the detained immigrants. Trump called in the National Guard to "protect" LA from "rioters" using highly inflammatory language straight out of an authoritarian ruler's handbook. National guard is an active militia in the US under the control of both the government in the state (which in California is presently controlled by Democrats) and the federal government. This has led to the Democratic government in California filing cases against the federal government. In addition 700 Marines were deployed to put down the protests, this division of Marines has been deployed in foreign countries, like Afghanistan, where American imperialism has carried out huge crimes against humanity for nearly half a century.

David Huerta, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), California, which represents janitors, security officers and other workers who was observing the raids was arrested, pushed to the ground and hospitalized for injuries. After many union members and other activists condemned and protested over his arrest, he was released. He said" “Hard-working people, and members of our family and our community, are being treated like criminals....he said in Spanish, ...“es de nuestra comunidad, pero es de todos.” (This fight is our community’s, but it belongs to everyone)

In a Democracy Now show, Pablo Alvarado, co-executive director of National Day Labor Organizing Network spoke about the anguish of immigrant workers who go for work in the morning and don't know if they will return in the evening. He talked about the 40% immigrant workforce in the US construction industry, 50 % of these workers are undocumented and are indispensable for the economy. In California, there were devastating wildfires in January 2025, the immigrant workers worked nonstop to remove the debris and rebuild homes. He talked about the protests that have broken out in LA and in other cities, which have been supported by many communities in solidarity with the detained immigrants. More than 500 people have been arrested since the raids began.
On June 14, 2025, Trump celebrated his 79th birthday coinciding with a military parade in Washington, DC, which was also the 250th anniversary of the US army. This extravaganza reminiscent of celebrations for monarchs cost close to 45 million dollars.  On the same day, many coalitions in the country organized "No Kings" protests including in LA.  Millions of people in the US marched to protest the attacks against people by Trump and his cabal. People came out to protest the cuts to health care, housing, food assistance programs, they were joined by tens of thousands in the immigrant rights movement. We will, "Crush ICE" was a popular slogan.

Students - Challenging Genocide, Facings Abductions

Mahmoud Khalil, a former student activist from Colombia University in New York, was arrested by ICE in March this year, his case has attracted world wide attention. He was a prominent organizer of protests in 2024 against the ongoing genocide of Palestinians by Israel supported by the US. government. Unlike the thousands of poor immigrants without formal documents, Khalil is a green card holder - "legal resident" and is married to an American citizen. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)  said of his arrest "...obviously intended to intimidate and chill speech....the federal government is claiming the authority to deport people with deep ties to the US and revoke their green cards for advocating positions that the government opposes.."

Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish student in Boston was abducted in broad daylight by masked ICE agents, also in March 2025 and spent 45 days in an ICE detention facility before being released in May.  Along with 4 others she wrote an opinion piece for Tufts University newspaper where she was a student. The article asked the University to acknowledge Israel's genocide of Palestinians and also demanded that Tufts University divest from companies with ties to Israel. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, recently bragged that more than 300 pro-Palestinian supporters student visas were revoked.

Politically active immigrant students opposing the genocide of Palestinians and students from immigrant communities largely from Mexico, Central and South America are being targeted by ICE.  Mafia style kidnappings of young school students who have been in this country since childhood have taken place. 18 year old Marcelo Gomes da Silva who is of Brazilian ethnicity going for his volley ball practice was arrested by ICE officials near Boston in June. He was then detained in a facility and shackled in humiliating conditions, he had to be released after 6 days after huge protests by students and community members.
Detention Centers - Disease and Deaths

Privatization of prisons expanded from policies instituted in the 1980s. About 8% of the incarcerated population in the US - nearly 100,000 people are in private prisons. GEO group and CoreCivic are two prominent billion dollar companies which are profiting enormously from contracts with ICE. GEO group's stock increased by 41% a day after Trump returned to power. The CEO of GEO shamelessly called it an "unprecedented opportunity ... and “this is truly one of the most exciting periods in my career with the company.”, he was referring to holding poor immigrants in its detention centers prior to their deportation. The capitalist class has become more brazen in its speech and terror tactics under the present administration.

The National Public Radio has been receiving calls since May about overcrowded detention centers, with lack of food, immigrants sleeping on the floors and not receiving medical treatment. ACLU released a study in 2024 which looked at 52 deaths from 2017-2021 in ICE detention centers, it concluded that 95% of those deaths were preventable.

US imperialism has worked very well with dictators for more than a century. El Salvador's self described "coolest dictator" Nayib Bukele and Trump negotiated a multi-million dollar deal a few months ago for El Salvador to receive prisoners/ undocumented immigrants from the US to its notorious prison called CECOT. Under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, 252 Venezuelan men were forcibly removed and sent to CECOT. The authorities in the US claimed that these men belonged to a dangerous gang with out providing evidence. The CATO institute has reviewed the records of 174 deportees, 42 have no criminal record. In addition 50 of the so called 'illegal immigrants" had entered legally.

Opposing War at Home and Abroad

On June 14, several organizations in the country including some prominent ones like 505051 which are affiliated with the Democratic party organized nation wide protests. They went under the name "No Kings Protests" and coincided with Trump's birthday celebrations and the military parade in the capital Washington, DC. There were rallies and actions in 2100 cities and towns with more than 5 million people participating. In LA, where the immigrant raids occurred, in the face of of severe repression and militarization 200,000 people marched. While the Democratic party and its organizations largely focused on Trump's cuts to health care, food assistance programs and other anti people measures, there were socialist parties, anti imperialist/pro-Palestinian organizations, union members, immigrant rights groups, LGBTQI+ organizations who came out in large numbers to oppose the cuts to the working class while simultaneously condemning the ongoing genocide of people in Gaza and the war against immigrants at home. Some of the eye catching signs in addition to CRUSH ICE were "No one is Illegal on Stolen Land" and "Immigrant Rights are Workers Rights".

Andreina Chavez Alava writes very well in the website Venezuelanalysis, "Venezuelan migration has never been truly a choice, it is a question of survival ... particularly since 2017, when the US imposed crippling sanctions on the oil industry, strangling the country’s main source of income"..."It’s time to decolonize the narrative surrounding immigrants in the US. We must advocate for their (immigrants) rights without framing their worth solely around how “essential” or profitable their labor is to capitalism. They have rights simply because they are human beings." 

Lenin, in 1913, on the subject of migration of workers to advanced industrial countries wrote,  "America heads the list of countries which import workers … the bourgeoisie incites the workers of one nation against those of another … to keep them disunited.” 
The significant number of strong protests against raids and detentions of immigrants and students are indeed very encouraging signs. Ron Gochez, a community organizer with Union Del Barrio who led some of the protests in LA, on Democracy Now show, said, "If we organize ourselves, if we resist, we can defend our communities from ICE terror, from the Border Patrol or from any federal agency …"

(Mahmoud Khalil was released on 20 June 2025 by a federal judge from ICE custody in Jena, Louisiana. — Ed/-)