Politics

[...]ICE is functioning as a de facto union-busting agency, like modern-day Pinkertons. Some of the protesters who have been out on the streets have been arrested and are facing federal charges, which has a chilling effect on everyone who wants to fight back against ICE and other militarized actions. By taking away some of the fighters, the administration is also taking away some of the best and most creative leaders. When people like Lelo are taken, it leaves a void that can take a long time to fill. Our union didn’t formally call for strikes or marches, but instead supported other organizations in those efforts. We supported rallies and protests outside the detention center, and talked to state labor counsel and other progressive unions. The local lawmakers and politicians who claim to be our allies were ineffective at getting him released or even slowing down detentions.

Farmworkers and people doing immigrant justice and worker organizing were frustrated at the movement, saying it wasn’t putting enough effort into the front lines and resistance on the streets. We realized the left-liberal alliance in Washington State, from civil rights law firms to grassroots immigrant groups, including our union, had gotten too reliant on looking to state agencies and our liberal governor and attorney general to protect us.

The professionalization of organizers is part of this problem. In our experience, nonprofit professionals who come from a more business- or capitalist-friendly environment don’t fully understand the needs of working people or our radical demands, like abolishing borders. But our union is led by workers; when we make demands, they reflect real-time needs and long-held desires. Milquetoast professionals focused on appeasing funders or meeting deliverables instead of organizing for power will not get us there. The professionalization of movements becomes almost a controlled opposition — it stops momentum and creates divisions, where we begin to shift the conversation from the movement to funding. In the movement community, careerism and fundraising have become the priority, not social change. Even as a strong grassroots organization committed to radical proposals, we fall into the trap of relying heavily on the political system that makes conditions hard. We need to recognize that our power is in the base and in our communities.

We knew we had to shift the terrain of the battlefield from statehouses and courthouses to the streets. Farmworkers want people to push back against ICE. It is a risk to come out and challenge ICE publicly, knowing that there is a high potential of being targeted, but at the same time we can’t let communities be terrorized. As one of the members of FUJ said of ICE, “We can’t give them the joy” of picking up people without resistance. There is only so much humiliation a community can take before fighting back. And when we win, it feeds others’ hope.