The threat is looming over all of Portland’s working people. Troops may be sent here any day now, as part of the assault on the basic rights of us all. Spearheaded by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), the Border Patrol and other federal agencies kidnapping our immigrant fellow workers, the aim is to terrorize and silence the whole working class into submission. Donald Trump has declared war on Portland, but protests just seeking to mock the threat won’t stop it.

Right now, a flurry of judges’ rulings keeps everyone guessing. But one thing is certain: we can put no faith in the capitalist courts or politicians of either big-business party. Instead, Portland’s working class must bring out its own power – we need to use it now, or the hard-won rights of the whole working class will go down the drain. As federal agents seek to terrorize immigrants and the whole of the population, the Portland Labor Committee to Defend Immigrants calls on workers throughout the city to organize now for bringing out labor’s power to say All out for FEDS OUT!

The ICE building on SW Macadam Boulevard has seen busloads of detained immigrants arriving daily and stormtrooper-style units “guarding” the facility with rapid-fire pepper ball launchers and helicopter surveillance. We all know White House claims of “chaos in Portland” are a ridiculous pretext for turning the city into a “training ground” for U.S. military forces to trample the most fundamental rights. We’re already seeing that in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Chicago.

Farce, frog suits and pajama parties outside the ICE jail won’t deter the sinister forces determined to intimidate us and destroy our communities. Against Trump’s power play, we need to organize in our unions, our workplaces, our schools, hospitals, working-class and immigrant communities for the mass mobilization of working-class power. And we need to do this now.

Hundreds of National Guard troops were sent to Chicago, but have been blocked by a temporary restraining order from being active on the ground. But meanwhile, masked federal agents have stepped up their rampaging through communities, carrying out gestapo-style immigration raids, ripping up families and workplaces. But people are fighting back, as thousands have marched against the feds’ police-state repression and community members are standing up to the ICE and Border Patrol thugs trying to arrest their neighbors.

In New York last week, feds’ kidnap squads targeted African and Asian street vendors while carrying out blatant racial profiling of passers-by. Against this, we keep seeing the courage of everyday people who seek to defend those targeted by ICE. This is inspiring, and such efforts are very important.

The politicians are relying on the courts, but any temporary reprieves will likely soon be overturned by Trump’s pliant Supreme Court. The power to actually turn back the hideous deportation machine and the mounting attacks on our rights is that of the multiracial working class whose massive power comes from this simple fact: everything runs on our labor.

The time is now for the workers of Portland to organize and use our power, saying: All out for FEDS OUT!

For more information, contact the Portland Labor Committee to Defend Immigrants

lcdipdx@gmail.com https://lcdipdx.neocities.org/ Labor donated