The Murderers Who Run This System Have No Answer to the Crisis Around Immigration Other Than Demonizing, Criminalizing and Deporting Immigrants, and Militarization of the Border…
But The Revolution Does!
| Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
At least 10,000…
That is the number of people estimated to have died attempting to cross the U.S. border with Mexico in the past 25 years.1 Some have been killed with bullets, but most have been killed by the militarization of the border by the U.S. The barriers erected by this government and the brutal cops they have placed on the border force the immigrants who are desperately seeking work or fleeing for survival to cross the border in the dangerous deserts. There, they die horrible deaths from starvation or dehydration, their bodies picked apart by animals, their bones left unclaimed and unknown. (And if you think this isn’t intentional, some people who wanted to aid the immigrants by putting bottles of water and food in the desert were recently found guilty of “littering” and now face six months in prison!)
The blood and bones of each of these precious lives are on the hands of both political parties and this whole capitalist-imperialist system they serve and represent. This border was established in the first place by an unprovoked war by the U.S. to seize a large part of what had been Mexico.2 The conditions which drive immigrants to risk their lives to find work or refuge in the U.S. were created by the U.S. itself, through its economic plunder of these countries, its political domination of them, and—whenever these imperialists deemed it “necessary”—its CIA coups and outright military invasions. The crimes on the border of the past 25 years were planned and carried out—and were knowingly continued long after their murderous consequences were made clear—by both Republican and Democratic administrations, voted for by both Republican and Democratic senators and congresspeople (yes, including Obama and Hillary Clinton).3
None of the pigs who rule, or want to rule, this hellish system have any answers to the problems their system has created. Not Trump, with his fascist and overtly genocidal program; not the Democrats, with their petty dissents and amendments; and no, not Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who shouts “Abolish ICE” but then whispers that, of course, she favors a “secure border” and keeping out undocumented immigrants. No answers except more domination of these countries and more militarization of the border.
But the Revolution does.
After the revolution comes to power, after having mobilized millions to defeat the forces of repression of the ruling class and dismantle their system, it will change everything—and this will certainly include relations with other countries, the borders, and immigration. The Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America (authored by Bob Avakian, and adopted by the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party) sets forth a whole vision and blueprint for a new society on the road to eliminating all forms of exploitation and oppression, and all forms of social antagonism among the people. What follows are its provisions directly relevant to today’s crisis.
1. According to the immigrant rights group Border Angels, since 1994, “an estimated 10,000 people have lost their lives during the journey due to extreme weather, lack of food and water, and the overall perilous nature of the trip.” And the group No More Deaths notes that many thousands of immigrants who dies crossing the border may never be accounted for. [back]
2. See “American Crime Case #83: The U.S.-Mexico War of 1846-1848” at revcom.us. [back]
3. See “How the Democratic Party Has Persecuted and Deported Millions—and Murdered Thousands—with Their ‘Moral’ Immigration Policy” at revcom.us. [back]
Federal Court Convicts Four People—for Trying to Save the Lives of Immigrants
On January 18, four women working with the group No More Deaths were convicted of misdemeanor charges stemming from their arrests in 2017 for leaving water and food for immigrants making the crossing through the dangerous deserts of the Arizona-Mexico border. For years, volunteers with No More Deaths have placed food and water in remote areas along the border regularly used by immigrants, and these supplies can mean the difference between life and death. At the same time, Border Patrol agents have been deliberately destroying these lifesaving supplies. A longtime volunteer with No More Deaths said, “This verdict challenges not only No More Deaths volunteers, but people of conscience throughout the country. If giving water to someone dying of thirst is illegal, what humanity is left in the law of this country?”
“Border Coffins” by Tijuana-area artist Alberto Caro powerfully memorializes those who have died on the northward journey by fixing a series of brightly painted coffins to the Mexican side of the border. Each coffin represents a year and the number of dead. Photo: AP
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