“Our offshore concentration camps, for now, are in El Salvador and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. But don’t expect them to remain there. Once they are normalized, not only for U.S. deported immigrants and residents, but U.S. citizens, they will migrate to the homeland. It is a very short leap from our prisons, already rife with abuse and mistreatment, to concentration camps, where those held are cut off from the outside world—’disappeared’—denied legal representation and crammed into fetid, overcrowded cells.”
—Award-winning journalist Chris Hedges
In Fresno on June 9 and 14 and throughout the United States, there were major protests against the Trump administration and its racist immigration policies, its continued support for Israel as they kill and starve the people of Gaza, Medicaid cuts and more (there were more than 2,100 protests nationwide on June 14).
Organizers estimate that more than five million people participated in the protests nationwide. Many Americans are recognizing that we, the people, are a force more powerful than the 1% who rule us.
With continued organizing, the government’s turn toward fascism can be reversed. The genocide in Gaza can be ended and unjustifiable U.S.-supported military actions stopped.
Every local protest is larger than the previous ones. In Fresno, there was a protest at the Federal Building on June 9 in support of the Los Angeles demonstrators who were arrested and in support of immigrant rights.
Fresno Council Member Miguel Arias addressed the crowd of more than 300 that gathered there. “Don’t make any mistake, Fresno and the Central Valley, we’re next.
“They will wait for the peak harvest season; they have a quota to meet. They can’t meet their quota without going after the innocent—at graduations, at workplaces. They’re going to come after us, and we are ready.
“If they want to start arresting people, they can start with me, they can start with us.”
As the crowd shouted, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, La Migra has got to go,” Kerman Mayor Maria Pacheco told the crowd, “Your courage is your power, your resistance is your power and your unity is the greatest threat to fear-driven politics.
“This is a desperate attack to hold onto power by tearing communities apart. But we are coming with offense, we are voting, we are organizing. Keep organizing like today, and show up in droves on Election Day.”
Sandra Celedon, CEO of Fresno Building Healthy Communities and a candidate for State Assembly District 31, said that she got a call from a farmworker in Sanger at 6 a.m. saying that ICE was down the street and that she did not know what to do. Fortunately, there was a contact close by who could assist.
“This is what we need to do, be there for people,” said Celedon. “The Valley Watch Network needs volunteers. If you are a U.S. citizen, you can volunteer with the Valley Watch rapid response network.
“We need a system that can connect us. We need help, we [need to be] prepared to stand up for our communities.”
The Valley Watch Network Hotline is 559-206-0151. People are urged to report only verified ICE sightings and to avoid reporting unsubstantiated rumors.
On June 14, there were two large “No Kings” protests in Fresno that drew thousands of demonstrators, one at Cary Park organized by the San Joaquin Valley Resistance 50501 group and a second one at Blackstone and Nees avenues organized by Central Valley Indivisible.
Demonstrators carried colorful signs such as “ICE = Trump’s Gestapo,” “We say No to Dictatorship, Kidnapping and Plutocracy,” “When Injustice Becomes Law, Resistance Becomes Duty,” “Vote for a Rapist, Expect to Be F*cked” and “From Gaza to Mexico, All Walls Will Fall.”
There were people of all ages and cultures at both demonstrations. Together, the people can stop the mass deportations. A country where the government can just snatch people off the street and lock them away for no good reason, never to be seen again, is not a democracy.
If the Trump regime gets away with what it is doing to immigrants, there will be nothing to stop them from disappearing anyone they don’t like. (Trump has already openly mused about sending American citizens to prisons in El Salvador, telling that country’s president, Nayib Bukele—who has self-identified as a “dictator”—that “homegrowns are next” and to build “about five more” prisons.)
Patricia Chacon of Sanger said she was at the demonstration because “it’s an injustice to my family, my people. I am for morality over politics any day.”
Another protester, Rosalie Maria Battista, a young woman from Fresno, said that “as a queer, disabled Chicana, as well as an educator and organizer, I cannot stress how connected all of the violence in our country is to violence around the world.
“We need to abolish ICE, Israel and all police states. [We need] to educate ourselves, our children and our communities, and get out to support each other.”
“We need to get rid of ICE,” said Diana Alcai of Fresno. “They’re kidnapping our children, they’re kidnapping our people. We need to stop them.”
Isaiah Carrillo, a first-generation young man from Fresno, said, “I am out here to say that we are one people. There’s no reason to treat some of us differently. Everyone has their own challenges, and the President is making it more difficult for everyone to enjoy their lives.
“I get why [ICE agents] are doing what they are doing. It’s their job, but they know what’s right and what’s wrong. What they are doing is wrong.”
Maggie Discont, a 64-year-old woman from Fresno, said, “What happened in Los Angeles is illegal…It’s a way for [Trump] to take more power; he’s an authoritarian.”
“No one is illegal on stolen land,” noted Kobi, a young man from Fresno. “We all have a right to be here. America would not be what it is if it weren’t for immigrants and people of color.”
The data show that interior enforcement has more than doubled since Trump took office, filling up immigration detention facilities across the country. It’s those stepped-up efforts by ICE agents in workplaces, courthouses and homes to arrest people that prompted protests in Los Angeles last week.
Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard there over the objections of state and local officials sparked an escalation in protests and violent clashes with law enforcement and, according to local officials, nearly 400 people have been arrested in connection with recent immigration protests since they started on June 6.
The majority of these arrests were for failing to disperse. Other charges include failure to follow a curfew, assault on police officers and a few arrests for possession of weapons or Molotov cocktails. This unprecedented and unnecessary deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Marines must be challenged.
Every member of Congress should speak out against this profound injustice and illegal action. In fact, Rep. Sri Thandenar (D–Mich.) has submitted articles of impeachment, citing constitutional violations and abuses of power.
These criteria include obstruction of justice, abuse of executive power, usurpation of Congress’s power of the purse, abuse of trade powers, violation of First Amendment rights, creation of an unlawful office, bribery and corruption, and tyrannical overreach.
To demand that your Congressperson sign on to the articles of impeachment, call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.
A common theme among rally participants is that demonstrations and marches are great but more must be done. Possibilities include sit-ins and strikes to disrupt operations, organizing boycotts and refusing to buy, use or support products, services or institutions to exert pressure.
People can participate in blockades by physically obstructing roads, buildings or facilities to prevent access or operations. A movement of non-cooperation could refuse to cooperate with the government or institutions, such as refusing to pay taxes or obey laws.
Another tactic is using occupations and taking control of a space or building to draw attention to a cause, in a nonviolent way. People can refuse to perform tasks or duties that are perceived as unjust or unethical. People can participate in hunger strikes and refuse to eat as a form of protest.
These and other nonviolent tactics have been used by people’s movements in the past. Perhaps the current strategies and tactics can be revised to include civil disobedience.
We are living under the authoritarian rule of a tyrant supported by a tyrannical minority (31% of the eligible electorate). It is clear that those who oppose Trump are the majority, and, if the majority continues to organize a resistance movement, the majority will prevail. After all, we are a nation of majority rule, not minority oppression.
“No Kings” Protest in Merced
A huge crowd participated on June 14 at the No Kings protest in Merced, which continued to grow throughout the morning. Within an hour, it stretched at least four city blocks, on both sides of M Street, a big thoroughfare through downtown.
It was incredible, never seen before in Merced. Passing motorists, including transit buses, blasted their horns in support, in a steady stream. And for the first time in weeks, I exhaled. I was thrilled to see so many young folks joining good people of all ages.
Everybody was included, everybody was welcomed. It was quite uplifting. It was America!
—Submitted by John Tipton, a professional freelance photographer living in Madera
