No Kings, No ICE, No Illusions: The Real Struggle in LA

Organic People's Movements vs Artificial Grassroots Movements

Many people rightfully hate Trump, but they are not all committed to real change. Since inauguration day, there has been a massive wave of protests, demonstrations, and mobilizations against the Trump administration and the domino effect of his orders. These tactics of resistance have existed for centuries in challenging power structures. However, we must take into account the real political aspirations behind mobilizations before we dedicate ourselves to their cause. The importance of understanding the political trends, present and past, can not be overstated, for if the people blindly follow these movements without examining their strategy, we are bound to lose. Let’s take the recent examples of the Anti-ICE protests in LA and the No Kings Protests, which, despite a shared enemy in Trump, differ in very important ways.

The conditions leading up to the Anti-ICE protests did not begin with Trump’s election; The USA has a long and storied history of deporting migrant laborers, going as far back as the Alien Act in 1798. Some things have changed since then, but much remains the same — people flee countries ravaged by colonial violence and find the same violence here. They face exploitation by the same enemy, just using different tactics.

These colonial conditions are easily identified in the tiny amount of pay that migrants receive working in the most dangerous and difficult jobs. If the migrants dare to demand a change to these systems, they must bear the risk of being displaced from their homes, communities, and livelihoods, even possibly losing their families. Individually, these workers are disposable to the capitalist class, but their cheap labor is invaluable. It keeps the capitalist class’s pockets lined and makes it so the more privileged white workers can get paid more for the less difficult jobs.

This is the origin of the “American Dream,” which can only exist upon the backs of colonial labor. Those privileged workers who pursue that dream also learn to appreciate their position in the colonial system, in part, through the racism that is perpetuated against these oppressed migrants, seeing migrant workers as competition rather than their allies. These migrant laborers are used as scapegoats so that when the American Dream is out of reach for the privileged worker, they now point their anger at the laborers whose exploitation had made it possible in the first place.

While these violent methods to try to keep the migrant population fearful and meek is not new, neither is immigrant organizations and opposition to these terror tactics. Predating the Declaration of Independence, immigrant strikes and demonstrations shaped immigrant mobility beyond the confines of the neoliberal integrationist ideal. This rich history raises particular nuance to the current moment as the Chicano Movement grew from and were most successful in Los Angeles. Foundations were set, and demands were met. History, organizational methods, and traditions of struggle against white supremacy have been passed down since, and that shakes the reactionary establishment to its core.

In the face of the most powerful country on the planet, immigrant communities continue to dare to stand up for themselves. After a series of ICE raids in LA, the people decided enough was enough and it was time to stop the raids against their neighbors, coworkers, and family members. These protests were met with increasing oppression, including the arrest of the prominent labor organizer, David Huerta. These escalations culminated in the LA protests, which captivated the attention of the USA. Through protesting at the locations ICE would be making raids, they prevent more people from being taken, and through the immediately actionable demand of returning those who had already been taken, their protests are more likely to create results.

The No Kings protests, however, do not have such a long history; their problems lie explicitly with Trump and his administration. At first glance, it may seem like the results are more good than bad. For even if they think of ICE as a problem only under a Trump presidency, we are under a Trump presidency, and ICE is a problem, so maybe a sort of ‘broken clock’ logic can be used to support their so-called “movement”. A closer look, however, reveals much more reactionary politics.

What are the concrete demands of the No Kings Protests and the 50501 movement? Broadly, they set out to “defend the constitution” and “US democracy.” Even in something as basic as the slogan of “No Kings,” you find the implication that Donald Trump is un-American. The truth is that he doesn’t need to be king because he’s already president, and his policies are as American as apple pie.

So then, why do these protestors feel the need to defend the idea of America from the reality of America? It is because the American empire is failing, day by day, it is losing the ability to support the massive class of privileged workers, and so with that, the pretty image it portrays of itself and what it stands for cannot continue to exist unchanged. These are the same conditions that create the political trend that Trump represents. When boiled down, “defend the constitution” or “no kings” is the same slogan as “make America great again” because it is the same cry of a class that yearns to dream the American dream once again.

With that said, is this bad news? No! American Imperialism failing is great news. What it means is that we must be conscious of why we are fighting and of what we are fighting for. We cannot allow ourselves to become devoted to the cause of capitalism. We cannot be led by those who wish for America to be like it once was; instead, we must assert that America must be no more. By fighting a genuine struggle for liberation, as was fought on the streets of LA, those who are now learning to hate Trump might just learn to hate the USA and dream of a better world.