MAGA Officials Go After Immigrant Defenders

Advocates for migrants and their rights are now being targeted themselves by ICE, Trump, and his bigots of like mind in Congress and federal policing.

Freedom Socialist newspaper, Vol. 46, No. 4, August-September 2025

socialism.com

By Nic Preston

Famously, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sparked protests and civil disobedience in Los Angeles in June. Human rights organizations, leftists and labor unions were involved and helped lead the fight against mass deportations. Since then, the Trump administration, Republican congressional leaders, and federal law enforcement have targeted people for defending immigrants. Yet they fight back.

Return of the McCarthy Era

Kristi Noem, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security secretary, has made statements threatening unions, nongovernmental organizations and individuals for allegedly funding the protests. Senator Alex Padilla was tackled, handcuffed and detained for trying to ask questions of Noem at a press conference. He was held for three hours without charges.

Republican U.S. Representatives Mark Green and Josh Brecheen sent letters to over 200 NGOs announcing a probe of Biden-era federal grants used by these groups to provide services and advocacy to immigrants. ICE and other federal law enforcement officers continue to rough up and arrest anyone who gets in the way of their indiscriminate detentions.

Senator Josh Hawley sent letters to groups including the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), and Unión del Barrio demanding that they stop “bankrolling civil unrest” and preserve internal communications, donor information, and more for use against them. 

In LA, David Huerta, president of Service Employees International Union in California, was injured while being arrested for confronting ICE agents executing a workplace raid. And in New York City, comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was manhandled while being detained for linking arms with a migrant outside a courtroom. 

The people fight back

These are blatant intimidation tactics to try to scare folks into inaction. The good news is that these measures aren’t working. The targeted groups PSL, CHIRLA, and Unión del Barrio, among others, refuse to back down.

The only way people have ever achieved meaningful social change in this country is through mass movements and protest. Litigation, legislation and elections are all tools that can be used to support movements for radical social change.

The Freedom Socialist Party (FSP) knows a thing or two about attempts at repression. In 1984, a former member sued the party for a return of money he had donated. The ensuing court case lasted six years. It included a demand that the FSP hand over membership lists and meeting minutes to the court.

The organization mounted a vigorous defense of its constitutional rights to privacy and freedom of association. FSP rallied supporters, including the NAACP and the Black Panther Party, and won!

Defenders of immigrants can take these lessons and apply them to the current fight. We can get involved in local community defense of migrants and their advocates. We can push our unions, other organizations and their leaders to take action. We don’t have to cooperate with federal authorities and we can fight them every step of the way on all fronts. Organizing mass protest is how we show our strength. 

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