 Photo: Bill Hackwell |
Racist, anti-immigrant groups like the “Minuteman Project” and the “Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control” called a national day of protest in 19 states on Jan. 7. The protests demanded the deportation of undocumented immigrants, heightened U.S.-Mexico border security and sanctions against companies that hire undocumented workers.
Across the nation, the neo-fascist organizers turned out very few supporters. Some protests were comprised of only one right-winger waving the U.S. flag on a street corner. At nearly all the demonstrations, pro-immigrant counter-protestors vastly outnumbered the racists.
In Glendale, California—a suburb of Los Angeles—more than 200 progressive counter-protestors, including 100 Latino immigrant day-laborers, surrounded and shouted down 10 members of “Save Our State,” a racist group linked to the “Minuteman Project” and other white supremacist organizations. Activists chanted “Racists go home” and “SOS, KKK, fascist scum go away!” Local police had to protect the bigots from the angry counter-protestors until SOS was forced to leave.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation, ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), Minuteman Watch Network and others mobilized for and actively participated in a number of the counter demonstrations, including the Glendale action.
