An intense period of anti-racist mass mobilization has forced Donald Trump to sign an executive order he says will end the practice of separating detained immigrant children from their families. However, the Executive Order does not make a difference for the 2,300 children who have been detained and separated from their parents. It is essential that this mobilization continue to defeat the entirety of the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant campaign. Simply jailing entire families together, as Democratic Party-aligned politicians and organizations desire, does not solve the problem — the problem is that they are being held in cages in the first place! Everyone waiting on an application for asylum should be immediately released so that they can pursue their asylum claim in a safe environment free from coercion and with full legal representation in accordance with international law.
As insufficient of a concession as it is, it is even unclear if the Executive Order will truly end future family separations. It only states that the policy will end “where appropriate and consistent with law and available resources.” Much of the Executive Order was about reaffirming the hardline policies the administration has in place.
The deportation and detention machine that causes so much terror and suffering is a thoroughly bipartisan creation. Although ICE and Border Patrol’s cruelty has been amplified by the Trump administration’s so-called “zero tolerance” policy, each successive administration since the Clinton presidency has moved to bolster the authority and capabilities of this apparatus. Barack Obama was labeled by the immigrant rights movement as the “Deporter in-Chief” due to the enormous number of undocumented people rounded up and kicked out of the country under his leadership — vastly more than any of his predecessors.
Mass protests for immigrant rights will take place across the country on June 30, including what is likely to be a huge gathering in Washington, D.C. The Party for Socialism and Liberation will do everything we can to mobilize for these and other actions.
No Separations! No Detentions! No Deportations! Full Rights for All!
