Worcester, MA, May 9 – On May 8, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) kkkops kidnapped a Brazilian mother. Acting in tandem with ICE, Worcester Police arrested her 16-year-old daughter—who held a baby in her arms—citing “child endangerment.” A school nurse who intervened was also arrested. Neighbors quickly organized, chanting and forming a human chain around the family. This is what working-class multiracial solidarity is all about!
In response, organizers called a demonstration the next day at Worcester City Hall. Despite heavy rain, over 200 workers and students turned out to voice their anger. This protest came on the heels of a March 15 ICE Out of Boston rally led by Progressive Labor Party (PLP), where we leafleted stores in Roslindale and held a powerful May Day celebration on May 3.
We returned to Roslindale Village, raised our red flags, and delivered speeches in English and Spanish against the profit system, the failures of past movements, and the dual threats of liberal and fascist factions of the U.S. ruling class. We distributed CHALLENGE and leaflets, engaging with people about the ongoing attacks on immigrant workers and our anti-capitalist vision. New members stepped up, helping plan the event and giving speeches.
Our chants—“Smash racist deportations, working people have no nations!”, “ICE means? Fight back!”, and “The only solution is communist revolution!”—were met with honks and raised fists.
Eureka: This is what mulitracial worker unity looks like!
Worcester police claimed they responded to a neighborhood call, yet THESE RACIST COPS PROTECTED ICE—despite the liberal-run City Council’s claims the city wouldn’t cooperate with federal immigration agents. But treachery by liberal politicians is nothing new. They helped build the very fascist deportation machine President Donald Trump now wields.
After all, it was President Bill Clinton’s 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act that laid the foundation for today’s concentration camps and mass deportations (Vera Institute of Justice, 6/28/22). And Barack Obama deported 3 million workers—more than any president in U.S. history (NPR, 12/5/24). Trump’s fascist cruelty isn’t unique; it’s a cornerstone of capitalist policy strengthened by liberal Big Fascist politicians.
While suit-and-tie Klansmen Trump sics his ICE kkkops to kidnap our migrant class siblings, thousands of workers nationwide continue to fight back!. Our courageous class siblings on Eureka Street reminded us what working-class, multiracial solidarity looks like.
Racism, exploitation, and the profit system
All workers are exploited under capitalism, but racism and sexism intensify that exploitation. Black workers, undocumented migrant workers, and women are especially targeted, often earning less for the same labor—driving down wages for everyone. Capitalists rely on racist and sexist divisions to scapegoat Black, Brown, Indigenous, Muslim, LGBTQ, and migrant workers, blaming them for the very problems created by the profit system and using these divisions to undermine worker unity.
The wave of worker kidnappings across the country exposes the deepening crisis of capitalism. Trump’s MAGA fascist attacks on DEI programs, migrant workers, and student protesters speaking out against the genocide in Gaza (see editorial, p. 2) go hand in hand with the gutting of Medicaid and food stamps, the funneling of billions into imperialist wars, and the mass detention of migrants in concentration camps.
A growing movement
A Mother’s Day demonstration on May 11 brought out another 200 people. A third protest on May 13 targeted the City Council—who, in fear, canceled the meeting and locked down City Hall. They hosted a virtual session where workers flooded the call with their class anger.
This could be the beginning of a national movement. We are uniting with workers and students ready to fight, shoulder-to-shoulder, across all lines of division.
The real enemy: Capitalism
Trump, Musk, and the Republicans are dangerous—but they are only one head of the beast. The root of the problem is capitalism, a system where the top 1% hoard more wealth than 95% of the world combined. Their profit driven logic fuels every crisis: environmental, social, and geopolitical.
The only way forward is through militant, multiracial unity with a clear revolutionary goal: smashing capitalism and building a communist world.
Don’t wait for lying liberal or fascist politicians to “save” us. Join PLP to end genocide, deportations, cutbacks, fascism, borders, and war.
Kick ICE Out of Worcester—and everywhere else with communist revolution!
