ICE is attempting to expand its gutter racist deportation plans in Prince George’s County, MD. It’s trying to expand offices on Belcrest Road in Hyattsville in the same building that houses the SNAP program, community college classes, and other services that are often used by immigrants. But 75 workers and students fought back with an angry protest outside the planned site, with more to come.
Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members shared CHALLENGE, especially the stories from Minneapolis and Chicago – two cities that have felt the ICE surge which may be coming to Maryland soon. We also made contacts with protesters from Howard University and Northwestern High School, who live nearby and are outraged by ICE’s presence.
No ICE in our towns!
Congressman Glenn Ivey, who is heavily funded by lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), made a photo op appearance but was confronted by signs calling for justice for Palestine along with ICE OUT signs. So far, the building inspectors have deemed the building unsafe for further development which is rumored to include detention facilities as well as offices.
Many workers in the Maryland suburbs of D.C. are involved opposing ICE kidnappings and detentions with training sessions and patrols to mitigate the damage to our community. PLP friends and members are deeply involved in these activities, especially in Hyattsville and Greenbelt, but more action is developing in Washington County where ICE is seeking to build a large detention center with hiring notices already posted. So far, no Maryland detention centers are open.
Organizing in Howard County closed one in Jessup a few years ago. And there are weekly protests and charges of inhumane treatment at a medieval detention holding area in Baltimore.
In Greenbelt, we are regularly protesting the Park Police’s use of their facilities in Greenbelt National Park to house detainees who ICE has grabbed off construction vehicles on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. As we build our forces in this area, we are aiming to confront the police station.
Antiracist, multiracial unity key
To build multiracial unity, the Greenbelt Resistance Network that we are part of is reaching out to the de facto racially segregated Franklin Park community. As one of our friends explained, this area has been largely ignored by the city leadership. Despite its large population of immigrant and Black workers, it did not have a representative on the city council until a couple of years ago.
More and more, workers and students are responding with anger and determination to ICE and are also coming to realize that the entire system of capitalism that requires such racist repression must be overthrown. We are happy to help develop that outlook and share the vision of a communist society that will abolish all borders between workers.