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Thursday, February 13, 2025

How Mass Deportation Harms All Working People

 


By Andrew Moss  

Knoxville Sun  

Jan 10, 2025 - Donald Trump pledged to start deporting undocumented migrants “on day one” of his administration, and that day is quickly approaching.  

If Trump’s working-class voters believe that deporting 13.3 million people will somehow better their economic lives, many will soon realize that mass deportation harms all working people, not just migrants, and will worsen a growing, oppressive inequality.  

Firstly, consider the anticipated labor shortages in agriculture and construction. Almost three-quarters of agricultural workers are immigrants, with 40 percent of them being undocumented. About one-fifth of the construction workforce is also undocumented. Since these undocumented immigrants represent such a significant share of employment in these critical industries, their deportation will lead to severe labor shortages, likely driving up food prices and impeding efforts to increase housing supply.  

Additionally, consider the expected decline in tax revenues and contributions to Medicare and Social Security. Undocumented workers do pay taxes and contribute to Medicare and Social Security; their removal would result in billions in lost local, state, and federal tax revenues (for instance, $76.1 billion in 2022 alone) alongside billions more in lost contributions to Medicare and Social Security ($28.3 billion annually).  

A mass deportation initiative would cost taxpayers enormous amounts to manage the process of rounding up, detaining, and deporting 13.3 million individuals: estimates suggest $88 billion a year if one million people are deported annually or $315 billion if all 13.3 million are deported in a single year, according to the American Immigration Council. (The Council notes that the former sum could be better utilized over 10 years to build 2.9 million new homes or for other essential social investments).  

Someone will have to finance the deportation of millions. If Republican lawmakers get their way, it won’t be the billionaires and multimillionaires who have aligned themselves with Trump. Donald Trump is committed to making permanent the individual tax cuts that, much like the corporate and individual cuts he signed in 2017, favor the wealthiest in the nation. Extending these cuts would add $4.6 trillion to the federal deficit over several years, according to Congressional Budget Office projections. Thus, the enormous expense of mass deportation necessitates cuts elsewhere to fund it—and the burden will inevitably rest on lower-income Americans.  

Elon Musk (net worth: $416.8 billion) and Vivek Ramaswamy (net worth: $800 million to $1 billion) have been recruited by Trump to find ways to trim the federal budget, claiming that $500 billion could be cut. One can only speculate about the financial juggling required to fund such an expensive deportation initiative while simultaneously cutting hundreds of billions in tax revenues.  

However, the proposed cuts to Medicaid, the largest single source of health coverage in the nation that primarily serves low-income Americans, are all too real. Proposed by House Republicans and promoted by the Heritage Foundation in its Project 2025, these cuts could range from $459 billion to $742 billion over several years, severely underfunding or eliminating health services for many individuals (Medicaid covers 72 million people overall).  

When you connect all the dots—the vast financial implications of mass deportation, the revenue losses from expelling millions of earners and from tax cuts benefiting the wealthy, and the potential cuts to essential social and health services—you begin to understand the substantial harm that deportation will inflict on all working people and the nation as a whole.  

Much of this damage is fueled by racially based scapegoating, a powerful divide-and-rule tactic that pits individuals against each other and groups against each other, corrupting society as it normalizes cruelty towards the most vulnerable populations. This strategy works for a simple reason: fear sells.  

Yet fear and financial figures do not create the complete picture. Alongside advocacy groups and sanctuary jurisdictions (cities, counties, and states) that uphold and promote immigrants’ rights, the vital role of unions emerges in affirming the solidarity of all workers, regardless of their immigration status. In my hometown of Los Angeles, where immigrants make up a substantial portion of the workforce, visionary and courageous union leaders in the 1990s recognized that immigrants’ rights and workers’ rights were inseparable. They began organizing around this core idea, transforming the political landscape of the city and ultimately influencing national immigration policies through the AFL-CIO.  

We now stand on the brink of a renewed large-scale struggle for the dignity, rights, and well-being of all working people in this country. Much depends on the creativity, energy, and discipline brought to this struggle—as well as the success in fostering a shared vision of solidarity and mutual support among workers, regardless of their background or status.  

Andrew Moss, syndicated by PeaceVoice, writes on politics, labor, and nonviolence from Los Angeles. He is an emeritus professor (Nonviolence Studies, English) from California State University.

Thursday, February 6, 2025

In Pittsburgh, National Protest against Trump's Fascism Directs Anger at Fetterman


The Democratic senator, who has sometimes crossed party lines to back parts of the president’s agenda, faced criticism from protestors outside of his Downtown Pittsburgh field office Wednesday.


By Quinn Glabicki

Public Source

February 5, 2025 - Scores of Pittsburghers gathered in front of the Federal Building, Downtown, on Wednesday to protest the early days of the second Trump administration, the influence of tech mogul billionaire Elon Musk, and the role of Pennsylvania’s U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, who has embraced parts of Trump’s agenda.

Protestors criticized the role and influence of tech billionaire Elon Musk within the Trump administration at a protest in Pittsburgh Wednesday. 

They also opposed the genocide in Gaza

At half past noon, organizer Kali McLaughlin, who is affiliated with Indivisible, the progressive grassroots campaign organizing against President Donald Trump’s agenda, addressed the crowd through a megaphone aimed at the senator’s closed local office. 

“Fetterman, the time for action is now!” McLaughlin said. “We will be heard. You will hear us. We will fight for America. Will you?” McLaughlin laid out a list of demands, amounting to one theme: blanket opposition. “No cooperation with Trump’s power grab.”

“There is no excuse for Senate Democrats to be confirming any of Trump’s nominees for any agency while this power grab continues. Just vote no every time!”

As McLaughlin spoke, in Washington D.C., Fetterman voted yes to confirm Trump’s pick for Housing and Urban Development secretary, drawing the ire of fellow Democrats and local protestors alike. 

“Fetterman! Fetterman! Do your job!” The crowd of about 80 then chanted in unison, as passing cars honked in support.

Organizer Kali McLaughlin addressed the crowd in front of U.S. Sen John Fetterman’s closed Pittsburgh field office Wednesday: “We will be heard,” McLaughlin demanded. “You will hear us. We will fight for America. Will you?”

Fetterman voted no, however, on Trump nominee Russell Vought to be director of the Office of Management and Budget, whose nomination advanced to a final vote Wednesday.

The demonstration was the first significant organized opposition to the fast-moving Trump administration to emerge in Pittsburgh since Trump’s inauguration. Part of a national protest push, it took on a local spin by also focusing on Fetterman, whose political career began when he was mayor of Braddock.

Fetterman’s office did not provide requested comment.

Monet Thornton found Wednesday’s protest on Reddit. A federal worker, Thornton said they are personally affected by the uncertainty surrounding federal grants, and went unpaid for the several days while the Trump administration briefly froze federal funding. 

Volunteers gathered signatures for Not on Our Dime, a campaign seeking to amend Pittsburgh’s Home Rule Charter and divest city funds from “governments engaged in genocide or apartheid.”

As the crowd rallied, volunteers gathered signatures for Not on Our Dime, a campaign seeking to amend Pittsburgh’s Home Rule Charter and divest city funds from “governments engaged in genocide or apartheid.” A day earlier, on Tuesday, Trump proposed that the United States occupy Gaza.

Organizer Sydney W., who declined to give a last name, described the people gathered Wednesday as part of a broad coalition of concerned citizens who “see the danger” in the conservative Heritage Foundation’s policy blueprint, Project 2025, and the president’s recent executive orders.

“We want this stopped,” the organizer said. “We want our state representatives to fight against this with the power we know they have.”

The movement began on Reddit and spread online on Discord, Instagram and Facebook. Similar protests took place in Harrisburg and Philadelphia and across the U.S. Wednesday.

Kate Wenc stands with a pride flag outside of the Federal Building in downtown Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

Kate Wenc, a student at Duquesne University, stood wrapped in a Pride flag in front of the Federal Building.  “I believe in the mission,” Wenc said. “We should be fighting back against Trump’s agenda against immigrants and LGBTQ people.”

Quinn Glabicki is the environment and climate reporter at PublicSource and a Report for America corps member. He can be reached at quinn@publicsource.org and on Instagram and X @quinnglabicki.

Monday, January 13, 2025

What Threats Face Pro-Palestine Activists as Trump Returns?

 

Jan 8, 2025 - As President Biden greenlights another $8 billion in weapons to Israel in his last days in office and Secretary Blinken gives a parting New York Times interview in which he denies that a genocide is taking place in Gaza, many pro-Palestine activists are anxiously counting down the days until “Genocide Joe” and his crew exit the White House. But what will activists have to contend with under the Trump presidency?

Donald Trump proved his pro-Israel agenda in his first term, by moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, supporting West Bank settlements, recognizing the Golan Heights as part of Israel, pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and enacting the Abraham Accords to normalize relations between Israel and Arab states, while disregarding the plight of Palestinians. Recently, Trump has said that the U.S. should let Israel “finish the job,” warned that there will be “all hell to pay” if the hostages aren’t released by the time he takes office, and threatened to blow Iran to smithereens.

Trump has signalled his intentions this time around by the people he has selected for key positions. Mike Huckabee, his pick for U.S. ambassador to Israel, is a religious fanatic who doesn’t think Israeli settlements are illegal and says “There is no such thing as a West Bank. It’s Judea and Samaria [the territory’s biblical name, revived in Israeli propaganda].” He even insists there is no such thing as a Palestinian. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s pick for U.S. ambassador to the UN, used her position in Congress to stifle free speech on college campuses and advocates deporting pro-Palestinian protesters who have student visas.

What about Congress? While the 118th Congress was overwhelmingly pro-Israel, the new one, with both the Senate and the House under Republican control, will be even more aggressively biased. Members want to pass a host of horrific bills that will further cement U.S. ties to the Israeli government, punish international actors that dare try to hold Israel accountable, and repress the domestic movement for Palestinian rights. This legislation includes a bill that equates criticism of Israel with anti-semitism, a bill that gives the Treasury Department the power to investigate non-profit groups for links to “terrorism” and then shut them down, a bill to sanction the International Criminal Court for issuing an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, a bill to make permanent the U.S. ban on funding the relief agency UNRWA, and a bill to cancel trade agreements with South Africa because of its genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice.


And of course, we can’t leave out the challenges posed by three powerful forces: AIPAC, Christian Zionists and military contractors. Best known is the lobby group AIPAC, which used its financial muscle in the recent elections to knock out two of the most pro-Palestinian members of Congress, Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman, leaving others terrified of becoming AIPAC targets. Lesser known but enormously powerful are the tens of millions of Christian Zionists, who are driven by the radical belief that Israel is key to Jesus’ return to Earth after a bloody final battle of Armageddon in which only those who accept Jesus as their savior will survive. Christian Zionists—already numerous in Congress, the White House and even the military—will be emboldened by Trump.

The third powerful lobby group are the military contractors, which has more lobbyists than members of Congress. Thanks to the $18 billion that Congress allocated for Israel in 2024, weapons stocks have soared over the past year, dramatically outperforming the major stock indexes.

But there are countervailing forces as well. The American public has become more and more sympathetic to Palestinians. A November opinion poll showed that, despite the pro-Israel bias of our government and corporate media, most Americans (63 percent) want a ceasefire and 55 percent think the U.S. should not provide unrestricted financial and military assistance to the Israeli government.

This is especially true among young people and among Democrats. And with a Republican in the White House, more Democrats in positions of power should be willing to oppose Israel’s actions since they will no longer be defying their own party’s president. And it’s not just Democrats. Many Trump supporters oppose U.S. involvement in overseas wars, and Trump himself, on the campaign trail, repeatedly claimed that he wants to bring peace to the Middle East.

Worldwide, more countries are not only voting for a ceasefire at the UN, but taking concrete measures to hold Israel accountable. The long list of countries and parties that have either submitted or announced their intention to join South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice include Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ireland, Jordan, Libya, Maldives, Mexico, Namibia, Nicaragua, Palestine, Spain, Türkiye and the Arab League. Countries that have either banned, limited or announced their intention to embargo arms to Israel include Italy, Spain, the UK, Canada, Belgium, The Netherlands, Türkiye, Russia and China.In the coming year, the Palestine solidarity movement must find and expand the cracks in the pro-Israel war machine. It must strengthen the spine of Democrats who live in fear of AIPAC and reach out to Republicans who oppose funding foreign conflicts. The same arguments many Republicans make about defunding Ukraine must be applied to Israel. Activists must expand campaigns against companies supporting Israel’s genocide, as well as efforts at the state, city, labor, university, faith-based and sectoral level to condemn Israel’s actions and promote divestment. The recent resolution by the American Historical Association condemning “scholasticide” is a good example.

While activists are bracing for a torrent of Trump policies that will create even more global and domestic chaos, including increased attacks on pro-Palestine organizations and individuals, the U.S. movement must be as resolute as the Palestinians themselves, who have demonstrated that, no matter what Israel does to destroy them, they remain determined to resist. The year 2025, with Donald Trump in the White House, will not be a time for despair or retreating in fear, but a time for action.Medea Benjamin

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Living In Two Worlds: One Indigenous Woman’S View Of Growing Up And Living In Pittsburgh

 

Photo: Lee Dingus poses with a Snohomish story pole in the Latodami Nature Center in North Park on Dec. 15, 2019. (by Hali Tauxe/ PublicSource)

By Lee Dingus

Public source

In writing this, I am embarking on a “spiritual journey” into my own soul and the souls and spirits of other Native American women who have walked before me.

To know and understand Native American women, we must look at both our traditional and contemporary roles in connection to our tribes and society. The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), who have always been located around the greater Tri-State area, believe that our culture stems from women. Many of our nations have and have always had women leaders, from Clan Mothers, Faith Keepers and Medicine Women to politicians. We have always spoken our minds at our councils, and our leadership was taken seriously.

I will be using the terms “Indian,” Native American, Indigenous or my tribal affiliation throughout the article. Native people prefer the use of their tribal affiliation over anything else, and the word “Indian” is not my preferred word, though it is the most mainstream term. Indian is a misunderstanding left over from when Christopher Columbus came to the so-called new world and thought he had found a new trade route to India, hence the misnomer “Indian.”

Growing up mostly in the South Hills of the Pittsburgh area, I had to be adaptable, flexible, resourceful and tenacious. Most of the places I lived were upper- and middle-class suburbs with a high population of mostly “white” people.

I have always faced many struggles for survival, growth and understanding and still continue to do so. My circumstances are always changing. Due to the lack of acceptance of the general population, I continuously have to strive to hold on to my traditions, values, customs and ways of life, such as honoring all things living and respecting the wisdom of elders. This is very ironic due to the fact that Pittsburgh is a city of immigrants who are proud of their ancestors, their past and their culture.

However, they are quick to dismiss my culture.

Stereotypes are one of the obstacles I face here in Pittsburgh. From the Land O’Lakes brand to Pocahontas, it seems Indigenous women can never be seen as everyday women. We are not viewed as real people. In many people’s minds, we are extinct. If you do not have long straight dark hair, high cheekbones or wear “Indian” clothing or braids, you can’t be “Indian.”

People look at me and say, “You can’t be real,” or say I’m only “part Indian” just because I don’t look like the stereotypes they grew up to know. People have said it to me hundreds of times. This is racism.

Sports teams, mascots, names and logos — such as the North Hills Indians locally or the Washington Redskins on a national level — are racist images that Pittsburghers and Americans hold onto that keep us locked in the past. These images are not an honor. They are harmful to our people and culture by creating low self-esteem and a negative self-image. (Continued)

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Israel’s War Against the World


Israel’s relationship with the UN and the rest of the world is at a breaking point, and U.S. obstruction offers no solution to this crisis—it only fuels it.

By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas Davies

LA Progressive

Oct 17, 2024 - Each new week brings new calamities for people in the countries neighboring Israel, as its leaders try to bomb their way to the promised land of an ever-expanding Greater Israel.

In Gaza, Israel appears to be launching its “Generals’ Plan” to drive the most devastated and traumatized 2.2 million people in the world into the southern half of their open-air prison. Under this plan, Israel would hand the northern half over to greedy developers and settlers who, after decades of U.S. encouragement, have become a dominant force in Israeli politics and society. The redoubled slaughter of those who cannot move or refuse to move south has already begun.

In Lebanon, millions are fleeing for their lives and thousands are being blown to pieces in a repeat of the first phase of the genocide in Gaza. For Israel’s leaders, every person killed or forced to flee and every demolished building in a neighboring country opens the way for future Israeli settlements. The people of Iran, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia ask themselves which of them will be next.

Israel is not only attacking its neighbors. It is at war with the entire world. Israel is especially threatened when the governments of the world come together at the United Nations and in international courts to try to enforce the rule of international law, under which Israel is legally bound by the same rules that all countries have signed up to in the UN Charter and the Geneva Conventions.

Israel is especially threatened when the governments of the world come together at the United Nations and in international courts to try to enforce the rule of international law

In July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967 is illegal, and that it must withdraw its military forces and settlers from all those territories. In September, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution giving Israel one year to complete that withdrawal. If, as expected, Israel fails to comply, the UN Security Council or the General Assembly may take stronger measures, such as an international arms embargo, economic sanctions or even the use of force.

Now, amid the escalating violence of Israel’s latest bombing and invasion of Lebanon, Israel is attacking the UNIFIL UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, whose thankless job is to monitor and mitigate the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. (Continued)

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Israel’s Tally of War Crimes in Lebanon Increases in Wake of Exploding Pagers

 




The Israeli bombing of a residential neighborhood in Beirut is also a war crime.

Photo: A young Iranian boy in northern Tehran, Iran, holds a candle at a roadside memorial with flowers and flag of Lebanon's Hezbollah in front of the Lebanese embassy for a young Lebanese girl killed in Israel's deadly pager attacks, on September 18, 2024.

Morteza Nikoubazl / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Sept 23, 2024 - This latest targeting of Lebanese civilians comes on the heels of Israel’s detonation of hand-held electronic devices in civilian areas of Lebanon on September 17 and 18, when Israeli forces remotely triggered multiple explosions of electronic pagers and walkie-talkies that killed at least 37 people, including a 9-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy, and maimed or injured 3,250 people, 200 critically. About 500 people suffered severe eye wounds and others received grave injuries to their hands, faces and bodies. The blasts occurred in residential buildings, barber shops, grocery stores, cars and at funerals. Many civilians, including government and hospital workers, were killed.
Elias Warrak, an ophthalmologist at Mount Lebanon University Hospital in Beirut, treated several of those injured by the blasts. He told the BBC that between 60 percent and 70 percent of the patients he attended had to have at least one eye removed. “Some of the patients, we had to remove both eyes. It kills me. In my past 25 years in practice, I’ve never removed as many eyes as I did yesterday [September 17].”
Israel’s weaponization of 3,000 to 4,000 pagers and walkie-talkies programmed to explode simultaneously constituted “terrifying” violations of international law, according to 22 independent United Nations experts, including 13 special rapporteurs.
The radios and pagers were reportedly distributed to people associated with Hezbollah, which includes both military and civilian individuals. “At the time of the attacks there was no way of knowing who possessed each device and who was nearby,” the experts noted. “Simultaneous attacks by thousands of devices would inevitably violate humanitarian law, by failing to verify each target, and distinguish between protected civilians and those who could potentially be attacked for taking a direct part in hostilities.”

Sunday, September 15, 2024

 


After 11 months of genocide in Gaza the UN Security Council has yet to make any effective action to halt Israel’s attack on Palestinians. UN member states have made individual and joint attempts to make it increasingly difficult for Israel to conduct this genocide. UN member states have previously voted overwhelmingly in support of peace and recognition of Palestine which has been met with a Security Council veto most consistently by the United States. It is clear what is needed is a united effort to do what the Security Council can not, which is to enact peace through resolution 377 (V) which would allow for member states to take action over the Security Council. 

On Monday, September 16 during NYC Peace Week, we will deliver this petition to UN Member States DEMANDING they take action now! Sign below and demand immediate peace in Gaza!

We, the undersigned, urge the United Nations to take real and effective actions to prevent Israel’s continued genocidal acts against the Palestinians of Gaza by passing the “Uniting for Peace” resolution. This resolution, also known as General Assembly Resolution 377(V), gives the United Nations General Assembly the power to take action if the Security Council fails to maintain international peace and security.

All countries that are a part of the UN are obligated, under the Geneva Convention, to use whatever influence they have to prevent and stop violations of international humanitarian law including the use of starvation as a weapon of war, collective punishment, and acts in violation of the Genocide Convention – all of which Israel has been credibly accused of. 

Routinely, the United States as a member of the Security Council vetoed important resolutions at the UN that would have either supported a ceasefire in Gaza or otherwise held Israel accountable for its war crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza. The United States should not be able to make life or death decisions – against the popular opinion of the entire world and the United Nations. The US and Israel have acted with impunity for eleven months, and the Uniting for Peace resolution would make it more possible for the UN to halt the ongoing genocide effectively. 

We are demanding member states to support a “Uniting for Peace” resolution to obtain a permanent ceasefire, and effective sanctions against Israel to end its decades of lawlessness. 

Sincerely,

SIGN HERE