Neumann-Ortiz: Here to stay: inaugurating our resistance

This weekend in Milwaukee, immigrants, refugees and our supporters from across the state will take to the streets to send a message of resistance to President-Elect Donald Trump and his incoming administration. Across the nation, similar actions will be organized in more than 50 cities Saturday to send the message “We Are Here to Stay” and declare our resistance to policies Trump has promised to implement.

Through his executive power as president, Trump has said he will immediately deport or incarcerate 2 to 3 million immigrants and their families, build a wall and stop accepting refugees from regions where people are fleeing violence.

Trump would do away with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that has allowed almost 750,000 young people who immigrated to this country in childhood to drive and work legally, continue their education and be protected from deportation.

He has said he will repeal all of the previous administration’s executive actions, expand 287g programs that turn police into immigration agents, and block federal funding for cities with local pro-immigrant policies.

The fact is, Trump can initiate a mass deportation program because the deportation machinery was expanded under the Obama administration.

It was only due to grassroots pressure and broad public support that important reforms like DACA and federal enforcement priorities were made through executive action in the absence of immigration reform by Congress.

Trump plans to repeal the Obama administration’s enforcement priorities, meaning that someone who has no criminal record or has a minor infraction such as being stopped for driving without a license will be considered a priority for deportation, regardless of their moral character and ties to community and family.

Trump plans to expand highly controversial programs. He wants to encourage local law enforcement to apply for 287g status, making them in effect deputized immigration agents. This program has been found to be rife with abuses and racial profiling. The program seriously discourages immigrant community members from reporting crimes, making everyone less safe.

In the absence of action from Congress, local governments around the country have enacted common sense policies that encourage immigrants to come forward to work with law enforcement and engage with public institutions such as the courts when someone is a victim of domestic abuse.

In essence, the Trump administration wants to make the whole country as Arizona was during the period of SB1070, a racist anti-immigrant law that promoted racial profiling and led to human rights abuses.

But immigrants have been here before, and at each of these critical phases, the community has faced the threat with courage and unity.  At each step of the struggle, the alliances and public support have grown for a just legalization to address a broken system that traps 11 million people who are critical to our economic well-being and are a part of the fabric of our society.

Battle after battle, the movement to recognize the civil, labor and human rights of immigrants has prevailed, and we will do so again.

On Saturday, those voices will loudly and proudly prepare workers for Days without Latinxs and Immigrants, a communitywide general strike like Wisconsin saw last February that defeated anti-immigrant legislation. Religious leaders will declare themselves ready to carry out civil disobedience and offer sanctuary to immigrant families threatened with mass deportation by the new administration. Teachers and students will declare their intention to keep schools safe for immigrant students. Local elected leaders will declare their support for sanctuary cities and counties that affirm the diversity and contributions of all residents and promote public safety by encouraging immigrants and other vulnerable groups to work with local law enforcement.

It is not just immigrants and refugees who are threatened by attacks on their civil, constitutional and labor rights; other groups such as the LGBTQ community, women, people of color, veterans and the elderly who depend on the social safety net will face similar assaults.  Saturday highlights the stronger bonds that are being built across these groups and the commitment to defend decades of social progress.

Christine Neumann-Ortiz is executive director, Voces de la Frontera Action.