The Trump regime has declared open war on our cities. First it was Los Angeles, with ICE swooping in with heavily armed masked agents to abduct day laborers and people working in a garment factory. People responded to the arrests and the confrontations escalated. Trump then used this as an excuse to order the California National Guard and a unit of Marines into L.A. – supposedly to defend ICE agents.
Now Trump is claiming there is rampant crime in cities across the U.S. Those cities all have Black Democratic mayors. Crime in most of those cities has actually declined. The latest attack is on Washington, D.C., which has ICE agents and 2,300 National Guard occupying the city. And now more than 100 FBI agents are on night patrols. They are running traffic checkpoints and harassing, terrorizing, and arresting people in their neighborhoods. In the first month, around 2,000 people were arrested. Close to 20% were released without charges. Chicago and New Orleans are named as the next targets. Trump’s goal is to normalize the presence of troops on our streets, whether ICE with their uncontrolled thuggish behavior, the National Guard, or the U.S. military.
Trump and his supporters claim that this is an effort to make cities safe. Safe for whom? Certainly not the people of Washington, D.C., who are now more fearful of walking or driving in their own city. Of course, there is crime in resource-starved U.S. cities, which offer few prospects for many of the people who live in them – quite often Black and brown people. Does the desperation of being surrounded by endless poverty push some people, especially young people, into criminal activity? Of course.
But the real criminals are in the White House and the corporate board rooms. They are the ones who have normalized poverty, unemployment, and low wage jobs; an underfunded and inadequate educational system; inferior medical care; inadequate housing and homelessness. Trump is their man – their autocratic strongman. He sees no limits as long as it benefits him, and the billionaires he represents receive tax breaks, government contracts, and subsidies.
Those in power understand that there could be a response to the massive cuts to federal, state and local programs. This show of military force is meant to intimidate us. They want us to believe that we cannot have a say in the running of our lives. But people around the country have begun to say “No.” We have seen opposition growing. The Democrats have also seen this and will try to convince people that the solution lies in the 2026 elections. They have nothing to offer other than their speeches and lawsuits. We should not look to them.
The day Trump was inaugurated there were protests everywhere. And they have continued: at Tesla dealerships when Trump brought Elon Musk on board to trash government agencies and fire federal workers, at National Parks and government offices, and street corners. People have gone to immigration courts to monitor and sometimes block ICE when they try to snatch people who are attending court hearings to gain legal status. When Trump had his poorly attended, militarized birthday celebration in D.C., more than five million people demonstrated that day – “No Kings Day.” This past Labor Day there were more than 1,000 rallies and gatherings across the country.
Healthcare workers are organizing to protect their patients and teachers are organizing to protect their students from ICE invasions of clinics, hospitals and schools. In Washington, D.C., people are setting up night patrols to monitor and record the actions of ICE. Veterans’ groups are forming to talk to members of the National Guard about their right not to violate the law.
When working people across the country begin to overcome the fear mongering by the politicians, many more possibilities will open up. When we see our common needs, and our potential strength if we unite together, a different future is possible. Each one of us has a role to play. We have waited long enough. Now is the time to organize and fight back.
