HANDS OFF THE BAY! No Raids, No Occupation!
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Noah Berger
Trump has dispatched over 100 federal agents from ICE and Customs and Border Protection to Coast Guard Island in Alameda County for anticipated immigration raids across the Bay Area. Trump has also explicitly stated his plans to send the National Guard into San Francisco by invoking the Insurrection Act.
This is a dangerous abuse of power by the Trump administration and a continued effort by the right-wing to consolidate power and roll back hard-fought workers’ rights across this country. Trump is targeting San Francisco and the Bay Area with the threat of federal invasion because of the long-held sanctuary status of many Bay Area cities and the strong workers’ movements that have originated here.
Earlier this month, billionaire Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff urged Trump to send the National Guard to San Francisco. Due to massive public outrage, Benioff had to retract his comments. Mayor Daniel Lurie was forced to finally break his silence and publicly rebuke Benioff’s remarks. But no billionaire, and no two-party politician - Republican or Democrat - is going to protect us.
Mass action is the only thing that will stop the raids and federal invasion of San Francisco and the Bay Area. Since Trump began dispatching federal forces to cities, the people have wholly rejected this racist and undemocratic power grab, from D.C. to Chicago to Portland.
Millions took to the streets for the second No Kings Day on Oct. 18th in one of the biggest single days of demonstration in U.S. history. In San Francisco over 100,000 demonstrators came out to oppose Trump and the billionaire agenda.
The mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, called for a general strike against Trump and the ultra-rich. America has seen many general strikes in the last century, including San Francisco in 1934 led by dockworkers and socialists and Oakland in 1946 sparked by the struggle of retail clerks. In 2006, millions of immigrant workers went out on a general strike for A Day Without Immigrants, which successfully laid to rest the racist Sensenbrenner bill.
Defeating the Trump Administration’s attacks and the billionaire interests behind it is entirely possible, but only with sustained collective action by large masses of ordinary people. The actions of masses of people are what drive history. In the next few days, the country will be watching the Bay Area.
It’s up to us to say it loud and clear: Hands off the Bay! NO to ICE and any military occupation.
