Arbeit Zukunft | July 3, 2025 | Editor’s note translated from German for the Red Phoenix | Interview questions and answers published in original English–

At the beginning of June, the reports about large waves of protests in Los Angeles and later the entire USA were increasing. The trigger was deportations by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but the protests became symbols against the entire Trump administration. We spoke with the American Party of Labor (APL) about the protests and the perspective of the movement.

The American Party of Labor is part of the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations (ICMLPO) and was founded in 2014. It is active in more than 20 states.

AZ: In the last weeks, we saw big protests, especially in Los Angeles, and the government even called the military on the protestors. What caused the protests initially? Is it true that it was a direct defense to deportations and ICE-operations?

APL: The protests started as a legal observation and protest of ICE raids in Los Angeles, which ICE agents escalated with dozens of arrests. The arrests included a trade union leader, David Huerta, for a major union, SEIU California, which represents over 700,000 workers. Huerta and others were severely injured in the arrests and required hospitalization. The following day, the protests against the presence of ICE grew, and Trump responded with a disproportionately aggressive and militarized force. What started as a defense against the Trump regime’s aggressive deportations has since become a wider movement combating the increasing militarization of law enforcement and the power grabs by the Presidency. When the government responds against peaceful and popular protests by deploying the military to “maintain order,” it follows a familiar pattern of repression. The capitalists think it’s a sign of strength, but it’s really a sign of weakness and fear. These protests have become a response to the larger system of injustice, which is tearing off the democratic mask more and more every day.

What is the situation of immigrants in the US today and especially since Trump took office again?

The situation is very tenuous. Many immigrants are fearful that they or their families could be snatched off the streets without warning and deported, in many cases, to a country that they have not seen since their infancy; or, even worse, to the for-profit concentration camp that the Trump regime has arranged with the government of El Salvador. Immigrant families are worried about sending their children to school for fear of being separated at the hands of ICE. Even visits to medical facilities are dangerous as ICE has been given access to detain patients. People are being arrested just outside of courtrooms for immigration hearings. International students are preparing to be denied access back into the U.S. when they visit family at home, and are being advised by American universities to refrain from protesting or political expression. Migrant workers face increased threats from their employers to be reported to ICE if they demand better treatment, fair wages, or the following of labor laws.

It must be noted that the terror is not solely directed at immigrants, but also at their family members, many of whom are US citizens. In one case, a four year old child who is a US citizen and was undergoing treatment for metastatic cancer was deported without any access to necessary medication or consultation with their doctor.

There have now been thousands of ICE raids across the country, usually performed by masked agents with no identification, appearing in plain clothes to kidnap people. ICE raids are now happening openly, publicly, without shame. The Trump government has introduced sweeping measures to disappear and deport people without court hearings, and is attempting to roll back the constitutional right to citizenship by birth and to suspend refugee resettlement and asylum entirely and bring terroristic criminal penalties for undocumented status. Soon, this will be coupled with the complete criminalization of domestic protest, which is common for bourgeois dictatorships. We see this in the effort to criminalize opposition to the genocide in Gaza.

What were the demands of the protestors who took to the streets?

The protests, both in Los Angeles and nationwide, are demanding an end to mass deportations – indeed, to all deportations – the complete abolition of ICE and the DHS, the recall of militarized forces including the National Guard and Marines, protection for refugees and for all people in sanctuary cities, and the immediate release of all persons detained during ICE raids. The people are calling for community defense organizations for the protection of migrants, for the reinstatement of pathways to citizenship that have been gutted by this regime, and for the cessation of local and state-level governments’ cooperation with ICE and other federal agencies enforcing immigration restrictions.

What does the use of military against the protests mean in the bigger picture?

It certainly signals the willingness, even eagerness, of the Trump administration to deploy US troops on US soil against US citizens, an act that is utterly unconstitutional.  This act, perhaps more than any other, demonstrates that the fascistization of American political life is proceeding at an accelerated rate.

The Trump regime is openly attacking the legal right to protest granted by the bourgeois liberal state, and recognizes that its actions are being directly felt by the working class, which will always fight back against oppression. Actions by ICE are deeply unpopular by an already-agitated working class, and the administration recognizes that this could be an issue which sparks a strong, well-coordinated protest movement. The growing people’s movement is a genuine threat to the Trump regime and to an imperialist power already in crisis, which is desperately attempting to suppress this force in its infancy.

The use of military personnel represents a clear escalation by the bourgeoisie, a sign of panic that a mass mobilization could have happened so quickly, fueled by the delusion that the ruling class could strike at anybody they wanted and no one would ever strike back. The state is treating all protests as national security threats to be met with force, instead of as the popular democratic expressions that they are. In addition to the deployment of the National Guard and Marines, state governors are talking about running over protestors, and sheriffs are talking about killing protestors. The capitalists are trying to send a message: it’s not just about immigration anymore – it’s about who has the right to have a voice in ruling the country.

We saw big protests against Trump in the whole country on the 14th of June. How is the anti-Trump movement developing? What are the perspectives?

Although the June 14th demonstrations were largely organized by liberal-progressive organizations, with demands often not reflective of the people’s movement, they showed the extent to which working, exploited, and marginalized people in the United States reject Trumpite fascism. An organic and spontaneous element has also been present at these protests, representing the will of the masses to genuinely fight back against the policies of the Trump regime and to build a movement with achievable demands.

The general sentiment was anti-Trump as an individual figure, rather than as a symbol of the system and class that he stands for, with the main slogan of the protest being “No Kings” in response to his self-image as some kind of monarch. Class analysis and solidarity were severely lacking in the leadership of these protests.

In cities across the U.S. on June 14th, there were additional protests that were not called for by the liberal organizations, which attracted smaller but more militant crowds, who were willing to be more confrontational with police and politicians, and which rejected the liberal framing of the issues of the day. These protests are the ones which are facing crackdowns by law enforcement and police brutality, and they are the ones with demands for more revolutionary aims. While the mainstream liberal events of June 14th called for the removal of Trump, voting for the Democratic Party, and supporting liberal bourgeois politicians, the organic people’s movement has called for an end to the occupation of Palestine, the abolition of ICE, and the formation of anti-fascist and community defense organizations.

It needs to be said this is a national movement. Tens of thousands marched in dozens of cities simultaneously. This isn’t a one-off explosion but a simmering anger that’s been building ever since Trump took office. His second term has been an exercise in the capitalists seeing what they can get away with, to try and move the needle as far as they can and seeing how hard people will push back.

We’re seeing more intersectional anti-Trump sentiment in recent years. Labor unions, political parties, climate change activists, civil rights groups, immigrant rights groups, students and ordinary workers are resisting the American move towards authoritarianism and its use of force, surveillance, and frivolous legal charges to suppress dissent.

Everything is still in motion, still “in play,” so the overall effectiveness of these protests is difficult to gauge at this moment. However, the anger and rage of the people is rising. No matter what happens, the working class will not go quietly into the night.

Categories: Interview, U.S. News