April 3rd, 2007 at 5:12 pm (Lo Ultimo)

OPERATION ETHNIC CLEANSING:

The Government’s Master Plan for Mass Deportations

By Raul Alcaraz

Unless migrant communities resist, the US government, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will continue attacking and terrorizing migrant communities.

What have we seen so far?

· On any given day, federal authorities detain a record of over 26,500 people across the United States.

· Nationally, raids have abducted and kidnapped families. Since “Operation Return to Sender” was launched by the Department of Homeland Security in June 2006, over 18,000 people have been abducted by the ICE.

· In 2005, along the US-Mexico border there were a record-breaking 473 migrant deaths; over 260 were on the Arizona border.

We are witnessing a humanitarian crisis, heightened repression, and violence against our communities. These are not isolated events, but rather part of a systematic, nationally-coordinated effort to terrorize migrant people.

Unless migrant communities are organized and unite to fight back, the US government and its agencies will fully execute “Endgame: Detention and Removal Strategic Plan for a Secure Homeland.”* Endgame is a disturbing 49 page government plan to build the capacity, resources, and infrastructure for the mass deportation of all undocumented migrants living in the US by the year 2012. The DHS Office of Detention and Removal’s (DRO) mission is to “promote the public safety and national security by ensuring the departure from the United States of all removable aliens through the fair and effective enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws.” The ethnic cleansing of colonized people will continue; seeing policies of extermination in the near future is not all that far-fetched.

March 22, 2007, Reps. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., introduced HR 1645, the Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act, or STRIVE Act. But the only area this bill strives towards is injustice and white supremacy. This bill includes:

* stepped-up surveillance

* further militarization of the US-Mexico border

* disproportionate punishments for minor offenses by undocumented migrants

* encourages local law enforcement agencies to enforce immigration law

* increases ICE personnel

* expands detentions and deportations without hearings

* a guest-worker program

These aspects of the STRIVE Act are to be carried out before the implementation of a so-called legalization program with giant hoops requiring a family member to leave the country, pay a ,500 fine, meet english and civics requirements, and among other things have no ‘criminal’ record.

But what about the millions that will not qualify for the so-called legalization or guest worker programs? Of the over 12 million undocumented migrants living in the US, the majority will not qualify for anything. The STRIVE Act therefore will only serve to make conditions worse for the majority of migrants. This bill will serve to justify the persecution, detentions, deportations and murders of those that will still be left in the margins. And of course, national Hispanic leadership such as the National Council of La Raza, cite the STRIVE Act as an ” important step forward on the road to comprehensive immigration reform.”

The STRIVE Act is dangerous legislation because it is masked as a pro-immigrant bill that will legalize millions. But it is not. The Democrats compromised in order to appeal to the Republican vote. We cannot conform to hypocrisy; we cannot accept their poisonous crumbs.

Basically, the nationwide raids, deaths/murders at the US Mexico border, and anti-migrant bills are all part of a larger, long-term strategy the government is carrying through to invade brown migrant communities and exploit their cheap labor. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff said the raids highlighted a need for the guest-worker program, which would cut down on the demand for illegal documents. That’s not all it highlights, however. The goal of DHS is for Congress to pass a bill that will allow for the guaranteed supply and exploitation of migrant slave labor so that they can implement Operation Endgame’s final campaign of nationally assaulting migrant communities living and working in the US without devastating the US economy. The enemy is building itself to successfully carry out the “100% removal rate of all removable aliens”*–millions of women, men, and children.

We don’t need to look to Nazi Germany for historic parallels. US history has a rich tradition of invasion and genocide right here at home. Operation Endgame, if it continues as it is headed, will surpass anything we’ve seen in US history. The concentration camps for Japanese citizens during World War 2 or the mass deportations seen in 1954’s “Operation Wetback” do not match up to the strategy, vision or ambition of what we are seeing today.

Migrants however, may not let it get to that level. We should not fear that the raids are happening as a result of the massive May 1 st mobilizations against Sensenbrenner bill HR 4437 we saw last year. The government has planned this for years. The migrant community has resisted and must continue doing so. We will not allow family members to be taken away without a fight. Oppression breeds resistance. If the government is prepared to wage a war against us, we should be ready to wage it also. The immigration issue is exploding and bursting at the seams. The US government is committing crimes and violence against our communities. The government is creating the conditions that can potentially lead the US into a second civil war.

This repression is part of a continued US policy of genocide against colonized people. The attacks will continue unless we as migrant and undocumented people build our capacity, organize ourselves and exercise our power for the long haul without fear or compromise.

*Here is the link to the government plan: http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/dhs/endgame.pdf