Gathering at the Mission Hills Christian Church, members of the Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) held a community meeting to discuss the ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids that have hit local communities.
The PFP, a left-wing political party in California, held the meeting in collaboration with the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), both of which have chapters in LA.
“At this moment, we want to end the raids in our community,” said Paul Ramirez, a PFP organizer. “So much of the immigration community and the whole [San Fernando] Valley is rejecting the presence of ICE terrorizing our communities. And the people who are daring to stand up and fight back, we’ve been deemed as violent or criminals just for taking to the streets and demanding change.”
He added that it’s people in the community that make change and they’re not going to wait around for a politician’s “benevolence” to come and save them. Ramirez pointed to communities organizing and mobilizing, not only in the face of these recent ICE raids but also following the LA wildfires in January, where community groups assisted in cleanup efforts and provided water, food and clothing to those in need.
“It’s always the people and organizations [at the] grassroots [level] that make change,” Ramirez said. “I think it’s really important to continue these techniques to engage the people to participate and work together to build these networks and build more people power.”
Those attending were invited to join the PSL volunteer network, which offers a rapid response 101 orientation on what to do if ICE is in your community, including informing people of their rights, how to take photos and video of ICE operations and how to respond after immigration agents have left the scene.
One PSL member, who goes by the name Devin, recounted how when he was no more than 10 years old, he would help his immigrant parents study for their citizenship exams. He still remembers the smiles on their faces when they passed, waving an American flag as they returned home.
But looking back, he said it wasn’t happiness they felt – it was relief. They were now “allowed to stay in this country” and didn’t have the fear of being separated looming over them. As he’s grown, Devin said he’s realized that citizenship is an arbitrary category used by “the system” for the purpose of discrimination. These recent ICE raids aren’t about any crimes immigrants may have committed, he maintained, but are instead about the color of their skin.
“Our organization has consistently been at the forefront of the fight against ICE and we’ve built an active rapid response network of volunteers who show up to ICE raids and protect their community,” Devin said. “Our volunteer network is full of individuals … who are motivated to protect your community against the violent attacks of a racist government.”
Members of the PFP and PSL aren’t just on the ICE raids, though, but also on conflicts the United States is involved in abroad – namely, the war with Iran and the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Ramirez expressed frustration with many politicians, including those from the Democratic Party, who have failed to take real positions against the ICE raids and the overseas wars.
He specifically called out California Congressman Brad Sherman, who has stood in support of Israel’s attack on Iranian nuclear capabilities, saying it was “understandable and justified.” Ramirez said this was after an April town hall meeting that Sherman held at California State University, Northridge, where attendees were given a survey asking multiple questions, one of which was if the U.S. should continue to provide arms to Israel. More than half said no.
“We’re going to reject these warmongering politicians who are trying to escalate us into a wider war in the Middle East while there are so many people here at home who are suffering from lack of access to health care or education, high grocery prices, gas prices and cost of living,” Ramirez said. “We want the billions of money that’s spent on war to be spent here at home to fund the people’s needs.”
He added that these struggles are connected, as people who are displaced and come to the U.S. in search of a better life then become targets of ICE raids. There’s a mutual understanding, he said, that they need to organize and work with people from different backgrounds and organizations in order to fight and win.
“People, organically, are already creating their own rapid response networks to organize their neighborhoods, block by block,” Ramirez said. “People are mobilizing to kick ICE out of hotels. People are taking to the streets and organizing their own protests, so we want to continue to build that momentum and keep fighting.”