The Swift Raids of December: Americans Organize Aid for Their Government's Victims

It wouldn't be surprising if you missed the U.S. government's round-up and detention of more than a thousand workers last week since it barely brushed the radar of the media giants. Yet, Labor Start continues to have a flurry of stories. The governments post-hoc pretext was identity theft, but using other people's social security cards, which alone, is far from "identity theft." Identity use might better describe situation, as would use of social security numbers, though it doesn't generate quite the mass panic that comes with the idea of freeloaders racking up debt on your credit cards--as if immigrants really come here to rob and steel.

Some people are just doing the familiar quacking about how they want all undocumented immigrants deported. The New York Times unloads all the popular rhetoric to editorialize for immigration reform. Unions, weighing heavily in on the side of the immigrants, are in an uproar at the precedents being established by big government raiding the work place, and some point to the victimization of illegal immigrants while the bosses go free. Although it was also interesting to read that finally a corporate executive may do time for hiring immigrants illegally, I'm not sure how well that bodes for the immigrants. What's so striking about most of these articles is how little voice is given to the victims.

Of the several stories I've read, the one I found most appealing discusses how citizens in Minneapolis organized a food drive for local victims of the raids. This is the type of solidarity that could prove a far more vital component in defeating the rise of fascism in the U.S.