The Communist Position on Immigration
The recent onslaught of attacks by ICE in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minneapolis has placed the fight against racism and xenophobia front-and-center. However, this wave of repression is not a new phenomenon. Throughout history, the US ruling class has used immigrants as scapegoats to keep workers divided. The capitalists exploit cheap immigrant labor to increase their profits while keeping wages down for all workers.
Communists are the most ardent fighters against all forms of oppression. We stand against poisonous alien-class ideas permeating the workers’ movement, including xenophobia. But how can we actually wage a struggle to end oppression in all its forms? This session will explain why ending the oppression of immigrant workers can only be successfully achieved through a class program capable of uniting the entire working class.
This discussion will be introduced by Ramneet Manrai, a leading member of the RCA in New York City.
Reading list:
Articles
- Why Marxists oppose immigration controls – Niklas Albin Svensson
- Trump Tries to Shift the Blame by Scapegoating Immigrants – Martín Los Hoces
- Capitalism and Workers’ Immigration – V.I. Lenin
- Lessons of the “Day Without an Immigrant” – RCA
- When Immigrant Workers Were Kicked Out, the Economy Collapsed – Abhit P
- Resolution on “Immigration and Emigration of Workers” – Second International, Stuttgart Congress
Books
- Colossus: The Rise and Decline of US Imperialism, Part Two, sub-section “Immigration and imperialism” – John Peterson
Additional Reading
- Articles on Immigration – RCA
