TRENTON, NJ—When members and friends of Progressive Labor Party and Cosecha arrived at the state capitol building, about 100 people on the left side of the courtyard were holding signs in support of driving licenses for undocumented workers.
Two immigrant women workers denounced the fact that Democrats starting with Governor Phil Murphy are manipulating the votes of antiracist workers by promising this reform while campaigning, but refusing to hold an antiracist line while in office. The fight for licenses reveals a division between the oppressors and a danger of growing fascism. However, it also reveals opportunity to expose the bosses and build a movement without borders and pass laws: communism.
Driver license fight between two sets of fascists
In 2005, the federal government passed the Real ID Act, which imposed ironclad requirements for getting a driver’s license (see below). Many undocumented immigrants then did not have the necessary documents to renew or get a new license. This then leads to the threat of deportation over simple traffic infractions by bringing the undocumented immigrants to ICE’s attention. This June a law allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses passed the New York Assembly. In the meantime, workers in a couple of other states like New Jersey are being mobilized around similar reforms throughout the U.S. by mass organizations like Cosecha. The different attitudes towards immigrants by politicians represent fighting within the capitalist class. One set of bosses, represented by Donald Trump and his senior adviser Stephen Miller, are concerned about issues affecting their short-term profits. Their caging of children is exciting their mostly racist white working-class base.
On the other hand there is a set of liberal bosses that still worry about the U.S. being the main superpower in the world (see editorial, page 2). They know in order for that to happen they will need a much larger multiracial army. In order to do that they must convince Black and Latin workers that capitalism and these bosses care about them. The driver’s license is one way of doing that.
The pass laws
Notably, in 2005 when the Bush administration signed into law the $82 billion military fund to slaughtering workers in Iraq and Afghanistan, they also incorporated what is known as the REAL ID Act. By 2020, all state identification cards will need to meet this standard to get on a domestic flight or federal facilities, including military bases. Not only do these identification cards enable a central way to track biodata of workers, it also differentiates which cardholder is a citizen, a “lawful” resident, or a “temporary” person with a corresponding symbol at the on the top right corner of the card. This system then effectively creates two classes of identification systems—one for documented and one undocumented workers. This demonstrates how the liberal bosses are building a wider base for fascism.
CHALLENGE, a tool for class-consciousness
CHALLENGE continues to make a difference with more than 30 workers taking these revolutionary working-class ideas into their hands. Communist ideas continue to have a growing impact among workers, as one person at Cosecha acknowledges that reading passages from CHALLENGE helped her realize that the fight of workers extends far beyond this reform organization.
After the speeches, our Cosecha group moved into the statehouse. Once past the checkpoint, we went downstairs and chanted in the hallways through which politicians were walking back and forth to their meetings. Though security pushed us into to a confined area, but we were still able to make our presence known to the politicians when they were in our sights. Chants included, “Licenses Yes, Promises No!” as we gave the politicians pamphlets. Some faked being supportive and others didn’t care and kept moving through the crowd.
Which side are the politicians on?
Then, we moved upstairs into the chamber where the politicians vote. In the hallway leading to the chamber were paintings of rich white capitalist politicians throughout history. Their portraits amplified the oppression we already felt. While in the chambers, two protesters defiantly revealed a banner in support of the driving licenses. Some workers revealed posters, and still other workers began to chant against the politicians. Soon after, the workers were kicked out. This revealed the true colors of the politicians.When asked what lessons she could share with other workers who read CHALLENGE, an immigrant leader on the front lines of the reform shared the following:
Bosses and politicians have a lot in common. Politicians pretend to advocate for our rights, which ultimately they only grant when it serves their interests. Both use similar tactics to dominate us. While we labor without fighting back, okay with the little that they give us, the bosses will keep treating us the same. We must realize bosses need us. If we all refuse to work for them, they will be forced to see they need us. When the working class rises up the politicians lose control. They get upset because they are losing domination over us. This is the same with bosses. Learning that fear is the only thing that prevents us from fighting back is important. I have realized that I have the strength to struggle with other workers to fight back. That is how all struggle starts. With knowing that fear has not allowed us to fight back, and having the courage to take leadership in inspiring other workers to rise up against all of our suffering.
Communists in PLP agree. The suffering we feel from bosses is what we call exploitation. The system that maintains this unequal relationship between bosses and workers is capitalism. Regardless of the reforms promoted by one politician or another under this capitalist system, any reform can and is reversed or turned against workers when the conflicts between bosses intensify.
You don’t need a license to join PLP
Communist politics on the other hand means learning from and giving leadership to workers wherever PLP has a presence. We fight to transform any limited reform for a small section of workers into an international working class revolution. This is done by exposing how the competition and division among bosses constantly undermines any benefits gained through reform, drives bosses to find new ways to divide workers, and creates the conditions for workers to unite internationally against our common exploiters. This is what we call organizing for communist revolution! Join the fight!