Arresting opposition officials: No limits to Trump's dictatorship
Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2025 11:21 pm
From the Detroit/Seattle Workers' Voice mailing list
June 5, 2025
Arresting opposition officials:
No limits to Trump’s dictatorship
by Pete Brown, Detroit Workers’ Voice
Donald Trump’s latest outrages include the arrests of elected officials
who acted in ways oppositional to Trump’s campaign against immigrants.
This includes a sitting judge, the mayor of an important American city,
a serving Congressperson, and a Congressional staffer. These people have
not been charged with crimes worthy of impeachment like treason or
bribery. No; they have not violated the trust of those who put them in
office. Rather the opposite: they tried to slow down Trump’s racist,
illegal war against immigrants and stand up for the maintenance of basic
democratic rights.
Take the case of Hannah Dugan, a Milwaukee County judge who dislikes
having her courtroom staked out by ICE agents. In the past, ICE avoided
courtrooms. But now the Trump administration has authorized them to use
courtrooms as entrapment locations. When immigrants appear for their
immigration case or for other cases, ICE agents are there waiting for
them. Once this becomes known, immigrants then avoid the courtrooms, not
showing up at all. In mid-April, one such immigrant man walked into
Dugan’s courtroom and spotted some ICE agents waiting for him. He turned
around and took off running. ICE agents outside ran him down and
arrested him. Meanwhile inside, Judge Dugan got into a verbal
confrontation with ICE agents there, complaining about their actions.
The next day, agents returned and served an arrest warrant on the judge,
charging her with “angrily confronting” federal agents and interfering
with their duty. These are charges that could result in a prison term of
six years. (See
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/mo ... r-AA1FQi93)
Or take the case of Ras Baraka, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey. ICE is
opening up a new detention facility in Newark which Baraka has
complained about. Newark is a sanctuary city in a sanctuary state, and
local police have a policy of not cooperating with ICE. Local
Congressional representatives arranged an inspection of the new site to
publicize their opposition to what ICE was doing. ICE granted them
admittance, and they were joined by Mayor Baraka. Baraka was admitted,
but as soon as he left the facility after touring it, agents ran out and
arrested him for “trespassing.” Baraka was in the middle of a crowd of
protesters who had gathered to voice their opposition to the facility.
Pushing and shoving ensued, as people tried to prevent the agents from
hauling the mayor away. A week later, at Baraka’s court hearing,
charges against him were dropped, as the federal prosecutor tacitly
admitted the whole thing was a mistake. (See
https://apnews.com/article/newark-mayor ... 8b498124ed)
But the affair didn’t end there. As soon as they dropped charges against
Baraka, they also announced charges against Congressional Representative
LaMonica McIver, whom they said was involved in the pushing and shoving
around Baraka. Federal officials have vowed to prosecute her for
obstructing federal agents. They’ve admitted (without saying so) that
the arrest of Baraka was a mistake, but McIver will be prosecuted for
protesting that mistake. (See
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/nyre ... arges.html)
Then there’s the case of ICE agents invading the office of Congressman
Jerry Nadler, trying to pursue some people who had been carrying out a
peaceful protest against ICE. When Nadler’s staff assistants protested
against the invasion, one of the staffers was put in handcuffs and
charged with interference. (See
“https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... d78df0cd65)
People who think that Trump will obey the limits of his position are
wrong. He violates laws at will and knows no limits. He stokes bigotry,
vilifies immigrants and minorities, seeks to make their life hell, and
brings the full force of the executive branch against them. Seeing the
large number of people who stand up in defense of the immigrants, he
uses federal agencies – Border Patrol, ICE, FBI, ATF, etc. – to go after
even elected officials, as well as against the mass of indignant people
who defend immigrants.
A good example recently took place on Tuesday, June 3, when federal and
local police invaded a Latino area of Minneapolis. They came prepared in
full tactical gear, accompanied by an armored personnel carrier, a small
tank-like vehicle. But before they could carry out their raid, they were
immediately surrounded by a crowd of protesters who tried to block them.
Video shows people haranguing the officers, chanting, “Get The Fuck
Out!” A large-scale riot came close to erupting when agents tried to
arrest one man who dared to point his finger at an agent’s chest. People
laid down bicycles in the street as an impromptu barricade. Some carried
hastily scrawled placards saying “Abolish ICE”. (See
https://apnews.com/article/minneapolis- ... bb566d4fef)
The federal police involved were accompanied by police from Minneapolis
and other local jurisdictions. Minneapolis is supposed to be a sanctuary
city. The mayor of Minneapolis tried to justify his cooperation with ICE
agents by saying they were pursuing a criminal case, and this was not an
immigration raid. But such distinctions are difficult to make, as ICE
agents are quick to convert their raids into criminal prosecutions, as
they have done in the cases above. While Trump is using ICE as his
private Gestapo, snatching people off the streets by masked agents and
shipping them off – against court order – to torture chambers in other
countries, activists should demand that local officials take sanctuary
seriously and cut off any cooperation with Trump’s police.
A host of immigrants’ rights organizations already exist, and they
advocate various forms of resistance to Trump’s agenda. This includes
the formation of rapid-response teams to turn out numbers of people to
confront ICE when they carry out raids like in Minneapolis. This is all
good, and should be combined with political work to spread the word more
widely in support of the call, “Full rights for all immigrants!” Trump’s
rotten vilification of immigrants has unfortunately struck a chord of
support among a section of the working class, and vigorous political
work is needed to overcome that. <>
Picture: Federal officers in tactical gear went into a Latino community
in Minneapolis. A protest followed
(https://apnews.com/article/minneapolis- ... bb566d4fef)
June 5, 2025
Arresting opposition officials:
No limits to Trump’s dictatorship
by Pete Brown, Detroit Workers’ Voice
Donald Trump’s latest outrages include the arrests of elected officials
who acted in ways oppositional to Trump’s campaign against immigrants.
This includes a sitting judge, the mayor of an important American city,
a serving Congressperson, and a Congressional staffer. These people have
not been charged with crimes worthy of impeachment like treason or
bribery. No; they have not violated the trust of those who put them in
office. Rather the opposite: they tried to slow down Trump’s racist,
illegal war against immigrants and stand up for the maintenance of basic
democratic rights.
Take the case of Hannah Dugan, a Milwaukee County judge who dislikes
having her courtroom staked out by ICE agents. In the past, ICE avoided
courtrooms. But now the Trump administration has authorized them to use
courtrooms as entrapment locations. When immigrants appear for their
immigration case or for other cases, ICE agents are there waiting for
them. Once this becomes known, immigrants then avoid the courtrooms, not
showing up at all. In mid-April, one such immigrant man walked into
Dugan’s courtroom and spotted some ICE agents waiting for him. He turned
around and took off running. ICE agents outside ran him down and
arrested him. Meanwhile inside, Judge Dugan got into a verbal
confrontation with ICE agents there, complaining about their actions.
The next day, agents returned and served an arrest warrant on the judge,
charging her with “angrily confronting” federal agents and interfering
with their duty. These are charges that could result in a prison term of
six years. (See
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/mo ... r-AA1FQi93)
Or take the case of Ras Baraka, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey. ICE is
opening up a new detention facility in Newark which Baraka has
complained about. Newark is a sanctuary city in a sanctuary state, and
local police have a policy of not cooperating with ICE. Local
Congressional representatives arranged an inspection of the new site to
publicize their opposition to what ICE was doing. ICE granted them
admittance, and they were joined by Mayor Baraka. Baraka was admitted,
but as soon as he left the facility after touring it, agents ran out and
arrested him for “trespassing.” Baraka was in the middle of a crowd of
protesters who had gathered to voice their opposition to the facility.
Pushing and shoving ensued, as people tried to prevent the agents from
hauling the mayor away. A week later, at Baraka’s court hearing,
charges against him were dropped, as the federal prosecutor tacitly
admitted the whole thing was a mistake. (See
https://apnews.com/article/newark-mayor ... 8b498124ed)
But the affair didn’t end there. As soon as they dropped charges against
Baraka, they also announced charges against Congressional Representative
LaMonica McIver, whom they said was involved in the pushing and shoving
around Baraka. Federal officials have vowed to prosecute her for
obstructing federal agents. They’ve admitted (without saying so) that
the arrest of Baraka was a mistake, but McIver will be prosecuted for
protesting that mistake. (See
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/nyre ... arges.html)
Then there’s the case of ICE agents invading the office of Congressman
Jerry Nadler, trying to pursue some people who had been carrying out a
peaceful protest against ICE. When Nadler’s staff assistants protested
against the invasion, one of the staffers was put in handcuffs and
charged with interference. (See
“https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... d78df0cd65)
People who think that Trump will obey the limits of his position are
wrong. He violates laws at will and knows no limits. He stokes bigotry,
vilifies immigrants and minorities, seeks to make their life hell, and
brings the full force of the executive branch against them. Seeing the
large number of people who stand up in defense of the immigrants, he
uses federal agencies – Border Patrol, ICE, FBI, ATF, etc. – to go after
even elected officials, as well as against the mass of indignant people
who defend immigrants.
A good example recently took place on Tuesday, June 3, when federal and
local police invaded a Latino area of Minneapolis. They came prepared in
full tactical gear, accompanied by an armored personnel carrier, a small
tank-like vehicle. But before they could carry out their raid, they were
immediately surrounded by a crowd of protesters who tried to block them.
Video shows people haranguing the officers, chanting, “Get The Fuck
Out!” A large-scale riot came close to erupting when agents tried to
arrest one man who dared to point his finger at an agent’s chest. People
laid down bicycles in the street as an impromptu barricade. Some carried
hastily scrawled placards saying “Abolish ICE”. (See
https://apnews.com/article/minneapolis- ... bb566d4fef)
The federal police involved were accompanied by police from Minneapolis
and other local jurisdictions. Minneapolis is supposed to be a sanctuary
city. The mayor of Minneapolis tried to justify his cooperation with ICE
agents by saying they were pursuing a criminal case, and this was not an
immigration raid. But such distinctions are difficult to make, as ICE
agents are quick to convert their raids into criminal prosecutions, as
they have done in the cases above. While Trump is using ICE as his
private Gestapo, snatching people off the streets by masked agents and
shipping them off – against court order – to torture chambers in other
countries, activists should demand that local officials take sanctuary
seriously and cut off any cooperation with Trump’s police.
A host of immigrants’ rights organizations already exist, and they
advocate various forms of resistance to Trump’s agenda. This includes
the formation of rapid-response teams to turn out numbers of people to
confront ICE when they carry out raids like in Minneapolis. This is all
good, and should be combined with political work to spread the word more
widely in support of the call, “Full rights for all immigrants!” Trump’s
rotten vilification of immigrants has unfortunately struck a chord of
support among a section of the working class, and vigorous political
work is needed to overcome that. <>
Picture: Federal officers in tactical gear went into a Latino community
in Minneapolis. A protest followed
(https://apnews.com/article/minneapolis- ... bb566d4fef)