The Fight for a Free Palestine Doesn’t End With A Ceasefire
Seattle DSA Statement on the Jan. 15th announcement of a ceasefire in Gaza
Seattle DSA greets January 19th’s commencement of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas with measured relief – after more than 450 days of unremitting Israeli bombing of Gaza, this ceasefire represents a glimmer of hope for the besieged yet steadfast Palestinians of Gaza. Over the past year, the Israeli campaign of genocide has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands in Gaza and displaced nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants.
This campaign of genocide was made possible by the unrestricted diplomatic cover provided to Israel by the disgraced Biden Administration and more than $17 billion in military aid appropriated by both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. These funds represent a theft of tax dollars by the ruling class that should have been put to use feeding, housing, educating, and caring for the working class in this country. This genocide was also made possible by Israel’s apartheid regime, which denies millions of Palestinians basic civil and political rights. Israel has a history of violating ceasefires; it can and will resume its genocide unless Palestine is free from Israeli apartheid and occupation.
As socialists, we believe that we are not free until Palestine is free. We stand resolute in our commitment to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement in solidarity with the Palestinian people. By divesting our communities from Israel, we will work to prevent the Israeli government from repeating these atrocities and support Palestinian liberation. Through our Boycott War Profiteers campaign, we have worked over the last 6 months to collect pledges from over 1500 community members to boycott Israeli goods and fight back against companies that have fired workers for standing up for Palestine. We have built public pressure against companies that profit from the sale of Israeli goods and bolstered support for those that stand in solidarity with Palestine. This campaign is just getting started; the global Palestinian solidarity movement isn’t going anywhere and neither are we.
You can support community divestment in the greater Seattle area by joining our Boycott War Profiteers campaign and participating in the following Boycott War Profiteers campaigns:
1. Sending an email to Artist and Craftsman Supply management to protest their firing of a worker for wearing a watermelon pin.
2. Writing to the PCC Community Markets’ Board of Directors to urge them to drop Israeli products.
3. Join the campaign to help identify supportive and antagonistic businesses, growing our organizational capacity.
Boycott and Divestment campaigns across the globe have already played an important role in bringing Israel back to the negotiating table for this ceasefire. From eroding Israel’s credit rating to shuttering thousands of Israeli businesses, Israel’s apartheid regime is more vulnerable than ever. Together, we can keep up the pressure to end Israeli apartheid over Palestine.
Onward to a free Palestine, from the river to the sea.
Free Heartland Kids
Donald Trump’s fascist regime has returned to power, unleashing a cascade of anti-immigrant policies. Trump campaigned on a platform of violently racist rhetoric, and he has promised to inflict extreme harm on both newcomers and long-time U.S. residents alike through bans, deportations, and incarceration.
While we prepare ourselves for the coming onslaught of attacks on all marginalized groups, we should not forget Trump’s most vulnerable targets, many of whom live among us in Chicago: migrant children.
Here in Chicago, the nonprofit Heartland Human Care Services or HHCS (formerly part of Heartland Alliance), holds hundreds of children captive in buildings across the city. These facilities, which the nonprofit calls “shelters,” are better described as detention centers for kids apprehended at the border. In the past, the organization even detained some children who were separated from their families under Trump’s first administration. HHCS took roughly $45 million from the Department of Health and Human Services for its immigration “services” in 2024, a whopping 74% of its overall federal funding.
According to former employees and residents, these facilities act as holding centers where immigrant children are kept separated from their loved ones while their guardians are investigated by HHCS employees. Children are not allowed to leave the centers without permission, and their parents cannot access them without going through a “vetting” process that is designed to gather information on the parents’ legal status, which is often shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to former employees.
In the words of prison abolitionist Rose Braz,
“Kinder, gentler cages are still cages.”
Former Heartland employees have said children in the detention centers are treated like prisoners with strict schedules and limited freedom, are prevented from seeing loved ones for months or even years, and may be turned over to ICE authorities when they turn 18 and age out of the nonprofit’s custody. Employees also reported that parents had to pay to see their children when reunification was possible. A ProPublica investigation in 2019 found that children in the system had sexual contact with one another due to lax supervision and inadequate staffing, and a Department of Family and Support Services investigation found that a staff member had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old child in one of Heartland’s detention centers in Des Plaines, which has since closed. ProPublica also found that some children in the centers experienced suicidal ideation and others ran away out of desperation.
HHCS leadership claims that its so-called “shelters” are a better alternative to other detention systems for children, and that it protects kids who would otherwise be vulnerable to human trafficking. This rhetoric simply normalizes the U.S. government’s brutal system of immigrant policing, which tears apart families and communities and criminalizes people for fleeing conditions that the U.S. helped to create through its imperialist policies.
In the words of prison abolitionist Rose Braz, “Kinder, gentler cages are still cages.”
Children should not be kept in cages. Parents should not have to submit to surveillance and investigation to be given access to their own children. The entire U.S. immigration system is violent and should be abolished.
Former HHCS employees who have worked in the centers have spoken out against the nonprofit’s treatment of immigrant children, parents, and its own workers. Immigrant rights groups, including Únete La Villita and the Free Heartland Kids group started by CDSA members, have spoken out and protested against these horrors. These efforts paid off — in 2019, in response to a ProPublica’s reporting on the centers and organizers’ appeals to public opinion, Heartland Alliance closed four of its detention centers. Still, more work must be done to free the children in HHCS’s remaining facilities.
The CDSA’s new, improved immigrants’ rights committee faces huge challenges in the years to come.
Throughout his campaign, Trump and his allies have promised to ramp up violent systems that criminalize, imprison, and expel immigrants — especially Black and brown working-class people. Trump has said he will use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport “suspected gang members” without due process, and use federal troops and local police to arrest and deport immigrants. He has declared he will end protections such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and reinstate his ban on migrants from Muslim-majority nations. On his first day in office, he signed an executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship, which would prevent the U.S.-born children of undocumented migrants from becoming citizens from birth. His plans promise to dramatically increase immigration policing and incarceration across the country.
We cannot allow the onslaught of attacks on immigrants to overwhelm us and make us feel helpless. We can all make a difference right here at home.
While the border may feel far away to some of us here in Chicago, the effects of immigration policy will be felt by many of our neighbors. Trump’s chosen immigration advisor even claimed Trump’s quest to deport and incarcerate immigrants will “start right here in Chicago,” and recent news reports confirm that the incoming administration plans to conduct massive ICE raids in Chicago shortly after inauguration day. We must keep our focus sharp, work together with other migrants’ rights groups, and remember that the most vulnerable among us need our attention and deserve our unwavering support.
If you want to get involved with the fight to end child migrant detention in Chicago and defend migrants across the U.S., connect with the CDSA’s new Immigrant Rights Working Group. The next meeting will be held February 6 at CDSA headquarters at 3411 W Diversey Ave #7 Chicago, IL 60647. You do not need to be a dues-paying DSA member to join — all are welcome!
You can also join in the PO Box Collective’s ongoing letter-writing campaign from now until February 13 by writing Valentine’s Day cards to show support to kids in the HHCS detention center in Rogers Park. Click here for more details on this action.
If you are a current or former HHCS employee who would like to share your story or join the campaign to close the child detention centers, please email freeheartlandkids@gmail.com to connect with our group. There are several current and former HHCS employees in the group, and leadership will work with you to protect your identity if you are afraid of retaliation.
The post Free Heartland Kids appeared first on Midwest Socialist.
From Our Co-Chair: A Vision for Memphis Midsouth DSA 2025
To my comrades, fellow travelers, and the people of West Tennessee,
My name is Liam. I am a new co-chair for the Memphis Midsouth chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.
I want to share with you updates from our chapter. You should know something of what to expect from us in 2025.
In these uncertain times, a cohort of promising officers have stepped up to take responsibility and contribute to our socialist movement, as well as a broader culture of organizing in our state. A surge of new members has also connected with the chapter, and DSA nationally. This means we have the potential to grow significantly in our capacity.
Our current position was made possible by diligent organizing over the last year. Our chapter went from being nearly defunct in 2023 to organizing some of the largest meetings in our chapter’s history. During that same time, we have begun actively contributing to workplace organizing, mutual aid, and more. Our network currently numbers in the hundreds, and new people are getting involved nearly every week. This growth is exciting and gives us reasons to feel hopeful.
But, we must transform our newly minted comrades into cohorts of skilled organizers who build strong networks with working people outside of our organization, including those already doing vital work.
It is my hope that as we train a growing membership, our chapter can contribute to building institutions that can resist naked rule by the ultra-rich in the United States, and the politicians in our state who oppress the most vulnerable.
By building institutions deliberately, wisely, and well, we can prepare for future conflict by organizing for power.
From this, I want to list four principles I plan to advocate for among Memphis socialists.
We should:
1) Be an organization of organizers who organize others.
2) Actively support pro-people efforts around us with respect and in good faith.
3) Be consistently with the people and unfailingly reliable. We should build strong relationships on that basis.
4) Be humble such that we are good apprentices in struggle when it is appropriate to be so. That means learning from organizers in the trenches in Memphis, from experts, and from the people. We should learn from veteran socialists, strategy, and our history. We have so much to learn, and our chapter is a relatively new player in the field. We should have a spirit of investigation in order to be effective.
In short, we should consolidate our gains, support important efforts by others, and prepare to make bigger contributions in the future.
I believe we can achieve this together. This will strengthen our efforts to build the power of working people over politics, the economy, and our lives.
Let me close by saying, I understand Memphis Midsouth DSA has gone through several phases. At this stage, I will fiercely advocate for practices that simultaneously promote our effectiveness, organizational stability, security, and accountability. I hope this becomes apparent as you see more and more of our chapter around.
I write to you in solidarity, hoping that we can build alongside one another right now and prepare for the future. We have a world to win.
Liam Wright
Co-Chair, Memphis Midsouth Democratic Socialists of America
The post From Our Co-Chair: A Vision for Memphis Midsouth DSA 2025 first appeared on Memphis-Midsouth DSA.
Wildfires Devastate Los Angeles County Communities
Thorn West: Issue No. 223
| Last week, several explosive and destructive wildfires erupted across LA County. Over 25 casualties have been reported, and many thousands of homes have been destroyed in and around the communities of Altadena and Palisades Park. DSA-LA has put together this evolving emergency resource guide, containing news and organizing opportunities. |
State Politics
- In response to the devastation of the ongoing wildfires in LA County, Governor Newsom has proposed a 2.5 billion aid package. Newsom also called for the suspension of some environmental laws that he argued would impede rebuilding.
- Newsom also published an open letter inviting incoming president Trump to tour the areas devastated by wildfires. Trump has incoherently blamed environmental conservation policy for causing the fires, and threatened to withhold disaster relief.
- On Friday, the Governor released an early draft of the proposed budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year. Though drafted before the wildfires, the budget forecasts a small and unexpected surplus after two years of heavy shortfalls.
City Politics
- LA Public Press breaks down the controversy surrounding recent budget cuts to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Many departments experienced cuts after hundreds of millions of dollars were committed to raises for LAPD officers. More granular breakdown here.
- Former mayoral candidate and real estate billionaire Rick Caruso, who has been outspoken in his criticism of Mayor Karen Bass’ handling of the fires, hired private firefighters to protect his Palisades mall while local public hydrants ran out of water.
- In response to the wildfires, Los Angeles has extended the filing period to register as a candidate for Neighborhood Council elections, and also made it for Neighborhood Councils to issue monetary grants to local nonprofits.
Housing Rights
- The wildfires have been followed by rampant price gouging on rent, as landlords attempt to profit from the devastation. While citizens have responded by collaborating on a rent-gouging spreadsheet (here), the State Attorney General has vowed to investigate and prosecute landlords in violation of the price gouging laws; violations can also be reported here.
- A motion from Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martinez and Eunisses Hernandez would reintroduce COVID policies mandating a blanket temporary rent freeze, as well a moratorium on evicting tenants affected by the fires, but the city council postponed voting on it.
- LA Public Press documents the work of unhoused communities and advocates in developing networks of mutual aid during the wildfires.
- Grist puts the recent fires in the context of the rapidly rising cost of homeowner insurance in California, and the recent state attempts to regulate and reform the market. Meanwhile, The New Republic debunks the myth that insurance companies are being “forced” to raise rates, rather than using disasters as an opportunity to maintain and increase profits.
Immigration
- In neighboring Kern County, Border Patrol agents conducted a massive raid, targeting agricultural workers for detainment and deportation – a return to the practice of frequent workplace raids carried out during the first Trump administration.
- Capital & Main explores how immigrant communities mobilized local relief efforts to help navigate the wildfires.
Local Media
- As false information about the wildfires is proliferating, The Institute for Nonprofit News is offering grants for local independent news sources covering the wildfires.
Environmental Justice
- Climate protesters with Sunrise Movement LA rallied outside a facility operated by oil company Phillips 66, and 16 demonstrators stormed the facility’s office building. The protestors demanded that the oil industry accept financial responsibility for the damages caused by current wildfires.
- Why does climate change lead to more dangerous wildfire seasons? Not only because of the longer dry seasons, but also because of the wild swings between drought and heavy rain.
- KCRW conducted a panel discussion (available in English and Spanish) on the impact of the wildfires on air quality in Los Angeles.
The post Wildfires Devastate Los Angeles County Communities appeared first on The Thorn West.
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Fix the CTA Campaign Statement on the Metropolitan Mobility Act
The Metropolitan Mobility Act (MMA) which was introduced before the Illinois General Assembly last year fails to address the most consequential issues plaguing our public transit in Chicago.
Merely rolling three existing agencies into one does nothing to improve the poor working conditions at the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), where high turnover and understaffing are delaying service and leaving routes undercrewed.
By itself, the MMA also fails to provide needed equitable funding that would boost the attractiveness of transit as an alternative to driving. The proposed administrative board resembles the existing hodgepodge of leadership and would provide no advantage to the existing CTA administrative board.
Absent are the voices of workers and riders. The sole, non-elected, and non-voting representative of organized labor appointed by the governor is not what transit leadership needs.
What transit leadership needs is for workers and riders to have a direct say in the future of public transit. Through transportation board members elected by and accountable to workers and riders, we will build an equitable, responsive transit system that benefits all.
While the MMA signals that the legislature is paying some attention to Illinoisan transportation needs, lawmakers must go further than an administrative reshuffle. They must reform and establish a transportation board elected by, and accountable to, workers and riders.
The post Fix the CTA Campaign Statement on the Metropolitan Mobility Act appeared first on Midwest Socialist.
