The hunting of migrants being carried out by the U.S. government, even chasing them through the streets, entering their homes and mistreating a good number of them, is one more sign that democracies have ceased to exist even in the global north, where they were born. What is really new are the responses of both migrants and many children of migrants who were born in the U.S. and have no legal problems.
It is possible that migrants are becoming the Christians of ancient Rome. They were persecuted but played a prominent role in the transformation, and also the fall, of the empire, as they refused to participate in the official rites. Now it is not the same, but it may be a symptom of the growing decomposition of the indispensable nation.
Let’s call a spade a spade: this is a war of capitalism. Against migrants, against people of the color of the earth, against native and black peoples, against those who are different. Although it is done in the name of democracy, it is totalitarianism. The philosopher Giorgio Agamben defined modern totalitarianism as a legal civil war, which allows the physical elimination not only of political adversaries, but of entire categories of citizens who for whatever reason are not integrable into the political system.
It is certainly not a war against all migrants (it is never against all), but against that portion of young people who say enough is enough, who do not leave, who stand up and resist. What is remarkable is that there are more and more of them and that they have a clearer awareness that their situation is not due to a government or a governor, but is the result of a global system called capitalism that attacks them in California, in Mexico, in Europe, in Wall Mapu or wherever they are.
The mobilizations underway are reminiscent of those that thousands of young people staged in 2024 in support of the Palestinian people, a solidarity that continues and tends to grow at this time. The protagonists are the same young people who have no future in the system. But they are also linked to the long experience of struggles in the state of California, both of migrants and of the black population, which rose up when a jury acquitted the police officers who beat Rodney King in 1991, with a death toll of more than 50.
Now undocumented migrants, the children of legal migrants and many whites are coming together to express their pent-up rage over decades of neoliberal policies that favor only the wealthy. The ongoing protests lay bare the stark reality experienced by millions of people in the United States.
First of all, they show the true face of the system, which mobilized 2,000 National Guard agents and then 700 marines to contain the protests, although the governor assures that there are already 4,000 guardsmen. The brutality of the heavily armed uniformed, the abundant use of gas and stun bombs, shows what the much-trumpeted democracy of the superpower is all about. This response of militarization to contain the people shows that there is less and less difference between the global north and south.
Secondly, the protests opened an institutional crack, as the governor of California and the mayor of Los Angeles rejected militarization. It is normal for the protests of the downtrodden to open cracks in the institutions, even more so in a state like California, which clearly comes out against Trump. We will see how far the institutional fissure goes, although we can expect little from it.
The most important thing, however, is that migrants have lost their fear. Since the beginning of the Trumpist policy of expulsions, many have locked themselves in their homes for fear of being discovered, detained and deported. Now they not only take to the streets, but they are not afraid to confront the armed forces of the most powerful country in the world. Something has changed and that change fills us with hope in the darkest moment of capitalist domination.
Most importantly, however, migrants have lost their fear. Since the beginning of the Trumpist policy of deportations, many have locked themselves in their homes for fear of being discovered, detained and deported. Now they not only take to the streets, but they are not afraid to confront the armed forces of the most powerful country in the world. Something has changed and that change fills us with hope in the darkest moment of capitalist domination.
For those of us who yearn for the fall of imperialism and capitalism, this is an important moment. Not because we believe that its fall will happen overnight. We know that we are facing a historical process of bitter struggles between above and below, which will take decades, and will be prolonged and tortuous. What encourages us is to see that the rebellions have not been silenced, that what is happening in Gaza will not go unpunished and, above all, that the most diverse struggles are becoming intertwined.
Finally, those of us who believe that the fall of an empire comes from within as well as from without, the mobilizations in California and other states, show us that we are facing an unprecedented possibility: the continuity of the struggles in the United States, since until now there were great flames that were extinguished in a few weeks. It seems that we face a new reality.
Original text by Raúl Zibechi in La Jornada published on June 13th, 2025.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.