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Rise or Fall Together

Published on
June 29, 2018
Last Updated
August 3, 2023

The An ideology that assumes a hierarchy of human worth based on the social construction of racial difference. Racism as an ideology claims superiority of the socially constructed category, White, over other racialized categories based on the false idea that race is a fixed and immutable reality. Learn more , The belief in the primacy of “the nation” as the most important political allegiance, that every nation should have its own state, and that it is the primary responsibility of the state and its leaders to preserve the nation. Learn more , and An aggravated form of sexism that is a primary motivation for the Right, both as recruitment for and justification of its agenda. Learn more driving the Trump administration’s assault on immigrants is evident to all but a willfully ignorant majority on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Whether in exclusionary policies like the Muslim ban that the SCOTUS approved this week, or the inhumane practice of separating families seeking asylum, Trump administration immigration policies reflect the unprecedented influence of Nativist, A term used to describe organizations, movements, ideas, and policies that oppose immigrants and immigration. Learn more think tanks, including the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). These jacket-and-tie supremacists are advancing their founder’s dream of preserving a permanent White numerical majority in the United States. These groups used to focus on lobbying Congress. These days, their leaders meet regularly with senior Trump advisor, Stephen Miller, and a number of their former staffers now hold key roles in the administration’s agencies.

Together, they have manufactured an immigrant and refugee crisis they propose to “solve” by radically transforming the Justice Department’s immigration policies and short-circuiting due process. Their so-called zero tolerance is a blatant attempt to criminalize asylum seekers and transform government agencies into instruments of Repression occurs when public or private institutions—such as law enforcement agencies or vigilante groups—use arrest, physical coercion, or violence to subjugate a specific group. Learn more .

We are also troubled by how Trump’s allies on the Right are waging a successful campaign to pack the federal courts with right-wing (many of them objectively unqualified White men)—virtually guaranteeing that these policies will be upheld for years to come. The sudden resignation this week of Justice Anthony Kennedy, known for providing the deciding vote on many significant 5-4 decision, presents the Trump administration with an opportunity to set the judicial course of the country, perhaps for a generation. With the Muslim ban, immigrant and refugee family ban, and implicit promise to ban abortion, this regime is trampling on our rights and our freedoms.

With the Muslim ban, immigrant and refugee family ban, and implicit promise to ban abortion, this regime is trampling on our rights and our freedoms.

But immigrant communities are, and always have been, resilient. This current moment is no exception. Immigrants and the vast community of support behind them are leading powerful direct action and declaring they are #HereToStay. These bold efforts, including the “Families Belong Together” demonstrations scheduled nationwide for June 30, and the growing demand to #AbolishICE demonstrate the strength of an alternative vision for the U.S. This vision rejects the cynical and dangerous ideaembedded in Trump administration actions—that for some groups to prosper others must be dominated or expelled.

Political Research Associates proudly aligns ourselves with immigrant and Muslim justice movements and all who believe in an inclusive, multi-racial, and religiously pluralistic understanding of We, the people. We hold that if you come for any of us you’ll have to come through all of us. We envision a just and prosperous future and know in our hearts and in our bones that we will all rise or fall together.

Authors

Political Research Associates (PRA) is a social justice research and strategy center. Since 1981, we have been devoted to supporting organizations, civic leaders, journalists, and social sectors that are building a more just and inclusive democratic society.