US presidential candidate Donald Trump made the demonization of Mexicans and immigrants a central part of his 2016 presidential campaign and has doubled down in his current campaign for the presidency. If elected, he will unleash an ethnic cleansing campaign directed against the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the US.

Let’s understand what such a shocking pogrom would mean in real life:

• US immigrant agents (armed to the teeth) will invade neighborhoods, communities, and workplaces suspected of having undocumented immigrants to seek out, arrest, and transport anyone who cannot prove their “right” to be in the US. It’s no exaggeration to predict a scenario of armored vehicles and military helicopters in US cities and towns, especially in the prioritized communities of Mexicanos, Chicanos, and Centro Americanos. But also, these assaults will be directed against Chinese, other Asian, and Pacific Islander communities.

• This campaign could directly affect 12 million undocumented workers and their families, or upwards of 40–50 million people. We’ve already seen similar scenarios of children coming home from school to find their parents taken away to who knows where. And past experience, like the infamous “Operation Wetback,” shows that these campaigns often end up arresting and deporting US citizens who “look illegal.”

• Immigrant communities will suffer enormous negative impacts — at their schools, unions, churches, social and athletic clubs, small and medium-sized businesses, and so on. The campaign’s many ripple effects have the potential to destroy the economic, social, and cultural fabric of rural and urban communities, especially in California and the Southwest, but also in the South and other US regions that have significant immigrant communities.

In threatening this fascistic ethnic cleansing campaign, Trump is hoping to catapult himself into the White House with the support of white voters who want white minority rule — those who rabidly agree with Trump’s statement that immigrants from Mexico and the Global South are “diluting the blood” of the US population.

While the opposition to this threat must mainly come from US social movements and allies, Mexico also plays an important role in our efforts to secure full human and civil rights for all immigrants in the US. AMLO and the Mexican government can make clear to Trump their refusal to cooperate in this ethnic cleansing campaign, and that Mexico will not accept any of the “deportados” residing in US concentration camps. And Mexico can also encourage the governments of other likely affected countries, such as El Salvador, Honduras, and even China, to also refuse cooperation in such a monstrous violation of human rights.  

Faced with the threat from Trump and his New Confederacy social movement, it’s essential to build solidarity among the Chicano Liberation struggle and other US social movements, especially labor and social movements in Mexico, and the progressive Morena government led by AMLO. There is no time to waste. We must act now! 

Sí Se Puede!