Feb 15, 19

We Can Block the Wall!: A Call to Create a Real Emergency for Trump

Filed under: Anarchist Movement, Announcement, Featured, Immigration, The State, US

Trump has announced that he will declare a state of emergency to fund his border wall. The proposed wall and additional security measures will be devastating for migrants and border communities. During the last shutdown, federal employees and federal contractors were forced to work without pay or to scrape by on furlough, while people relying on government assistance were forced to seek out limited community alternatives and refugees were trapped in bureaucratic limbo. Make no mistake—a grassroots movement ended the shutdown. Trump gave in only when air traffic controllers and flight attendants stopped clocking in and airlines across the east coast began to close down.

We refuse to choose between Trump’s openly racist wall and the Democrats’ implicitly racist “smart border.” The differences between Trump’s border wall and a soft-power smart wall are minor variations on the same deadly theme. We will block the border wall. We choose another way: freedom of movement, solidarity, and mutual aid. We can combat Trump’s policies that greet asylum seeking families with tear gas at the southern border, that leave Haitian people to die in boats coming to the United States and 58,000 Haitians in legal limbo, and that criminalize whole communities. We will uplift the inspiring work by black and brown migrant support organizers like the UndocuBlack Network, Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project, NorCal Resist, and more, who defend black and brown migrant communities most targeted by ICE harassment, deportation and the police. Together, we can defend refugees, migrants, and government workers. We can re-imagine community safety, and support federal workers and communities under attack. We can demonstrate through solidarity and mutual aid that we can build a world without borders or state violence.

On February 15, we call for a movement from below. It is time to act courageously—together. We need a bold, positive vision of the future in contrast to Trump’s white supremacist fantasy. We need to create a world in which people can move freely, where families can find refuge from danger, and communities are brave enough to welcome newcomers and create a shared sense of belonging. Where refugees now encounter hostile border guards, where black immigrants face the dual threats of deportation and incarceration, they should find communities coming together to welcome them with food and shelter. Where federal workers and contractors find themselves unable to pay their bills, they should find communities acting in solidarity to meet their immediate needs.

We call for a “Block the Wall” mobilization on February 19 and 20 against the border wall and against the state of emergency. We can march, take over public space, and organize sick-outs in the nation’s capital. We can block every ICE detention center, field office, and ICE contractor around the country with the occupation of the public space around the facilities. Each of these offices are maintained by working class people in support staff, couriers, cleaning crews, tech services, and social workers. We invite all of these workers to call in sick and join the occupations on the sidewalks and streets.
We call for the organization of mutual aid to support the federal workers and subcontractors who remain uncompensated for 34 days of unpaid labor, and to support those who rely on government assistance. We call for cooperation to pool and distribute resources immediately to ease the daily struggles of those most affected. We commit to taking care of one another as the state gambles with the lives of millions.
We call for direct support for migrants and border struggles. There are multiple initiatives already demonstrating hospitality to migrants and physically defying the border that separates the United States from Mexico, from autonomous kitchens in Tijuana to indigenous-led anti-border camps in Texas. We will build the capacity to undermine the border, welcome refugees, and demonstrate that free movement can be beautiful, safe, and beneficial for all—so long as the police and la migra stay out of the way.

Share your marches, actions, and mutual aid initiatives with the hashtag #BlockTheWall, or tweet updates to @BlockTheWall on twitter or BlockTheWall123 on Instagram

In solidarity,

CrimethInc.
IGD
Resist This
202 Antifascists
Central Ohio Street Medic Collective
Haymaker Gym
The Breakaway Social Center
Black Queer & Intersectional Collective
Black Lives Matter DMV
Sanctuary DMV
The Peace House DC
Byp100 DC
All Out Atlanta
Indigenous Anarchist Federation
Free Lunch PDX
Channel Zero Podcast Network
Zakk Flash
Hopkins Coalition Against ICE
Front Range WILD
Southern Illinois YDSA
Carbondale Solidarity Network
Love Has No Borders
Bay Area Harm Reduction
Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign
Refuge Tampa Bay
Revolutionary Caucus of Tampa Bay
Revolutionary Road Radio Show
Antifa Seven Hills
No Atlantic Coast Pipeline (NoACP)
Interfaith Alliance for Climate Justice
SW Solidarity
Revolutionary Left Radio
Liberation Project, Philadelphia
Denver CryptoPARTY
Toughie Prints
Metropolitan Anarchist Coordinating Council (MACC)
Holler Network