Portside

For many people in 1927 and after, the two men were victims of a deep-seated fear of immigrants. For others, they were criminals and terrorists who benefited from a worldwide campaign led by people who despised America and its institutions.Today, the United States is engaged in a bitter struggle between these same two views, with the xenophobic forces currently in political power, especially in the White House.

When a Muslim doctor arrived in a rural Midwestern town, "it felt right." But that feeling began to change after the election of Donald Trump. Trump had won Lac qui Parle County, with nearly 60 percent of the vote. Nearly all of Minnesota outside the Twin Cities had voted for Trump, a surprising turn in a state known for producing some of the Democratic Party's most progressive leaders, including the nation's first Muslim congressman.

The peace movement is where realism about U.S. military madness lives. The movement is the main challenger to nationalism and xenophobia, and the main force for internationalism in an interconnected world. It abides in the best political instincts in every other progressive social movement. Restoring it is a collective responsibility for the entire range of forces shocked into motion by the 2016 election.

In spite of the economic boon for the wealthy, working people in the U.S. have yet to receive a significant improvement in their standard of living for over 30 years. At the same time, democratic forces are once again confronted with anti-immigrant campaigns. As socialists, we stand with and among the U.S. working class in opposition to the rule of the transnational corporations and their exploitation of the economy and despoliation of our lives, society and environment

President Donald Trump wants to impose a police state on undocumented immigrants. Workplace raids - sometimes called 'silent raids' - have been a mainstay of immigration enforcement, will likely ramp up. Now - predawn raids, arrests and deportation of undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of the most minor criminal offenses, and stops of dark-complexioned motorists and pedestrians - will become the norm, in the new anti-immigrant policy to be soon rolled out.

President Donald Trump is actively considering opening a new front in his war on immigrants through another hastily drafted and vaguely worded executive order. This is the latest piece of his damaging agenda to dehumanize immigrants. It willfully ignores the reality that immigrants are not only valued members of American families and communities but also tremendous contributors to the nation's economy and prosperity.

Reader Comments: Standing Against Trump - Defending Immigrants and the Massive Women's March; How Big Were the Marches - links to local stories; March Size and City Population - Who Had the Best Turnout?; Marching in Pensacola, Florida After the Hurricane; Elizabeth Gurley Flynn-The Rebel Girl; Announcements: Fighting Fascism-Remembering the Abraham Lincoln Brigade; The '60s-The Years that Changed America Carnegie Hall Festival; and more...

Occasionally entertainment and politics intersect. Sunday Meryl Streep tearfully addressed the stars assembled at the Golden Globes about her anxieties and distress at the advent of the Trump era in the United States. She made the powerful point, which is that no human experience is really foreign to us as human beings if only we can find the tools to understand it, emotionally and intellectually. And Trump does not.

Reader Comments: UE Calls for Trump Defeat; Fact Checking Pence; Israel Seizes Women's Boat to Gaza and 13 dangerous women - What you can do; Who to Vote For-Lessons from the Past for Leftists; Prison Strike Continues-Now Joined by Alabama Prison Guards; Reader query - why did you use certain sources in your labor post?; Cubs and Socialism; Public Option; The Women of Salt of the Earth; Announcements: Labor and Islam; NYPD Surveillance of New York's Muslim Communities

Muslim American communities are facing the most hostile civic and political environment since days, weeks and months after 9/11. Hate crimes against Muslims or those perceived to be Muslim has risen exponentially in the last year. Bigotry against Muslims has become the norm and often has no consequences. The irresponsible and rhetorical vilification of Muslims in this current election cycle is leading to violent acts against members of a faith community and it must stop