LESSONS FROM ANTI-ICE PROTESTS IN ORANGE COUNTY
Dare to Struggle SoCal has been standing with the masses of mostly young Latinos to protest against the mass deportation machine. Along the way we have gained some lessons on how to intervene in the mass movement.
We can’t just ride the wave of mass protest.
For over a decade, every time there is a mass protest movement in the United States, the ruling class moves quickly to clamp it down. There is not only the violent repression of protests by the police, but the organized Left leads masses of people into dead-ends like begging politicians or working for paltry reforms.
There are many examples of how “letting things take their course” without intervention leads to demoralization and defeat. It happened in the 2020 rebellions against police murder which got diverted into “diversity” initatives at large corporations and into voting for the Democrats, and it happened in the 2022 protests against the overturning of Roe v. Wade which got kneecapped by leftists, who refused to put up a fight in the streets. Look where that got us.
When hundreds of people who rarely ever protest come into the street, like the youth walking out of high school, they need to see a real protest, not a parade. Leading protests in a militant way makes people curious about what else they can accomplish when they come together in collective struggle. People leave the protest thinking, if a small crowd can dance to Payaseo de Rodeo in the middle of the intersection while the cops back off, how many people would it take to end the deportations?
Activists, and people who want to see the deportations end, could never win their demands if we protest “the right way” — if we play by the enemies’ rules.
Get a crew, make a plan
Get 4 to 10 people together, or more. Start with an orientation to assign clear roles: have an overall leader of the protest, an agitator on the megaphone to rile up the crowd, one or more chant leaders, and security to look out for and confront cops, counter-protestors, or opportunists. There must be someone ready to do agitation at any moment so that there’s no dead air.
Reinforce chants that give the masses courage and direction. For example, when you are actively directing the crowd to take the street: Undocumented! Unafraid! Out of the Shadows! Into the streets!”
Organizers should go into the crowd, talk to people, get out flyers, and sign people up to join your crew. They should challenge people on the spot to step up and take leadership. That could look like taking the megaphone to agitate, share their story, or lead chants, helping pass out flyers and signing people up, or even just holding a sign. Talk to on-lookers, get their thoughts, and explain the protest message. The leader should call mid-protest huddles when necessary to adapt to a changing situation.
Take the streets
Usually, people will start to rally at a particular corner of an intersection. As the crowd grows, that corner will grow more crowded, and people want to spread out. At this point, we lead people to take over the crosswalks when the light allows. We’ll cross all sides of the intersection until we return back to the start, and gauging where the crowd is at, we’ll either go for another round or two around the intersection, or decide to take the street, occupying the intersection and blocking traffic. Recruit supportive cars to provide a buffer between us and traffic, and the police.
Check the temperature, then turn up the heat
Tactics will differ based on the circumstances: how many people are at your protest? Are people digging your crew’s agitation and chants and taking up leadership? Are they ready to throw down? Organizers should check the temperature of the crowd and report it to the leader. We should step forward and be defiant, lead by example, and push people as far as possible to shut down business as usual and attack this system that separates families.
Kick out the opportunists
When we have led people to take the streets and occupy intersections, opportunists like the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) or nonprofits like CARECEN have misled protestors, telling them to “stay on the sidewalk”, dividing the protest and threatening to isolate the people who dare to step up. These groups do the work of cops for them, keeping protests tame and toothless. Get your crew prepared to eject opportunists and nonprofits or physically lead the protest away from them if and when they try to police the protest.
Linking up with protests is a crucial part of a strategy to actually stop deportations. Leading people and gathering contacts can lay the basis to build organized anti-ICE resistance. That could look like mass agitation campaigns, ICE watch patrols, and rapid response hotlines so we can push ICE out of our neighborhoods.
If you wanna step up to the challenge and be part of a movement to tear down these walls and stop the deportations, link up with your local chapter of Dare to Struggle, or hit us up to start a new one in your city.
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