the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Jul 1, 2024
During the debate, Trump lied again and again about immigrants.
He said “millions of people” have come into this country “from prisons, jails, and mental institutions.” That is an out and out LIE. The vast majority of migrants are fleeing poverty and the violence that comes with it, and were never in jail, prison, or a mental institution.
Trump said, “There have been many young women murdered by the same people he allowed to come across our border … these killers are coming into our country, and they are raping and killing women.” Later, he added, “people are coming in and killing our citizens at a level that we’ve never seen.” That is an out and out LIE. Every study shows immigrants are less likely to commit crimes, including rape and murder, than people born in this country.
Trump said about migrants: “they’re taking black jobs and they’re taking Hispanic jobs….” That is an out and out LIE. Migrants don’t control the jobs—the capitalists do. The bosses have destroyed the jobs of every part of the working class by putting more work on fewer people, driving down wages so people need overtime to live, and forcing others to take two or three part time jobs.
Trump said: “millions of people are pouring into our country, and they’re putting them on to Social Security; they’re putting them on Medicare, Medicaid. They’re putting them in our hospitals. They’re taking the place of our citizens.” That is an out and out LIE. Immigrants without papers and migrants waiting for asylum hearings do not qualify for Social Security—but when they work, Social Security is still deducted from their checks. They don’t qualify for Medicare or Medicaid—though they pay into these programs.
Trump said, “Our veterans are living in the street and these people [immigrants] are living in luxury hotels.” That is an out and out LIE. In a few cases, hotels got subsidies to let some migrants stay in them temporarily. But in cities like New York and Chicago, most have been crammed into unsanitary shelters, converted warehouses, and the like. Others are sleeping on the streets—right next to the homeless veterans. Trump’s answer is that we should fight over who gets into the homeless shelter!
Trump’s lies are part of a massive disinformation campaign to convince workers that the most recent immigrants are somehow to blame for our problems.
But these immigrants are part of our class, the working class. Our problems are caused by the capitalist class that owns the country’s wealth. It’s in the capitalists’ interest to get workers to blame other workers for our problems, to cause disunity, to weaken the only force that is a threat to their control over every part of this society—a unified working class.