GUEST BLOG: Pat O’Dea – Divide and Rule
Trump exposes his true fascist nature. Threatens to arrest Zohran Mamdani if he is elected Mayor of New York and pushes back against ICE overreach.
The president, also repeated a claim that Mamdani had entered the US illegally.
Asked about Mamdani’s plan to oppose ICE, Trump said we would “have to arrest him.”
“We’ll have to arrest him, We don’t need a communist in this country, but if we have one, I’m going to be watching over him very carefully on behalf of the nation.”
Mamdani earlier said that the immigrant raids were “terrorizing people,” and that agents who carry them out have no interest in following the law.
Meanwhile US crops rot in the ground as Trump’s anti-immigrant pogrom cuts deep.
From Newsweek;
Immigration enforcement operations on farms have left crops rotting and farm operations disrupted in major agricultural states including California, Texas, and Pennsylvania.
Farm owners and industry representatives report that up to 70 percent of workers stopped reporting to work following Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions, resulting in significant crop losses and financial strain…..
Personally, I have little sympathy for the US landowners dealing with labour shortages due to Trump’s crackdown on both legal and illegal immigrants.
The fact of the matter is that the US and some other Western countries, including EU countries like France, have long had an unofficial/official policy of relying on both illegal and legal immigrants as a large part of their labourforce, for the simple reason that not being citizens and enjoying the rights of citizenship, they are more vulerable to exploitation and abuse, and less likely to unionise and organise against their exploitation and abuse, if they are illegal, in fear of punitive detention and deportation, or loss of their temporary migrant status if they are on temporary working visas.
Alongside this state repression and punitive immigrant enforcement, racism against migrants cultivated by right wing populist politicians also acts to cow migrant workers and keep them subservient to their employers and supervisors. Also making them more vulnerable to racial discrimination and government profiling in securing housing and social services like healthcare, which though they pay taxes to support they are not allowed to benefit from.
P.S.
Q: Are migrant workers in New Zealand on temporary work visas entitled to public healthcare? google search
A: Generally, no, New Zealand migrant workers on temporary work visas are not entitled to free public healthcare. While New Zealand has a publicly funded healthcare system, eligibility for free or subsidized care is typically limited to New Zealand citizens, permanent residents, and those with specific types of visas, usually those valid for two years or more.
Having a migrant workforce with lesser rights than other workers is subtle form of modern slavery. Like old time slavery racism is an important component of the system.
Demagogues like Trump tap into this existing system of exclusion and racism to use divide and rule to increase oppression and exploitation,of both documented and undocumented working people alike.
My opinion; If people are good enough to work for us, they are good enough to deserve full citizenship rights.
If they are good enough to work for us, they are good enough to live with us as equals.
Working people everywhere need to take their cue from New York Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and defend immigrants from unfair treament and state discrimination, for as pastor Niemoller warned us,if we don’t, we will be next.
Pat O’Dea is a staunch unionist and activist
Amazing re healthcare!
Yes, very hard to shed a tear for American farmers who depend on slavery, when under the new ‘democratic’ pro-‘israel’ Al Qaeda regime in Syria that some insane people championed, Syrian women are being seized and dragged away as sex slaves. What do you have to say about your boy Jolani and his recent actions, Pat?
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-alawite-women-taken-as-sex-slaves-in-syria/
A New York Jew and a New York Muslim unite to take down the Democrat/Republican establishment.
It’s joyous to behold.
Watch it on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzLhsGDG-Xs
What do you have to say about your boy Jolani and his recent actions, Pat?
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-alawite-women-taken-as-sex-slaves-in-syria/
I can’t say anything about it Mo, because apart from the sensationalist “Sex Slaves” headline, the Spectator article you linked to is behind a pay wall.
Maybe you could tell us Mo. what if any, facts are contained behind the paywall to back up the sensationalist headline?
Things like, names, dates, locations, survivor or witness statements. Y’know real things that can be fact checked.
Making claims against the NY politician and being illegal, or not what he claims. Didn’t they do that to Obama too, tried to throw a spanner in the works about him when he ran for top guy?
Why do we have this nutcase country front and centre of us all the time; Russia has been there long enough too. What about looking at Thailand and Cambodia, India and Pakistan, Indonesia v Papua West. We are supposed to be global so let’s take an interest in our compatriots but watch USA under lowered lids as we can’t afford to not know what’s going on in their frenzied noodles/brains.
And the UK – what new idea have they grabbed out of the laundry bag along with their clean shirts, today?
“Personally, I have little sympathy for the US landowners dealing with labour shortages due to Trump’s crackdown on both legal and illegal immigrants.”
Little? – I have none at all.
USA is one of the most racist nations on the planet, I hope the pain they experience from enabling Trump is unfathomably deep.