[IMMIGRANTS][WWP web page] [News] [Subscribe] [Vote WWP] [Join us!]

-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the April 11, 1996
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------

STOP THE WAR ON IMMIGRANTS

California Cop Beating of Mexican Workers Sparks New Civil Rights Protests

By Teresa Gutierrez and the Workers World Los Angeles bureau

Once again the inherently racist, repressive face of the state apparatus has been unwittingly exposed. On April 1, television video cameras recorded the brutal, indefensible beating of Mexican immigrants as they attempted to cross the United States-Mexico border.

Riverside County, Calif., sheriff's deputies captured Leticia Gonzalez Gonzalez, Enrique Funez and 17 other immigrant workers who were riding in a pickup truck near a border checkpoint. The two white deputies then proceeded to viciously beat Gonzalez and Funez with their nightsticks.

The cops threw the two immigrant workers to the ground, kicking and punching them. Unknown to the thugs in blue, their assault was captured on videotape from a KCBS-TV helicopter hovering overhead.

Had it not been for the fact that it was broad daylight and news helicopters were flying about, the sheriffs might have gone on and killed Gonzalez and Funez.

The incident has brought national and international attention. But the big-business press isn't acknowledging that these types of beatings go on every day, all the time- wherever immigrants congregate.

Racist repression by law-enforcement officials is the rule, not the exception.

Gloria La Riva, a Chicana trade unionist and Workers World Party's candidate for vice president of the United States, issued a statement denouncing "the vicious assault" that she called "only the tip of the iceberg."

La Riva pointed out: "For simply seeking work and a better life for themselves and their families, immigrant workers are subjected to the most cruel treatment. That is why many flee the police, for fear of the consequences."

La Riva called for the immediate arrest and indictment of the police involved, including those who let the beating take place.

And she held the U.S. and California governments- particularly Gov. Pete Wilson-responsible for "the racist anti-immigrant atmosphere that resulted in Proposition 187, war against all poor people," and "the climate for growing police abuse of immigrants and African Americans."

In fact, she said, Wilson is as responsible as if he had swung the nightsticks himself.

In Los Angeles, WWP member John Peter Daly is the Peace and Freedom candidate for Congress in the 29th District. Daly, a gay activist and longtime anti-racist organizer, called on all progressive forces to join the outpouring of rage sure to be expressed at a protest set for April 6.

The action, called jointly by many community groups, will begin with a gathering at 10 a.m. at Placita Olvera, followed by a march to the federal building.

NO BORDERS IN WORKERS' STRUGGLE

When news of the racist outrage reached Mexico, that country's minister of foreign relations promptly issued a statement expressing indignation at the "flagrant violation of the human rights of Mexican citizens."

Washington also intervened immediately, in an attempt to quash a fight back and to co-opt a class interpretation of the incident. The FBI quickly announced it would investigate "possible civil-rights violations."

But anyone who saw the video knows no investigation by the FBI is needed. What is needed is for the working-class movement to intervene, carry out a real investigation, and force the immediate dismissal of the brutish, racist sheriff's deputies.

What's needed, most of all, is an end to the anti-immigrant hysteria that has been whipped up in the last few years.

What is needed is solidarity between U.S.-born workers and immigrants. This is a time to strengthen the call to unite workers of all nations behind the slogan:

There is no border in the workers' struggle.

In late March, the U.S. House of Representatives Congress passed new anti-immigrant legislation, going so far as to deny education to children of undocumented workers. The bill is now pending before the Senate.

The ruling class and its politicians seek to scapegoat immigrant workers-instead of the heads of transnational corporations-for the crisis of falling wages and disappearing jobs. This is an attempt to derail the struggle against the real enemy: the capitalist class.

But throughout the country, people are mobilizing to defend the rights of immigrants. Some months ago, the One Stop Immigration Center in Los Angeles initiated Coordinadora `96, calling for a massive demonstration in Washington on Oct. 12.

All progressives and working-class activists should mobilize for this important demonstration. Clinton, the Republicans, and all the right-wing bigots who create the kind of conditions that led to the beating of Gonzalez and Funez should be put on notice:

Stop the war on immigrants! Punish the police, not the workers!

- END -

(Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if source is cited. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@wwpublish.com. For subscription info send message to: ww-info@wwpublish.com. Web: http://www.workers.org)