On Wednesday, in a further escalation of the Trump administration’s attack on immigrants, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with support from the military, launched a large-scale operation at the San Diego border crossing between California and Mexico.
Approximately 1,500 active-duty troops, including 500 Marines from Camp Pendleton, have been deployed to assist in securing the border. A “mile-long line of DHS trucks and CBP [vehicles] ready to do the biggest illegal immigrant grab in recent history” has been reported in the area by the White House, preparing to detain and deport around 100,000 migrants to Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador and Guatemala.
According to a White House intelligence source, the operation is being carried out in phases, with the West Coast targeted first and the East Coast to follow. ICE’s Border Czar, Tom Homan, has stated that the US must “open the aperture up” to increase the number of deportations as the agency has quickly raised detentions to between 1,000 and 1,200 per day.
The Pentagon has confirmed additional troop deployments in the coming days to support these efforts. It was also announced that ICE will be using Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora, Colorado as a migrant detention facility. The US military’s Northern Command stated that it began providing facilities at Buckley on Monday.
Homan emphasized that despite the recent reduction in daily illegal crossings—from “10,000 a day to under 600”—the administration remains committed to increasing deportations. “It’s great, it’s good, but we’re not finished and we need more deportations, a lot more deportations and that’s what we’re working on,” Homan said.
Moreover, in a further escalation of attacks on First Amendment rights and political dissent, Trump announced an executive order on Wednesday under the guise of “fighting antisemitism,” vowing to deport non-citizen students and residents involved in pro-Palestinian protests. The order directs the Justice Department to prosecute “threats and violence against Jews.” Trump also pledges to revoke student visas for “Hamas sympathizers,” fearing rising radicalism on college campuses.
Escalating raids have sparked an initial wave of outrage across the United States, as working people and youth voice their opposition to the fascistic policies targeting immigrants. These attacks, which are part of a broader assault on democratic rights, represent a sharp intensification of the class struggle in the United States. They are not merely a product of Trump’s personal xenophobia: they represent an attempt by the ruling oligarchy to divide the working class and scapegoat immigrants for the crisis of capitalism.
The protests are an initial expression of the working class’s opposition to the Trump administration’s dictatorial measures.
Hundreds of San Jose, California, high school students walked out of class on Wednesday in to demand an end to ICE deportations, rejecting the government’s persecution of immigrant workers. “You can just imagine how people feel now that ICE is actually invading our communities,” student Yesenia Marquez told KTVU, rejecting Trump’s claim that the US is being “invaded” by immigrants.
Chanting “Si Se Puede,” the students marched to Plaza de San Jose, where a second rally was held. High School Principal Vito Chiala, like many teachers, supported the action: “We believe in empowering students... when they want to stand up for something they believe in.” Protester Yonex Jones reinforced that solidarity: “We’re all one people,” challenging the divisions capitalism imposes on the working class.
In El Cajon, California, around 75 people gathered in El Cajon to protest a proposed City Council resolution allowing local police to assist ICE in deporting migrants. Protesters held signs reading “No police in our schools” and “A nation built by immigrants.” The resolution was revised to focus on “violent criminals” and comply with state law limiting local police involvement in immigration enforcement.
However, protesters questioned its intent. “I don’t believe them,” Ilka Weston told the San Diego Union-Tribune. Martin Eder criticized its vague language: “Who defines who’s a criminal?” Ramiro Bautista argued, “They say it’s for police to pick up criminals, but that’s what they do now.”
The raids have also drawn condemnation from public figures. Actress Selena Gomez has often expressed her concerns over the treatment of immigrants in the United States. In a recent video posted on social media, an emotional Gomez expressed her feelings of powerlessness in the face of the administration’s brutality, telling her 422 million followers, “I’m so sorry, I wish I could do something, but I can’t. I don’t know what to do. I’ll try everything.”
Sunny Hostin, co-host of The View and former prosecutor, criticized Trump’s deportation policies as showing “lack of empathy.” She emphasized that “an undocumented immigrant is not a criminal because he or she is undocumented. That is a civil offense. So to call people ‘illegals’ is in and of itself, I think, xenophobic and racist and incorrect.”
The Trump administration’s anti-migrant raids must be understood as an attack against the working class as a whole. Under the guise of enforcing immigration laws, federal agents have conducted warrantless searches, detained individuals without due process and terrorized immigrant communities. These actions are part of a broader fascistic agenda aimed at consolidating state power, stoking racial divisions, and suppressing dissent.
While the Trump administration has been the primary driver of these attacks, the Democratic Party’s complicity cannot be ignored. On January 7, the Biden administration carried out its own immigration raids in California, targeting undocumented immigrants. These raids, which were justified as part of a broader effort to prioritize “public safety,” demonstrate the continuity of anti-immigrant policies between the two capitalist parties.
Now, after Governor Gavin Newsom prostrated himself before Trump, during his recent visit to California areas affected by recent wildfires, and offered “an open hand, not a closed fist,” the fascist president did not hesitate to carry out his military operation in San Diego.
The Democrats’ fraudulent claims to protect immigrants are further exposed by the failure of so-called sanctuary cities to stop ICE agents from carrying out arrests. In California, despite the state’s sanctuary policies, ICE agents and now the Marines operate with impunity, detaining immigrants in their homes and workplaces.