SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
deportations
Progressives Won’t Help the Working Class by Abandoning Marginalized Groups
Leaders must reject false choices rooted in the idea that social and economic advancement is a zero-sum game or that working-class people must spar over scraps while all the spoils go to the elite few.
Feb 02, 2025
Since the election, two themes have recurred in analyses of the current political moment: Pundits are calling on progressive political leaders to abandon so-called identity politics and center working-class concerns, and others are defining this election as a potential realignment of political parties.
We and our colleagues at Dēmos are laser-focused on this drumbeat because it strikes at the core of our mission to build a just, inclusive, multi-racial democracy and economy where ordinary people hold power.
Working class is as much an identity as gender, religious affiliation, immigrant status, place, race, and ethnicity. All of us hold multiple identities. But in the political context, “identity politics” is often a dog whistle for Black and brown communities or members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Political leaders and pundits’ calls to deprioritize communities of color and marginalized groups distort the nation’s power dynamic and risk sidelining voices working to build a more equitable society. Such takes also pretend the far-right offers credible solutions to pressing economic issues while minimizing the critical role progressives play in challenging the systems that drive economic inequality. Any critique of movement or “identity politics” without a power analysis misses the forest for the trees.
Average incomes will not increase as more corporations shut down their DEI offices.
Last month, Demos released its Power Scorecard, a data-driven tool that tests our core theory: Political and economic power are inextricably linked, and one is predictive of the other. The tool ranks and measures people power in all 50 states (called a power score) by examining 30 indicators of economic well-being and 30 indicators of civic and democratic vitality. Some economic measures include the percentage of households that can cover everyday costs, avoid debt, maintain stable housing, and access affordable childcare. Measures of civic vitality include voter turnout, percentage of unopposed elections, ease of voting, and descriptive representation in government.
Our findings shed light on how conditions in each state influence the agency and control ordinary people exert in our democracy and economy. Common threads among the highest-ranked states include lower rates of child poverty and incarceration, less concentrated poverty, a greater percentage of workers represented by unions, higher voter turnout rates, and more state checks on corporate contributions to political candidates.
We could not disaggregate data by race for all indicators, but a limited analysis reveals “identity groups” are most disempowered in all states. This is not surprising, and it’s precisely why progressive activists advocate for bold, structural changes such as living wages, access to healthcare as a human right, expanded labor rights and protections, and policies to curb corporate power. And yes, they also call for political leaders to address racial and gender inequalities. Movement activism is rooted in the understanding that economic disparity, systemic racism, and gender inequality are interconnected problems requiring interconnected solutions.
We are aware that opinion polling over the last couple of years continuously revealed voters’ worries about their ability to make ends meet and financially get ahead. Policymakers on all sides of the political spectrum should heed these concerns. But as political leaders assess their messaging failures and policy disconnects, they must avoid the convenience of tunnel vision or public discourse that falsely suggest “identity groups” wield undue or disproportionate influence. Working-class people of all races are constrained by a system in which economic and political power are concentrated in the hands of an elite few.
As much as progressives are agitating to dismantle economic and racial disparities, a well-funded opposition is invested in maintaining a power structure that bends to the will of the wealthy and powerful. The far-right may have successfully tapped into some voters’ frustrations, but their policy proposals will exacerbate economic polarization and diminish ordinary people’s political power. Their standard bearers continue to favor tax cuts for the wealthy, deregulation, weakening unions, and restricting access to the ballot. If progressive political leaders acquiesce to calls to sideline “identity groups,” they will alienate the very movement voices working to address root causes of economic insecurity. Culture wars are a divisive political tactic, not an economic policy solution.
To put a finer point on it, average incomes will not increase as more corporations shut down their DEI offices. Housing will not be more affordable due to mass deportation. Grocery prices will not decline due to state legislation banning transgender people from public bathrooms. And tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations will not and have never trickled down to ordinary people.
Black and brown communities bear a disproportionate share of economic hardship, from unaffordable housing and inflationary pressure on consumer goods to exploitative labor practices. There are historical and ongoing systemic reasons for this disparity—a historical record that the far-right is actively trying to erase with book bans and factually diluted K-12 curriculums. Ignoring these complicated truths in the name of appealing to an idealized working-class voter devoid of any identity is a failing strategy—and the people who will suffer most are working-class voters of all races and identities.
Progressive leaders must reject false choices rooted in the idea that social and economic advancement is a zero-sum game or that working-class people must spar over scraps while all the spoils go to the elite few. Instead, they should amplify the voices of those actively challenging systems that sustain social injustice and vast economic inequality.
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Resetting of the Goalposts': White House Says All Undocumented Immigrants Are 'Criminals'
"Trump said mass deportation should initially target undocumented criminals," said one journalist. "Now the White House says anyone undocumented is a criminal."
Jan 28, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump and the Republican Party have frequently suggested that by pushing back against Trump's anti-immigration agenda, Democrats are expressing support for permitting violent criminals to walk free in the United States.
But in the administration's first press briefing on Tuesday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt admitted Trump's push to deport undocumented immigrants is not targeted at people who have committed violent crimes—instead, anyone who is in the U.S. without authorization will be treated as a criminal and subject to the president's deportation plan.
Peter Alexander of NBC News cited comments from Trump on the campaign trail, when he said undocumented immigrants who are swept up in raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are "going back home where they belong, and we start with the criminals. There are many, many criminals."
Of the 1,179 undocumented immigrants who were arrested by ICE on Sunday, said Alexander, 566 appeared to have no criminal record aside from entering the country without going through a port of entry—a civil violation that usually results in a fine, not a criminal offense.
Alexander asked if being a violent offender is "no longer the predicate for these people to be deported"—a question Leavitt responded by repeatedly calling undocumented immigrants "illegal criminals" and suggesting people who have committed civil offenses will be treated the same as those who have "terrorized law-abiding American citizens."
"This could be a significant resetting of the goalposts," said Dan Froomkin, editor of Press Watch. "Trump said mass deportation should initially target undocumented criminals. Now the White House says anyone undocumented is a criminal."
Josh Breisblatt, the Democratic chief counsel on the Immigration Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, said Leavitt provided a "very helpful reminder for the media and others" regarding Trump's true views on immigration.
"When Republicans talk about 'criminal aliens' they literally mean every undocumented person," said Breisblatt. "Dreamers, [Temporary Protected Status] holders, agricultural workers, people who came lawfully and overstayed a visa, there is no difference to this administration."
Leavitt drove home her point during the press conference by claiming all undocumented immigrants "have invaded our nation's borders" and telling another reporter: "If they broke our nation's laws, yes, they are a criminal."
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick noted on Sunday, as ICE conducted raids in Chicago, that Trump's executive orders on immigration enforcement "do NOT direct ICE to prioritize people with criminal convictions. Instead, they repeatedly make clear that every undocumented immigrant is a top priority."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Trump Administration Launches Immigration Enforcement Crackdown in Chicago
"We don't plan on backing down," said one Chicago organizer. "I think the right thing to do for the state and the city is to not back down to the feds."
Jan 26, 2025
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Sunday announced that it began conducting "enhanced targeted operations" in the city of Chicago, a so-called sanctuary city, in order to "enforce U.S. immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities," according to a statement the agency posted to the platform X.
The operation, which aligns with U.S. President Donald Trump's pledge to ramp up immigration arrests and deportations, is being carried out in conjunction with other federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and others.
The news of the operation comes as The Washington Postreported Sunday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials were directed over the weekend by Trump officials to ramp up the number of people they arrest, from a few hundred per day to over a thousand "because the president has been disappointed with the result of his mass deportation campaign so far."
Trump had vowed on the campaign trail to implement a crackdown on immigration. During his first week in office, he issued a slew of executive orders aimed at immigration, including a measure targeting birthright citizenship, reinstating his "Remain in Mexico" policy, and moving to restrict federal funds for sanctuary jurisdictions.
Immigration enforcement targeted at Chicago and other sanctuary cities—a term that broadly applies to jurisdictions that have adopted policies to limit information sharing or cooperation with federal immigration enforcement actions—had been expected.
Trump's deputy acting attorney general sent a memo to Justice Department staff this week indicating that state and local officials could potentially be criminally prosecuted for failing to cooperate with Trump's ramped up immigration enforcement, and the Trump administration also revoked policies barring immigration enforcement actions in "sensitive" locations, such as schools.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson earlier this week reiterated his commitment to upholding the city's sanctuary policies.
Trump's immigration measures have already been met with legal challenges, including a lawsuit filed over the weekend by Chicago immigrant advocacy groups against ICE and two federal officials seeking an injunction prohibiting certain types of immigration raids in the city, according to the Chicago Tribune.
According to Thursday reporting from the outlet Bolts, organizers in Chicago had been bracing for raids carried out by ICE, but were hopeful that local protections put in place by the city and "know-your-rights" trainings aimed at immigrants who may be under threat of arrest would be able to limit the scale of the deportations.
Leone Jose Bicchieri, founder of Working Families Solidarity, a group that promotes labor rights education and inter-racial solidarity in Chicago, told Bolts: "We don't plan on backing down."
"I think the right thing to do for the state and the city is to not back down to the feds," he said.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular