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I have lived my whole life under endless war, from witnessing police in riot gear patrolling the streets of Los Angeles like an occupied zone, to seeing the children buried under the rubble of U.S. bombs in Gaza, and now Iran engulfed in the fires of drone strikes. As I watch this transnational violence unfolding, I am reminded that the wrath of the U.S. empire is ruthless in both our local communities and our motherlands. I have learned this through my own lived experience growing up in working-class, immigrant Los Angeles as a daughter of the Iranian and Mexican diasporas. Even as I write this, my father is in Iran, where Israel and the United States have bombed hospitals, water systems, and civilian infrastructure. I am living my worst nightmare in real time: my family’s lives caught in the crosshairs of a war paid for by my own tax dollars.
As we bear witness to the unrelenting cruelty carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Trump administration against our communities, as they continue to kidnap migrants and separate families, we are overwhelmed by the sense of grief, anger, and fear that has collectively consumed the people of Los Angeles. Simultaneously, we are also inspired by the organized resistance largely led by the children of migrants, who are confronting ICE with admirable courage. While many have rightly alluded to the uncanny resemblance of the current moment to what occurred nearly a century ago during the rise of fascist Nazi Germany, we do not need to go that far to make the connections, as there are several examples much closer to home.
Protesters, many of them young people, are using their unarmed bodies to disrupt the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids across the city and protect immigrant communities in Los Angeles. These protesters are out there in pursuit of a better future for us all, though many others, including within the immigrant rights movement, do not see it this way and are discrediting their actions as “violent” and not the “right” way. When movement leaders call for “peaceful” protests and curbing the “violence” of protesters (who are often angry youth), they are aligning with the mainstream media and conservatives.