Trump's war on Venezuela hurts its people AND Americans

Trump’s bombing of Venezuela and kidnapping of its president Maduro reveals the US government’s barbaric nature. It is not only hurting people in its targeted countries, but also directly hurting the American people. 

Trump’s latest action is a continuation of US’s policies that has been ruining countries like Afghanistan, the Philippines and countless others through wars, sanctions, and regime change. Besides exerting control over resources like oil, however, these aggressions have also created cheap labor for the US, as they destroyed people’s homes and made them refugees to the US. Once here, new immigrants are pit against citizens to drag down all of our working conditions, because of a modern-day slave law. 

This law, with a misnomer “employer sanctions,” makes it illegal for undocumented immigrants to work and gives power to employers to check their status. This lets unscrupulous bosses lower the conditions for undocumented workers by easily threatening them with deportations and force citizens and documented workers to compete in a race to the bottom. It also hurts businesses who want to follow the law. The US government further takes advantage of this division to implement cuts to social spending and safety nets, while letting workers blame each other for the austerity policies. This fuels more criminalization against people of all backgrounds at home and justifies more violence abroad. 

We cannot allow this cycle to continue. As Youth Against Sweatshops, we oppose the US’s war and destruction in Venezuela and other countries. We also support Break the Chains’ petition to ask California Governor Gavin Newsom to demand Trump stop criminalizing immigrants here and ensure equal rights for all workers. Across the nation, Newsom has been the leading Democrat challenging Trump’s deportation without due process and fending off his national guard. Let’s ask him to do more to stop Trump’s terror and criminalization that are hurting all of us. 

Sign the petition to urge Newsom demand Trump:

• No deportation without due process

• Repeal the modern-day slave law “employer sanctions”

• Ensure equal rights for all workers