We call on U.S. workers to engage in a national general strike on January 23 and organize to protect their neighbors.
EAGLE PASS, TX — Frontera Federation unequivocally condemns the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Border Patrol, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Trump administration for policies and practices that endanger human life and violate fundamental human rights and civil liberties. We call for a nationwide general strike, joining the economic blackout planned by unions in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 23, as well as peaceful protests, and neighborhood organizing and training to stop ICE and Border Patrol from killing, hurting, and abducting our neighbors.
Across the U.S.–Mexico border, we have long witnessed a pattern of abuse by Border Patrol and ICE that is neither isolated nor accidental: aggressive enforcement tactics, mass surveillance, racial profiling, family separation, denial of due process, and the normalization of lethal indifference to tens of thousands of migrant deaths and enforced disappearances. These harms are inseparable from broader assaults on constitutional protections and international human rights standards happening today, including the murder of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.
“What happens at the border doesn’t stay at the border,” said Frontera Federation Co-Director Amerika Garcia Grewal. “They used our border towns to create a playbook in militarization, discretionary violence, and eroded accountability. Now they’re rolling it out, and rolling over the rest of the United States.”
History shows that when unchecked power spreads, so does harm.
We warn that without urgent public opposition across the United States, more state violence against civilians and further loss of life are not only possible—they are likely. This trajectory is compounded by negligent hiring practices and documented evidence of white supremacist ideology within the Department of Homeland Security, including tolerance for extremist affiliations and rhetoric among personnel. Such failures endanger the public and undermine the rule of law.
Frontera Federation calls on neighbors, faith leaders, educators, workers, and local officials to speak up and to act—peacefully, lawfully, and collectively—in public spaces to halt the expansion of abusive enforcement into our cities. Community presence, mutual aid, court-watching, rapid response networks, nonviolent civic action, and labor strikes are proven tools to protect lives and uphold rights.
Safety is not created by fear, secrecy, or force—it is built through solidarity, accountability, and respect for human dignity. We urge communities to protect one another.
“The border has been a testing ground for abuse for too long,” said Ari Sawyer, Frontera Federation co-director. “We must reign in these rogue agencies and end violent immigration deterrence once and for all.”