Join One Struggle in our campaign to shut down Alligator Alcatraz

Florida Governor Ron Desantis has jumped at the opportunity to flex his authoritarian muscle, enrich his campaign donors and signal his loyalty to Trump through the swift development of the Everglades internment camp “Alligator Alcatraz.”  Immigrants were detained in the series of tented cages within a couple of weeks of anyone finding out about it, even local officials in Miami-Dade County which technically “owns” the land. Within two months a Florida district judge has halted further construction and ordered that the camp be cleared out within 60 days. The governor has vowed that he will not be deterred in aiding Trump with his mandates. However long the life of the camp itself, we will be dealing with the consequences of this bold flex of the American imperialist muscle for the foreseeable future.

More Than Just the Camp
It would be a mistake to let our struggles begin and end with this camp, or the multiple camps sprouting up around the nation with similar tactics. The moment represents an evolution of capitalism politically, economically and ideologically. There are multiple accomplishments of ruling class interest:

• The erosion of due process
• The abuse of emergency power towards the growth of privatization
• Environmental destruction
• Theft of tribal land
• Promotion of xenophobic violence

It’s Fascism Y’all

We don’t need to tell you, these aren’t new problems. Due process has always been selectively afforded to citizens and immigrants alike, more “flexible” when applied to black and brown folks and others the state deems “undesirable”. Privatization of public lands, services and industries are no surprise to families of South Florida from all over the Caribbean and Latin America, countries who have fallen prey to the World Bank and IMF. Neither are corruption, shady contracts and environmental destruction. Capitalism itself is predicated on the eradication of the indigenous and the theft of their lands for hundreds of years. Yeah, it’s the same play book but on the imperialist home field. What is significant is the abandonment of any need for justification, any need to appeal to the masses. The ruling class used to strong-arm economies in the name of democracy, but here they claim to pursue “efficiency” while clearly hocking snake oil. They claim to be protecting us from the worst of the worst like we can’t see news segments about grandmothers being detained and day laborers being run into traffic. The capitalist class is mask-off, scratching in profits like someone is gonna shut the game down.

Some embrace the most hateful, putrid ideology gleefully because it has always been essential to their system of exploitation, just not socially acceptable until now. Others will be horrified by the overt disdain for humanity like they weren’t a part of the backroom deals or passivity that afforded those in power their platform and dominance. No matter their reaction, they are locked into the global arrangement of imperialism even as it destroys the world around them.

This is why we need to divest from all the tools and spoils of imperialism – the components of structural adjustment we saw carve out social programs in authoritarian dictatorships in South America are being implemented against us now with the abuse of emergency powers and the erosion of due process; the corruption we thought was particular to “banana republics” is now rampant in the contracts being awarded to political donors and criminal cover-ups we see in the news every other day; insane inflation, stagnant wages, and lack of access to basic resources like healthcare, and clean food or water was the “pitiful” state of countries we deemed “backwards” because of the debt we buried them in…but those are the same conditions we’re finding ourselves in at the hands of the same motherfuckers who made it happen elsewhere.

If we don’t speak up loudly, things will continue to operate as usual, and what is behind the scenes will remain hidden. They don’t want us to get organized, so that is precisely what we need to do. We cannot rely on the American legal system, which still codifies slavery, does not guarantee your citizenship, and constantly walks back environmental protections at the behest of industry. We cannot work too closely with political organizations or NGOs that answer to benefactors and donors. Although we won’t shut down any pressure that could contribute to the broader movement, we know the core of our issues is the social and political structures that allow fascism to arise and consolidate power. Politicians, the legal system, NGOs – these are imperialist structures that feed off of our complacency with bureaucracy. Independent forms of organization combat that bureaucracy when we decide to do things ourselves and stay connected to each other. We cannot expect others to do the work that needs to be done to secure our future, economically, socially, or environmentally.

Join One Struggle in our campaign to pressure the companies to end their contracts.

Public Pressure – A Place to Begin

For decades we have pawned off all our political power to politicians, believing the false differences between Democrat and Republican would be enough to represent the interests of the most people. Our system is one of checks and balances, apparently, with each side pressuring the other to do better. But political pressure doesn’t come from the kind of slick business back dealing that was never a bug, but always a feature of our democracy – it comes from us, regular people, deciding that we’re going to represent ourselves. Companies and individuals that enrich themselves through the suffering of our community members should be known. They themselves should also know that we as a society agree this level of exploitation will not be tolerated.

How can we feel so sure of this, and yet it seems that what we should refuse to tolerate is happening around us constantly? We can’t afford rent, groceries or healthcare – let alone all three at once. Police still harass, arrest and murder innocent people. Child labor is being used in the US, isn’t that an agreement we made a long time ago?! What does it mean to build and uphold social agreements? The fact is, we only have what we can defend. To do that, we have to learn how to work together.

Because we haven’t represented ourselves in so long, our forms of pressure start small – sending emails and making calls with the objective of gumming up the gears of the private entities contracted to carry out this latest escalation of state violence. This early in the game, it’s possible we might encounter people – employees, interns, sub-contractors, family members – who don’t know the work they’re contributing to. Until they show us otherwise, we assume there is room to implore them to resist how they can once the call has been made to be accountable to the information we’re sharing with them.  

This is not the first or last form of pressure that can be applied. We can break out of the algorithmic echo-chambers of our social media feeds and share information with others, helping everyone understand the implications this facility has for every Floridian and every United States resident. We can also build pressure – but only if we coordinate our efforts and build relationships with others through our struggle to understand the fresh hell in front of us and how best to continue our fight to resist it. This pressure campaign aims to build with others an understanding of what “Alligator Alcatraz” is, what it means for the future and how we can work together to push back against this moment and those to come.

Join us by:
* Sending letters, emails and phone calls to the companies involved in the detention camps. Flood their socials and google reviews with the truth – they are feeding fascism! Use the resources located here
* Coming out to One Struggle events to meet and talk (updates on IG @SeedsofUnity)
* Help host pressure events for your friends, organization, or community with our support and resources
* Contribute to the campaign through research and making agitational content – artists and writers!
* Share your knowledge of and connections to the detention camp

These Are Our Demands:

1. If you are in a position to terminate your company’s contract, do so.
2. If you are not, as an employee there are still ways that you can clear your conscience. If you have a way to slow down the kidnapping and abuse, do so.
   • Tell the press and the community what you have seen, as it may help build a case against these horrific detention camps.
   • Organize your coworkers and employees against these camps.
   • If all else fails, we urge you to find other employment. No amount of money can justify the kidnapping, dispossession, and theft of people from their jobs, homes, and families. No amount of money can justify the poisoning and destruction of the land we live in.
3. Publicly denounce this stain on human history. Discourage anyone else in your industry from picking up the contract.

The resistance will not stop with the pressure campaign. Help us construct the path forward through building shared understanding and strong social bonds. For too long we have trusted our righteous discontent to politicians and NGOs who have in turn sold us to the highest bidder, leaving us to fight fascism unarmed as it arrives in our own backyard.

Resist! Arise! Organize!