Editor’s Note: This article was written by Salvador Sandoval MD, MPH and first published by our bilingual sister publication, Tribuno del Pueblo.
‘[T]hat millions have gone out onto the streets and millions are starting to resist the onslaught of attacks on us is cause for celebration. . . This International Workers Day let us celebrate the contributions of all workers, especially the immigrants who brought May Day to their countries of origin. The defense of immigrants is vital to the defense of the entire U.S. working class. An attack on one is an attack on all.’
International Worker’s Day is celebrated on May 1st around the world. Until the Mega Marches of 2006, led by immigrants demanding amnesty and immigration reform [which we still haven’t achieved] — International Worker’s Day wasn’t particularly recognized in the U.S. Instead, the first Monday of September has intentionally been designated as the U.S.’s very own Labor Day.
As we live through the chaos, fear, and confusion of President Trump’s first 100 days in office, he assures his base that he is fulfilling campaign promises. Purporting to deport “murderers, rapists, freeloaders and protect American jobs and services”, he has moved forward on his promise to deport up to 11 million people (about twice the population of Arizona). He authorized increased militarization at the border, the continued construction of the Border wall, threatened to penalize sanctuary cities and states and, has already issued deportations without due process of naturalized citizens and legal non-citizens who speak out against his policies. He has authorized widespread raids and arrests throughout the country, not restricted to the 100-mile radius from the border. In addition, he has strong-armed countries such as Mexico, Panama, and Colombia to fortify their borders and hold back asylum seekers. He has enticed participation of President Bukele of El Salvador with $6 million of U.S. taxpayer funds to accept and imprison deportees, partly due to the fact that El Salvador has the world’s most dangerous prisons. Furthermore, Trump has acted on plans to expand detention of deported asylees at Guantanamo in Cuba.
Under the guise of ending government waste, he has acted on his pledge of laying off a projected 2 million government employees, the dissolution of the department of education, the dismantling and/or defunding of public health, Obama Care, social security, Medicare, Veterans Benefits, food programs such as SNAP and USAID, and much more. Not to mention his attacks on democracy, voting rights, the Constitution, freedom of speech, birthright citizenship, etc.
Is the Liar in Chief remaining true to his campaign promises to “Make America Great Again”?
What does all this mean for May Day in 2025?
The original May Day was initiated and led primarily by immigrants who worked under harsh and dangerous conditions of 12 or more-hour days. It was first celebrated on May 1, 1886, to honor a general strike held by U.S. workers, with significant participation and leadership by immigrants. The general strike culminated in the Hay Market Strike in Chicago. Immigrants, including German, French, and Bohemian, were demonized as immigrants are today. Several of the leaders were falsely accused of a bombing that took the life of a Chicago policeman. Today the Hay Market Martyrs are celebrated in other countries but are largely unknown in the U. S. (8 were sentenced to be hanged; 4 were actually hanged).
The period that we are living through today bears much similarity to “the Gilded Age” in U.S. history, which spanned roughly 1870 to early 1900s and included the Haymarket Strike. [Howard Zinn’s People’s History of the United States covers this period in more detail] Back then, as today was an epoch marked by tremendous turmoil, labor unrest, violence, and bigotry. A time of rapid industrialization and economic growth, it was also a time when stark inequalities became evident between wealthy elites and working people. It was the time of the Robber Barons, where a handful of industrialists became filthy rich on the backs of the suffering of working people. John Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil, became the nation’s first billionaire.
Today, the U.S. has more billionaires, several of whom had front row seating at President Trump’s inauguration. One of them being Elon Musk, Trumps’ de facto and unelected stand-in President. Musk oversees DOGE (Dept of Government Efficiency) and runs it with chain saw hacks and cuts to demonized and cherished social programs without distinction. The programs under attack include Medicare and social security, national park staffing, public health, housing, education, food programs, environmental protections, and much more.
Unlike the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era which followed it, where improvements and reforms of working conditions such as the fight for the 8-hour day, women’s suffrage, and child labor laws were just being fought for and won, today we face a time where labor and life itself, is being devalued. It is a time where labor replacing technology and artificial intelligence (AI) are being introduced without regard for their impact on the quality of life of everyday Americans, and regardless of where they were born. It is also a time where government, unabashedly now under Trump, though true even before him in a more veiled way– is serving the corporations and billionaires exclusively. Silicon Valley billionaires, some call them technofascists, have openly aligned with Wall Street, as Trump slowly but surely dismantles democracy and government for and by the people to clear the way for even more profits for billionaires.
We are at the beginning of a new era. We can be certain that the “New Robber Barons” and their self-proclaimed King don’t have us in mind, regardless of where we were born, the color of our skin, our gender, etc. Their actions thus far in implementing Project 2025 leave little doubt about their intentions.
This May Day is a wakeup call for all of us, regardless of whether we voted for Trump or not—as some Latinos did. The surest way to defeat a people is to wage war on them without their knowing it. Divide and conquer is part of that strategy, as the attacks on undocumented, DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), false promises of bringing factory jobs home, and many others show.
We have all been lied to. The entire U.S. working class, of which immigrants comprise an integral part, is under attack.
The fact that millions have gone out onto the streets and millions are starting to resist the onslaught of attacks on us is cause for celebration. People are on the move and waking up to the new reality. They are open to seeing beyond the lies spoon fed to them for so long. This International Workers Day let us celebrate the contributions of all workers, especially the immigrants who brought May Day to their countries of origin. The defense of immigrants is vital to the defense of the entire U.S. working class. An attack on one is an attack on all. Let us join the rest of the world in celebrating May Day and the vision our forefathers and mothers fought for
