From August 30th to September 1st, nearly 500 migrants, workers, refugees, and allies from 97 organizations, including 9 national alliances, gathered in Portland, Oregon for the Defend Migrants Political Conference. Delegates from across the US came together in the face of intensifying fascist repression, forced displacement, and exploitation of migrants worldwide. This conference affirmed the collective strength of our migrant communities, along with our determination to resist imperialist attacks in all forms.

​

Convened by the International Migrants Alliance (IMA) US Chapter and the Tanggol Migrante Movement, the conference advanced the theme “Migrants, Build Strength and Hope! Resist Fascist Attacks, Exploitation, and Oppression! End Forced Migration!” Over the course of the weekend, grassroots migrant worker leaders shared lessons of struggle, forged strategies of resistance, and committed to concrete paths of action.

​

This effort resonated across IMA’s global regions, prompting a declaration of a Global Week of Solidarity with US migrants against Trump’s fascist attacks. Shown throughout the weekend were solidarity video messages from IMA global chapters in Canada, Europe, Indonesia, Ecuador, Senegal, Australia, Argentina, Chile, and Malaysia, linking the fight in the US to the struggles of migrants and displaced people around the world.

​

The second day of the conference began with IMA and Tanggol Migrante enjoining attendees to launch a Defend Migrants Alliance during this critical time when a united fight is needed now more than ever. The attendees resolved to raise the intensity of our local fights and coordinate our campaigns at a national level, while also building international solidarity and strength to fight collectively for even greater wins.

​

The Defend Migrants Alliance Points of Unity are as follows:

1. We unite to support and defend the rights of migrants, workers, and all those affected by the

Trump administration’s immigration crackdown (at air/land/sea borders and in the interior against ICE raids of workplaces, schools, hospitals, and communities), and to empower the leadership of those most impacted in this movement, including the families of detained and deported migrants.

2. We unite to hold governments accountable – including both US and home country government institutions – to fulfill their responsibilities in ensuring the rights and welfare of the people.

3. We unite to expose and oppose the for-profit system of corporations benefiting from inhumane migrant detention and deportation operations and the collusion of government agencies including ICE in repressing and surveilling our communities, here and in our homelands.

4. We unite to grow our movement by bringing in others to the alliance to defend our communities through organizing, advocacy, and other forms of action.

​

The Defend Migrants Political Conference concluded with renewed strength, deeper unity, and a firm commitment. The gathering culminated in a powerful caravan to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington on September 1st, where close to 1000 people from across the country stood in defiance of state repression and in solidarity with detainees, calling for an end to deportations, detention, and the criminalization of migrants.