meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Upstream

[TEASER] Immigration, ICE, and Working Class Rebellion w/ Cecilia Guerrero

Upstream

Upstream

Politics, Society & Culture, News

4.9 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This is a free preview of the episode "Immigration, ICE, and Working Class Rebellion w/ Cecilia Guerrero." You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/upstreampodcast

As a Patreon subscriber you'll get access to at least one bonus episode a month (usually two or three), our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes, early access to certain episodes, and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers—depending on which tier you subscribe to. access to bi-weekly bonus episodes ranging from conversations to readings and more. Signing up for Patreon is a great way to make Upstream a weekly show, and it will also give you access to our entire back catalog of Patreon episodes along with stickers and bumper stickers at certain subscription tiers. You’ll also be helping to keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going.

It’s easy to get lost in the narratives that are fed to us by the very same institutions that oppress us. Whether liberal institutions or far right ones, there’s always something crucial missing—some component of analysis that’s left unaddressed, some root cause that remains misidentified or distorted. And the reason is because when it comes to the class war that we are all engaged in—whether we like it or not—the issues of class, of imperialism, and of monopoly capitalism are never, ever part of the mainstream discussion. 

So, what are the root causes of immigration? What do the ICE terror campaigns look like on the ground in cities like LA or Nashville? What happens when we apply a materialist lens to the conversation about mass deportations and conversation about the scapegoating of the more vulnerable groups in society? And what happens when we shift the frame from the more liberal, rights-based approach to activism to one based on unified, solidaristic class struggle? Well, we’ve brought back on the perfect guest to help us unpack some of these pressing questions. 

Cecilia Guerrero is Chair and Founding Member of A Luta Sigue, an organization based in Nashville, Tennessee, which incubates and trains young people and workers within advanced sectors of the working class to build and lead their own class struggle organizations.

In this episode, we talk about the terror campaign being waged on immigrants throughout the country and the responses coming from working class communities who are standing up for themselves and standing in solidarity with the oppressed and exploited classes across the globe. We talk about ICE, the role that immigration plays in the imperialist global system, the attempts by liberal institutions to co-opt and neutralize our radical movements, and what the MAGA right gets wrong about the root cause of their immiseration. 

Further resources:

Related episodes:

Artwork: CPSU propaganda poster

Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support

If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship

For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Instagram and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

A quick note before we jump into this Patreon episode.

0:03.3

Thank you to all of our Patreon subscribers for making upstream possible.

0:07.7

We genuinely could not do this without you.

0:10.6

Your support allows us to create bonus content like this

0:13.6

and to provide most of our content for free

0:16.1

so that we can continue to offer political education media to the public

0:20.6

and build our movement.

0:22.5

Thank you, comrades.

0:24.0

Hope you enjoy this conversation.

0:52.3

Oh, uh-huh. These deportations do tend to happen often during times of economic crisis. And so some describe these mass deportations as mass layoffs as well.

0:57.0

So what these do is that they make the status of immigrants even more precarious.

1:03.0

They want to make people docile, complacent, too afraid to strike, to afraid to organize.

1:08.0

And so as a result, it will drive down wages for all workers, regardless of immigration status,

1:13.6

and it's going to lead to the further consolidation of monopoly capital.

1:17.6

Because, you know, all of these behavior by the ruling class, by the monopoly capitalists,

1:22.6

you know, they're only doing what is convenient to the activity of exploitation and to the domination of capital, you know, in the words of Marx.

1:32.0

Trump doesn't just represent himself.

1:34.5

Even though Democrats might want to say that, oh, he's just an egomaniac, he's just this.

1:38.9

He is representing collective interests.

1:41.5

And those collective interests are from a section of the Monopoly

1:45.0

capitalist class. You're listening to Upstream. Upstream. Upstream. Upstream. A show about political

1:52.9

economy and society that invites you to unlearn everything you thought you knew about the world

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 5 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Upstream, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Upstream and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.