Month: April 2025

Fighting fascism in the US — in Marseille

by Michel Welmond, posted in Uncategorized

We held a small but vibrant rally in Marseille last Saturday to protest the slide towards fascism in the US.  It was in support of the events held on April 19 throughout the US and in other countries. Democrats Abroad France also held rallies in Toulouse, Paris and Nice. Organizing and participating in something like this was invigorating and motivating. We even ended up on the evening news over here!

As one of the organizers, I navigated the French bureaucracy to get a permit for the event. After a fair amount of back and forth (continuously being referred to one office after another), I was finally able to get to the right person and receive the green light. Then getting the word out to the American community in Marseille and Aix-en-Provence was another adventure. Making signs was fun, though. And the event was as well. 

Seeing my country melt while living abroad, however, leaves me with a tremendously despairing sentiment. I want to feel part of what is going on to resist this slide. Writing this blog has helped, as has being a member of Democrats Abroad Marseille.

I’ve had plenty of discussions with French friends and acquaintances about what is happening in the States. Everyone has an opinion, of course, and many want to tell me what they think. They rarely ask me how I feel, though. Opinions tend to fall into one of three basic buckets. The most common one I have heard is one of exasperation. Why has the Democratic party been so silent? Why haven’t Americans taken to the streets? The subtext is that the French would have reacted sooner and more aggressively to the onslaught on democracy. I’m not sure they are right – a lot of romanticism about the French taking to the streets and changing (or stopping) things here. The public protests to the change in the retirement age, while impressive, did not prevent that from going forward.

The second group seems to believe that everything is being blown out of proportion. Eventually, cooler heads will prevail, and the most egregious actions will be reversed. I call these the “institutionalists” because they argue that institutions and norms will play their part and dampen and contain the power grab. They are taken by surprise by the more unsettling actions of the administration, however. The tariffs (reversed, some state with confidence) and the distancing from NATO (just bluster to get the Europeans to pay more) are examples. They recoil at words like fascism or autocracy.

The last group wholehearted embraces the American administration and its agenda. I don’t know many people in this group (I don’t know many people in this category in the States, for that matter – a personal issue I’m dealing with). They usually possess a strong dislike of immigrants, admire the “strongman” approach to leadership, and (unendingly) express disgust with “wokeism”. But even they have been thrown for a loop by the anti-European bent of the American administration. They also tend to rationalize, saying that setbacks are temporary, and that Trump will prevail – and that he will recognize that Europe is a true friend.

Can this also happen in France? When the far right takes power, will they be able to constrain civil liberties, fire civil servants, and establish an autocracy? Most of my friends and acquaintances say no. They point to the Italian case of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who appears to be hindered in her more dramatic ventures. Or Dick Schoof in the Netherlands. But France is different. Like in the US, the president has considerable power to set and execute policy. The retirement age struggles are a case in point. Furthermore, there has been a tirade on the right against the justice system here, particularly with the recent conviction of Marine Le Pen. It appears that Trump sympathized with her plight.

On the other hand, De Gaulle has made a strong, “told you so”, comeback. On the (center) right and the (center) left, the argument for independence from the US on strategic and economic fronts is regularly made. More than 70% of the French no longer consider the US an ally, following the shocking exchange between Trump and Zelensky. Euro-skepticism seems to be in retreat. This may augur well for those fighting the rise of fascism in France.

In any case, the exasperated group (the first bucket), which is most vehement in their disgust and anger at what is happening in the US is, in many ways, also the most pro-American. Despite the usual criticism of the States, there is a real affection, for what the US represents in terms of democracy, freedom and creativity and they are genuinely worried about the US’s future. Raphael Glucksman, an up-and-coming Socialist party personality suggested that France should take back the Statue of Liberty, considering the racist, close-minded and ultra-nationalist bent of the current American administration. But he ended his indictment with the following: “We all in Europe love this nation to which we owe so much. It will rise again. You will rise again. We are counting on you.”

A subject of many discussions I’ve had with other Americans living abroad is whether we will be hassled at the border when we visit our home country. We get all kinds of advice on this – erase all messages and musings on my phone, tablet, and computer, for example. However, I don’t know if I want to “comply in advance”. Nothing I have said or done is illegal and it is none of their business. It would be a badge of honor if they pester me. I’m going to Los Angeles on May 8th, so we’ll see what I say on this blog after we clear customs.

I want to draw attention to a somewhat depressing website, that is nevertheless very informative. Factcheck.org seems to do a pretty good job at contradicting virtually every inanity the current administration comes up with.

I understand that the next big event in the US is on May 1st. I don’t think the American community here in France will do something specific on that day since France will already be in the streets, as they are every May 1st.

Are we all becoming enemy combatants?

by Michel Welmond, posted in Uncategorized

So happy that many of you made it to the demonstrations on April 5th. I wish I could have joined in. Democrats Abroad had organized events all over France, but unfortunately, not in Marseille. We are organizing one in my town (Marseille) on April 19th though. Some people are nervous about attending because it might incur the wrath of customs officials when they come visit the States.

Today, I want to discuss immigration, a subject that is of great importance to me as the son of immigrants to the US. The front page has been consumed lately by the tariff discussions, but the administration’s other attempts to undermine our polity, society, and economy continue unabated. And central to this is the aggressive attempt to punish the immigrant community through threats of and actual imprisonment and deportation.

For example, the New York Times reports that the administration has moved aggressively to revoke the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who were allowed into the country under President Biden by revoking their social security number. The move moves individuals to the “death list” of the Social Security system with the objective that they would “self deport”. Without a social security number, it because exceedingly difficult to find work, housing, credit, or anything else needed to live normal lives. The initial names are limited to people the administration says are convicted criminals and “suspected terrorists.” But officials said the effort could broaden to include others in the country without authorization.

The immigrant community is made up of persons with a diversity (can I still use that word?) of different administrative statuses. There are many who are American citizens, others who have green cards, others with temporary visas of varying lengths of time, and yet others who have acquired one of a panoply of authorizations to remain in the US. Then there are those in “limbo” awaiting a change in status and finally those who have no status at all (either they never could acquire one or the one they had “expired”). The line between these different categories is blurring as the administration attempts to lump everyone into the same category.

The administration has basically used the argument that the US is at “war” with immigrants, who should be treated as “enemy combatants”. This is the underlying logic of using the Alien Enemies Act as a legal justification for imprisonment and deportation without due process.  It is important to keep this in mind as actions proliferate against the US immigrant community. It is an effort to transform many who live in the US into less than human.

The legal arguments over the use of the Alien Enemies Act are very telling. Sotomayor wrote that the implications of the administration’s legal stance is that “not only noncitizens but also United States citizens could be taken off the streets, forced onto planes, and confined to foreign prisons with no opportunity for redress if judicial review is denied unlawfully before removal.”

There have been court cases galore to challenge the administration’s immigration policies. Some successful and others not. For example, although the Supreme Court has allowed the use of the AEA, it has ruled that the administration cannot deport people without giving them a chance to defend themselves.  The Supreme Court also endorsed a trial judge’s order that requires the government to “facilitate and effectuate the return” of a Salvadoran migrant it had wrongly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Federal judges in both New York and Texas have blocked the deportations of Venezuelan.

Even with the courts against them, the administration seems to find ways to ignore the rulings. In the case of Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran who the administration admits was wrongly deported, they are claiming that because he is in El Salvador, the president has the only authority (not the courts) to determine whether Mr. Garcia’s return should be pursued because it has become a matter of foreign policy!

The administration is also prioritizing those who express opinions that it considered counter to its ideological stance. Foreign students who demonstrated against the treatment of Gaza’s Palestinian are being rounded up. More than 300 have had their visas revoked. Even lawyers who are US citizens who defend these students are being threatened. The U.S. border officials are using more aggressive tactics at ports of entry as the administration scrutinizes green card and visa holders who have expressed opposition to its policies.

Whatever the legal tussles that are happening, people are being treated with cruelty. Men, women and children are being traumatized by these actions. These are our neighbors, friends, colleagues, employees and we have a responsibility towards them.

What can we do? First and foremost, we must protect those of the immigrant community who are threatened. In Sonoma County in California, the North Bay Rapid Response Network has a hotline that can reached if someone is being threatened by ICE. There are certainly similar resources available in your community.

The National Immigrant Law Center has many resources for immigrants and those who want to support them. For example, they delineate what you should do if you are arrested or detained.

Voting and the SAVE Act

This is another good week to call your members of Congress and express outrage. The House passed the SAVE Act, which will make it dramatically more difficult for millions of eligible American citizens to register to vote if the Senate passes it too, so it’s time to start campaigning for the Senate to reject it. The Capitol switchboard phone number, where you can ask to be connected to your members’ offices, is (202) 224-3121.

Fighting fascism – facing down intimidation

by Michel Welmond, posted in Uncategorized

A key tactic of the administration’s fascist project is the use of intimidation. Intimidation is defined by Cambridge Dictionary as “the action of frightening or threatening someone, usually in order to persuade them to do something that you want them to do.” Thus, the question we must always ask is what does the “intimidator” want us to do (or not do). Keeping our eye on that can help us to better determine our plan of action as we fight fascism. Globally, the administration recognizes that any resistance to its fascist agenda could lead to a setback – otherwise why resort to intimidation?

The administration is intimidating the immigrant community by menacing deportation, regardless of immigrant status. The overall objective is to show “strength” by creating a false threat that is addressed in a violent and spectacular manner.

The administration is intimidating those who are different such as trans individuals by removing their right to identity and employment. Here the objective is to create a category of “unhumans” (see Vance’s endorsement on the book about how “unhumans” (basically those who fight fascism) have ruined this country

The administration is intimidating scientists by limiting research in fields of import, such as climate change, and preventing studies from being undertaken that differentiate subjects by race, gender, income level or disability.

The administration is intimidating institutions of learning. The instrumentalization of antisemitism is a clever ploy to mask the fascist project to scare universities management into towing certain ideological lines. Who can defend antisemitism, after all?

The administration is intimidating civil servants by firing those it does not agree with and creating a general atmosphere of fear by dismissing workers indiscriminately.

The administration is intimidating lawyers and judges by threatening impeachment and  limiting access to business opportunities. The objective here is clear: when the administration’s actions can be challenged by the third branch of government, its project is weakened.

The administration is intimidating us all because by fighting fascism, we might just win and they would lose!  

You may counter that these isolated acts do not constitute overall strategy. However, the administration is actually testing the waters with each action, ready to ramp up if the conditions exist. The recent move against Harvard University signals that the administration has seen the backing down of Columbia University as a success.

The strategies used by the Trump administration to intimidate us all are impressive in their scope and cleverness.

According to an article by Damon Beres in the Atlantic Intelligence: “President Donald Trump’s administration is embracing AI. According to reports, agencies are using the technology to identify places to cut costs, figure out which employees can be terminated, and comb through social-media posts to determine whether student-visa holders may support terror groups.”

The list of words that are now banned by the government (now numbering more than 250) only gets longer and more ridiculous: activism, climate crisis, male dominated, gay, gender, inclusion, measles, underserved, women – but also verbs such as belong to and promote. By the way, please visit this PEN webpage to send a letter to your congressperson expressing your disdain to these acts of censorship.

If the Trump regime can “detain” a graduate student with a green card for peacefully protesting the policies of the Netanyahu government, what’s to stop the regime from “detaining” full citizens who engage in such protest or in any protest against the Trump regime?

About a week ago, a French researcher was refused entry to the US because he had written about his distress at what was happening under the current administration. They “found” this on his computer and smartphone at customs and accused him of spying (for whom exactly?).

What do we do about intimidation? Robert Reich proposes three categories of actions, of which I share two below. The first is to protect those who are being intimidated:

  • We can contribute to the legal defense of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, here.
  • We can ensure that students and faculty know what to do if ICE comes to their campus, here.
  • We can contribute to groups such as the PhD project, a nonprofit that helps students from underrepresented groups earn doctoral degrees in business — which the Trump regime absurdly claims violates the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against white students.

The second thing we can do is show up. 

We can show up at town halls where our senators and representatives are appearing, tell them exactly what we think of the Trump-Vance-Musk regime, and ask them to join us in opposition.

But the most important thing you can do is attend one of the demonstrations organized for tomorrow April 5th

A final request for everyone. Please oppose the SAVE Act (H.R. 22) – A Voter Suppression Bill – House Vote THIS WEEK. This bill will makes it a requirement that voters present a birth certificate or a passport to vote. This particularly affects those who vote from abroad. If you could kindly call your congressperson, I would greatly appreciate it.