[PRESS RELEASE] International Migrants Alliance Condemns ICE Raids as Acts of State Terror
“We Will Not Be Intimidated” – Eni Lestari
June 15, 2025
The International Migrants Alliance (IMA) strongly condemns the latest wave of violent and racist raids by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which have left thousands of migrants detained and communities across the US terrorized. In one of the most sweeping actions to date, over 2,300 people were reportedly detained in a single day during coordinated attacks in Los Angeles, carried out under the direction of the Trump administration.
"The Trump administration has escalated its war on migrants to terrifying new heights. The recent ICE attacks and mass raids in Los Angeles detaining over thousands of people in a single day are not just immigration enforcement. These are deliberate acts of state fascism. Migrants were kidnapped from the streets, ripped from their workplaces, torn from their homes, and even seized at school graduations. These inhumane actions are tearing families apart and traumatizing entire communities," said Eni Lestari, Chairperson of the International Migrants Alliance.
The IMA condemns these raids as not only racist and xenophobic, but part of a fascist campaign of fear aimed at silencing and criminalizing the most vulnerable.
"This is nothing short of a state-sponsored terror campaign against migrants,” Lestari continued. “ICE continues to operate with impunity, raiding homes, workplaces, and public spaces treating human beings as disposable, detainable, and deportable. This must stop.”
In the face of this repression, the IMA is calling on migrant communities around the world to fight back with unity and strength.
“We, at the International Migrants Alliance, firmly condemn these racist, fascist attacks. We call on grassroots-led migrant organizations, refugee groups, as well as advocates to unite, organize, and resist these escalating assaults on our people. Together, we must turn fear into collective power and build a stronger movement to defend our rights and our dignity.”
As the largest global alliance of grassroots migrant organizations, refugee groups and displaced peoples, IMA emphasizes that these attacks cannot be seen in isolation; they are tied to the broader crisis of imperialism and militarized borders globally.
“From Palestine to the U.S.-Mexico border, imperialist states are waging war against the people—using violence, displacement, and militarized borders to uphold their global dominance,” Lestari added. “Migrants are not criminals. We are workers, survivors, and fighters for dignity. We will not be intimidated. We will resist.”
"While the U.S. government must be held primarily accountable for orchestrating these fascist attacks and criminalizing migrant communities, the governments of sending countries must also answer for their complicity and silence. Instead of protecting their nationals abroad, many of these governments maintain exploitative labor export policies and refuse to challenge U.S.' these attacks. Migrants are not commodities or bargaining chips—we are human beings whose rights must be defended." Lestari ended. IMA holds both host and home governments to account and calls for a global solidarity movement to uphold the dignity and humanity of all migrants.
IMA demands an immediate halt to all ICE raids and detentions, the release of all detained migrants, an end to the militarization of immigration enforcement, and full protection, legalization, and rights for all undocumented and displaced people. These are not just policy demands—they are urgent calls for justice and humanity in the face of escalating state fascism.
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