The following article consists of edited highlights from The Socialist Program 30th January 2026 – a discussion between Brian Becker and Layan Fuleihan.

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On January 23 there was a general strike in Minneapolis against ICE Terror. The following morning, ICE agents executed ICU nurse Alex Pretti. They wanted to intimidate this new mass movement, but that has failed. On January 30th, this mass action spread throughout the country in what has been labelled a national shutdown.
No work. No school. No shopping. For the first time in a long time, maybe the first time ever, the concept of a nationwide general strike has become a topic for tens of millions of people all over the United States.

THE WHOLE COUNTRY STANDS WITH MINNEAPOLIS AGAINST ICE TERROR

I’m Layan Sima Fuleihan, here with Brian Becker, and this is “In The News”, a segment of The Socialist Program. 

Brian Becker: Layan, I think that when the government, the Trump administration, the ICE officials, saw this massive turnout in Minneapolis on January 23rd – More than 100,000 people came out in spite of the fact that the high temperature that day was something like nine below zero – when they saw that they were alarmed.

They knew that the Trump administration’s program of terror against not only immigrant communities, but urban areas all over the United States, was going to fail. And so the next day, Alex Pretti and others were confronted by ICE agents, and they executed him. They shot him in the back. Then Kristi Noem and [Greg] Bovino and all of the other ICE officials immediately said he was a domestic terrorist, that he intended to inflict great damage on ICE agents, that he came to assassinate people. I think that’s what Stephen Miller said. 

They were really hoping that the tide of opposition, of resistance, would be stymied as a consequence of this show of violence. And I think it did impact some people. You know, some people who had been part of the January 23rd demonstration, some of the non-profit organisations said “Well, let’s take a breather. Let’s take a time out… we don’t want to go too far too fast… maybe it’s not the time for an intensified struggle.” 

But there were other people, including the students, the young people in the Somali community, in particular, in Minneapolis  – and there’s a very large concentration of Somali Americans in that part of the country. They said, “No, we’re not gonna be intimidated. We have to step it up.” In fact, they called for the whole country to stand with Minneapolis and stand against ICE terror. 

And that’s what’s happened. For the first couple days [after the call for the strike was made] nobody knew whether January 30th would take off, but it has taken off. And taken off so much that Trump actually has recalled Bovino, sent Tom Homan back to Minnesota to talk to Governor Walz, [he is] trying to de-escalate, trying to say, “This is gonna be a new day. Let’s talk.”.

All of this kind of [gives] a sense of détente or relaxation. That was the new message of the Trump administration in the face of the pending, looming general strike, but that didn’t work, either, Layan. People all over the country, and hundreds of actions, are going into the streets [today, January 30]. Millions of people are not shopping, large numbers of high school students are walking out, a large number of trade unions [are involved], in a very short time, and it’s not easy for unions to quickly make decisions. There’s a process that they each have. [A] large number of them have endorsed or are promoting [the strike]. A number of celebrities and influencers also answered the call. It’s been a remarkable past few days.

Layan Sima Fuleihan: It certainly has, Brian. It’s really taken off, and to give our listeners a sense of just how broad and how wide this call for action has been spreading, some of the celebrities that have made the call are pretty major figures:

We have Jenna Ortega, we have Ariana Grande – She has one of the biggest social media platforms in the world. Billie Eilish. They all posted for people to join the national shutdown today. 

Others are Pedro Pascal, Mark Ruffalo, Macklemore, Hannah Einbender (who really was one of the people who’s been using her platform consistently to talk about social justice issues to her audience), Ellen DeGeneres, Tim Robinson, Megan Stalter, Edward Norton, Tom Morello, the list goes on.

Then in terms of other kinds of organisations and endorsements, there’s a long and still growing list of, of unions, union locals, and workers associations that are either mobilising their workers, endorsing the call, or promoting the call. They are saying: this is the right thing to do right now. I can’t read the whole list, because it’s so long, but I can give a few examples of it. We’ve got UAW [United Auto Workers] Region 6, which is really a huge region, it’s all the West Coast UAW locals. There are tens of thousands of workers. There is the North Texas Area Labour Federation – they represent over 400,000 families. There’s the Inland Empire Labour Council – they represent over 400,000 families. There’s North Texas Area Labour Federation. There are many student worker unions, MIT Graduate Student Work Union, for example. There are many others: United Electrical Worker locals from all across the country, Alphabet Worker unions, United Food and Commercial Workers Union. I could go on and on. 

It’s hard to estimate how many workers this collection of union locals and worker federations represents, but it’s upwards of 850,000 workers, at least. Then there’s hundreds of organisational endorsements of local organisations, community organisations, left organisations, artist organisations, teachers, student organisations, other kinds of national organisations. Hundreds of organisations have signed onto the call, and that’s not to mention all the everyday people who have been mobilising for this. You can’t open your social media anymore without finding, basically every post is someone saying “Hey guys, I’m not gonna go to work today”, or “I’m not gonna buy things today”, or “I’m going to the protest near me”. 

There’s at least 350 actions planned all across the country – in almost every state, I believe. We’re still getting all the information, because there’s so much information. It’s really, really incredible to see how this unified national action has taken root among everyday people from all walks of life. Restaurants are closing down. They’re saying, it hurts our profits, but this is the right thing to do. We’re gonna also open our doors for people if they want to warm up. Use our cardboard boxes to make your signs.” I mean, the solidarity, the outpouring of solidarity from the people all across this country, is absolutely monumental. 

THE TACTIC OF THE GENERAL STRIKE

Brian: I want to mention the tactic of the general strike. As we’ve said on the show before, a general strike is not that unusual in Europe, let’s say in France or Spain. [Their] workers know, because there’s a long tradition of socialism and Marxism and left unions – either Communist led unions or Social Democratic left unions -[they know] that workers have the power in society if they withhold their labour. 

And of course, if they withhold their labour, nothing moves. If the bosses – as it’s often said – don’t come to work, they don’t get out of bed, nobody really notices. But if the workers don’t come to work, everybody notices because the workers work, the workers’ labour is the thing that makes society move. 

So if the railroad workers don’t come, there’s no trains. If the sanitation workers don’t come, there’s no garbage pickup. You know, you can just go down the list. 

Labour, socialised labour – and labour is socialised in contemporary capitalism – makes everything move. Now, normally, workers are in a state of competition with each other. When you want to get a job, you’re competing with 100 other people who have filed a job application. 

Workers aren’t just in competition with each other. Workers are also worried about getting laid off, so you kind of want to perform well for the boss. I mean, there’s a lot of stimulus or incentive to just get a job, and keep the job, and get your wages, and be able to feed you and your family. But then there are [other] times when labour cooperates. There are times when labour comes together, and when labour strikes. When labour withholds its labour, then everybody knows what the real power is in society – once that power is mobilised. 

Now, there’s another thing about a general strike that’s extremely important. And the American bourgeoisie, the U.S. ruling class – being very class conscious – is more aware of this than the working class, more aware of this than the unions. They’re more aware of the vulnerability of their own system.

Here’s what I’m talking about: If a general strike lasts more than a day, now we’ve had Minneapolis, [strike on] January 23rd, and today, January 30th. So the topic of general strike is gonna increasingly be on the minds of a lot of people, and I think it’s gonna lead to a protracted general strike in the country. I think that is indeed what’s coming, even though it’s never happened before.

When workers go on strike for more than a day or two, there’s a question that gets raised: What workers should stay on the job? Meaning, if you’re gonna go on strike for a week, how are people gonna get food? How are the sick gonna be tended to? How would fires be dealt with if firefighters are on strike? What about sanitation pickup?

Then the question becomes for a general strike: Not only who stays out of work, but who goes to work. And the general strike executive committee decides – in order to meet the needs of society at the time of the general strike – this and that section of workers should work. In other words, a decision is made. Keep the hospitals open. Keep the fire stations open. Keep the sanitation workers on the job. That’s their role in the general strike. 

So it’s not just about shutting it down, so to speak, but also what stays open. But in that process, something called dual power shows itself. And dual power is something that happens in all radical processes of transformation. 

Dual power is when there is a second power other than the government that shows itself and shows that it has authority. Right now, it’s only the bosses and the government – the bosses and the state – that have all the authority. The government’s basic ultimate authority is that it has the legal right to use violence against the rest of society. 

But if another authority – a dual power authority – arises and says “All the workers are gonna go on strike, except these workers, who we insist should go to work, because they will make the strike be able to keep going, because it [meets] the basic needs of people while the strike is happening”. That means workers are now starting to listen to the new authority, the second authority, the dual authority. And that authority is the working class itself. That shows the class cleavage in society and raised as class consciousness. This is what the bourgeoisie fears most. 

It’s not about this or that. It’s not about a particular economic or social demand. If the working class in the United States becomes genuinely class-conscious and aware of its power, and does so through an experience like a general strike, all of politics in the United States will change. 

Instead of the United States being kind of an anti-communist, more-or-less conservative country, it will become a very radical country – and that will happen right away. So what we see happening step-by-step in the last few months is confronting the Trump administration’s assault against democratic rights, against immigrant families, against the Black community, against gay people, against trans kids, against all of the things that people have fought for – social and economic and cultural reforms. In the face of that, people are organising. 

And the logic now is leading to the general strike. So January 30th is gonna be a step forward from January 23rd, because it will be national. Does that mean everybody will go on strike? Of course not. Does that mean everybody won’t shop? Of course not. 

But it means we’re moving in the direction of a general strike. And you can’t get to a general strike, especially in the United States, where there hasn’t been one – or at least not since 1877, on a nationwide basis during the Great Rail strike. It can’t happen except through people having their own experience, but then [also by] having organisations, socialist organisations in particular, unions in particular, student organisations in particular, who help guide this process. 

Layan: That’s absolutely right. And it just shows, Brian, for people who are feeling like it might not be the right time, or they’re nervous about it, or maybe we’re not sure what to do, [or] “How exactly do we do it?”. The point is, is that we all have to participate. 

We have to participate in every way that we possibly can because the moment is now. People are in the streets now. People are calling for action now. Now is when the people are rising up. So we’ve said it many times on this show and we’re going to keep saying it. We want to be with the people as they take action. 

So today is just another step forward, and it’s the beginning of a larger mass movement. It shows just how unpopular the racist, xenophobic, violent actions and agenda that the Trump administration and the far right in this country represent. How unpopular they are with the masses of people in the United States – with the population in the United States. 

All of this talk about how people really, actually are nervous about immigration, or they really are not happy about the wave of immigration – all of this kind of propaganda that has preceded the Trump administration, and that also is infused in the way the Democratic Party characterises themselves and their decisions – all of that is untrue. You can see it for yourself with the outrage against the attacks on our immigrant neighbours and coworkers. 

PUBLIC OPINION MOVING AGAINST TRUMP

Brian: And, Layan, you and I have been doing some research on the statistics about how popular opinion or public opinion has shifted over the past months in regards to immigration, in regards to how people perceive ICE. You know, in the beginning, Trump said, “Oh, we’re only gonna get the worst of the worst. We’re gonna just get the hardened criminals. We’re gonna keep Americans safe.” – all of this B.S. 

But when you look at the statistics, what’s happening in the streets with this mass opposition, including the general strike, and it’s not just in Minneapolis – and by the way, and I want to talk about this before we leave today, ICE is now moving to Springfield, to target the Haitian community. That’s gonna be the next real big battle zone. But looking at the statistics, there’s been a remarkable and fast paced change in public opinion, and the polls show it.

Layan: Yeah, let’s look at the numbers, and of course these polls are always a bit skewed. It depends on the question that is asked.

This is the Harvard Harris Poll from March 2025. Trump had been in office for about 2 months at that time, and the result was that Trump’s most popular policy was, “Deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have committed crimes”. That had the support of 80% of voters, including 72% of Democrats. The next most popular Trump policy was Trump’s efforts to, “Close the border with added security, that discouraged illegal crossings”, and that got 74% of voters’ support. 

Fast forward to now, there’s a new Gallup poll from this month that says the percentage of Americans who want less immigration has dropped by nearly half. It’s now 30% of respondents, and 79% of respondents say that immigration benefits the United States. So, I think there’s two things at play here. 

One is that the question that was asked in the beginning – and it’s always been asked to voters – is: “Do you want criminals to be in the United States”? That’s the way it’s been framed. That immigrants are criminals, and do you want criminals? So, now people are seeing who Trump is actually targeting. 

Here’s another great number that really shows the drama of the past year: There has been a 2500% surge in non-criminal detainees. The vast majority of people that the Trump administration is attacking are people with absolutely no criminal record. 

The people who do have a criminal record are usually people with small misdemeanours – traffic violations, or even the fact that they came into the country without authorisation. The number of immigrants who are detained by ICE, has gone from 945 people to 24,644 people. People don’t want that. When they see the results of the attack on the immigrant community, the vast majority of people in the United States say that immigration benefits the country, [and] doesn’t hurt it. The idea that the people don’t want immigration is clearly completely false.

VERY THINLY VEILED ATTACK AGAINST PEOPLE OF COLOUR

Brian: And Trump’s attack against immigration is a very thinly veiled attack against people of colour. The attack against DEI – diversity, equity, inclusion – is a very thinly veiled attack against Black people in particular. So, what Trump has tried to do – the whole point of this – is to use, I would say, a sort of racial superiority, racial supremacy, white supremacy, very, very, very thinly veiled, almost not veiled at all. Almost completely openly. 

When Stephen Miller and the other Trump administration officials talk, and when Trump talks, he talks about Global South countries in the most despicable way. And Elon Musk, his whole rant about how white men are the victims of racial discrimination. And, you know, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, EEOC, which was established during the Civil Rights era, to handle job discrimination, the secretary of that, I think it’s Andrea Lucas. She’s making the appeal to white men to come forward because they might receive relief money from the government, because they are the victims of racial discrimination.

It’s really semi-Nazi or Nazi-like propaganda. A lot of it’s actually Nazi-like propaganda. And, back in 2017, when the fascists – the open Nazi fascists – demonstrated in Charlottesville, remember? And people were killed there. There was a huge amount of violence, and Trump said, “Well, there are fine people on both sides.” That was in 2017. 

The slogan of the fascists was: “They will not replace us”. And “they” were Jews, Black people, Arab immigrants, South Asian immigrants, African immigrants, Latin American immigrants. “They will not replace us.” – as if the United States was a White society, and it’s now been taken away from white people, because of immigration, or because of the empowerment, in some small way, of the Black community.

I did that class with the People’s Forum the other day, and we looked up some of the statistics. At the time of the American Revolution, at the start of it, in 1776, the majority of people in some Southern states were African American people. So the idea that this is a White country? No.  In 1900, the majority of the population in Mississippi – 58% – was African American. In South Carolina, 58%. This is an openly racist program. It’s not about keeping people safe. 

This whole idea that we’re closing the borders or we’re keeping, “illegal immigrants” out. All of these are just code words for out-and-out racism. Anyway, people are reacting to that because the country doesn’t want to go back to all of that.

CAPITALIST MEDIA ECHOING THE MASS SENTIMENT

Layan, I think we have a couple clips.

Not only did a lot of artists come out – influencers, big time celebrities – the labour movement, student organisations, there are gonna be student walkouts today, all over the country. And in Georgia, for instance, they’re trying to suppress the student walkouts, and that’s where it’s been a real epicentre of high school student walkouts against ICE. 

But as a consequence of all of this struggle, even the capitalist media, or parts of it, are giving coverage to the new movement. The New York Times headed on its front page. I also saw the Yahoo! front page a little while ago. 

Layan: Yeah, the New York Times, they didn’t just report about it. It said, “How to find out about it”. I [saw] an article about the protest itself and what you need to know. This was  very favourable. We’ve been waiting for the New York Times to announce any of these protests. Now they have, they’re actually encouraging people in a sense, to go out. 

Brian: And that’s a real lesson for grassroots organisers. I mean, you can send the New York Times a press release a day. You can send them a press release until the cows come home, so to speak, and you might not get coverage. You probably won’t get coverage. You can even have a demonstration of 100,000 people, and sometimes the New York Times won’t give it any coverage. But this is a rising tide of struggle nationwide, and [it has raised] the idea of a general strike. Even the New York Times – I think most of the reporters at the New York Times are disgusted about what ICE is doing – [has given] favourable coverage. 

Brian: I think we have a couple clips – One is from Detroit, one is from Los Angeles – that show the kind of, I would say, basically favourable media coverage. 

Layan: Here is a clip from KTLA Channel 5, which is Los Angeles. Just take a listen.

“Hi, Glenn and Lou, yeah, I do have plans to come to the stronghold tomorrow in Klein. 

You are not gonna be able to, usually, this place is filled with climbers, chalk, and ropes, but tomorrow, they’re shutting their doors, and it’s all things to that nationwide protest, and to show their solidarity. I want to show you some videos of this climbing gym. Now, gym owners here say the man who kept their facilities clean for more than 12 years was detained by federal agents over the weekend while walking in South L.A. They want to keep his name private, but they say he was racially profiled, taken into custody, and then later deported. 

As a result, the gym announced it will close both locations tomorrow, joining a nationwide general strike, calling on people not to work, attend school, or to shop. Now, the strike, it’s dubbed ICE Out, and it comes amid growing protests against federal enforcement nationwide following recent deadly encounters in Minnesota, as well as ongoing immigration rates all across the country”. 

Brian: So that’s Los Angeles. 

Here’s another clip. I think it’s Detroit. If I’m not mistaken, but this is emblematic of coverage all over the country. 

Layan: Here’s Detroit, local channel 4, giving actually a list of all of the shutdowns happening in the area. 

“The list is growing on people and places joining ICE Out. essentially a national shutdown. We are hearing that students from Rochester High School, for example, they’re planning to do a walkout later this morning, and this African market in Detroit, is also planning to join in the ICE Out demonstrations.”

[crowd chanting] Ice Out! Now! 

“Now, this is the result of a massive coalition of different groups uniting to call for an end to the immigration crackdown.”

DEMOCRATS ONLY OPPOSE ICE EXCESSES

Brian: I mentioned earlier, Layan, that Tom Homan was dispatched to Minneapolis. Bovino was taken out of there. They’re changing the face of ICE. They’re changing the personality, they’re changing the tone somewhat. Not a big change, actually. Tom Homan is so right-wing.

And [Minneapolis Democrat] Governor Walz is like  “Yes, thank you for coming. Thank you for talking. Thank you for listening to us”.  But also, I think [they are] being prepared to actually cooperate with ICE in Minnesota, if they tone down some of the excesses. That’s what Walz and the Democratic Party are upset about – the excesses.

You know, executing citizens in cold blood on a Saturday morning, like they did with Alex Pretti or Renee Good – and so many other people have been killed by ICE: Keith Porter in Los Angeles. I think 35 have died in ICE  custody. It’s quite a large number. So the problem with ICE isn’t simply the excesses. I mean, that’s a problem, yes obviously – executing somebody in cold blood. 

But the whole operation is based on lies. It’s based on mythology, and also, it incentivizes, – like the way the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 incentivized people – to go out and “catch” undocumented people, or people who “look like”, that they might be undocumented, and send them to prisons, and send them to all of these private prisons. The domestic immigration enforcement budget that was adopted in the Big, Beautiful Bill, allocated $170 billion for domestic immigration enforcement, including, of course, equipping ICE and other law enforcement agencies with huge amounts of new surveillance equipment so that they can spy on everyone. 

But also, all this is gonna be contractually based arrangements with private for-profit prisons, and every time somebody makes an arrest, and they send them to one of these for- private-profit prisons, the owner of the prison makes money, and the person who catches the person makes money, because they’re given a bonus. So, it’s not just the excesses, it’s the whole system of ICE that, you know, people are calling for the abolition of ICE. I mean, we need to really abolish the capitalist state… 

We need a new start with what law enforcement would look like in a new society. A society based on humane values: A socialist society. But the reason people are calling for the abolition of ICE – not simply trying to get rid of its excesses or worst features – is because the system is crafted in such a way to incentivize this kind of brutality. 

[Discussion continues…]

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Transcript edited by Red Spark, Australia: Luciana Yeda, Sam King and Jack Lavers.