Almost 8000 people demonstrated in London last Sunday against Britain's racist immigration laws. This action was sparked off by the recent ruling of the House of Lords, which allows the deportation provisions of the 1971 Immigration Act to be applied retroactively:
The demonstration was organised by the Joint Action Committee Against Racialist Legislation, which includes representatives from the major organisations in the immigrant communities. Black and white militants were present in about equal numbers.
Many practical steps will have to be taken if an effective fight against the Act is to be developed. But two important organisational moves must be made immediotely Firstly, action committees must be set up in every locality, including representatives from all sections of the working class movement:
With this issue of the paper we shall be suspending publication for a brief period. Red Weekly 14 will appear on Friday, 17 August. In the meantime, however, we shall be producing a special broadsheet taking up the issues in the current struggle against the immigration laws. This will be available nest Friday, price 3p.
Just five days before the end of the month we have received a total of t200 for tha Red Week i Fighring Fund. Thie is slightly better than at the same time fast month, but it E20 less than we had by the and of last month.
The flow of funds has siowed to a trickle. What we need is a big push to bring in at least avather 250 bafore the month ande. Then we will have beaten last month's total and be wall on the way to meeting our full quota in August, These action committees should prepare and distribute mass leaflets expluining the way in which the immigration Act serves the interests of meeting should be held along the same lines. They should arganise a campaien to convince all public service workers to take up the example of the CPSA. and refuse to cooperate in the collection of information from black people applying for social assistance at employment exchanges, schools, hos pitals, social security offices, ete. The action committees, in alliance with black militants, should organise mass actions against repressive police moves, employers guilty of using racist manoeuvres, and at tempts by fascist or right-wing groups to peddle their racist propaganda. The second move must be made within the black community itself. No faith can be placed in bodies set up by the capitalist state. The call of the Indian Workers" Association and other unmigrant groups who met in Southall, for a total boycott of the Community Relations Councils and similar hodies, should he taken up immediately Equally unportant is the other part of the Southall meeting's call: for the setting up of boycott committees to take up the necessary job of representing immigrants" interests. These committees should organse self-defence of the community apainst police harassment and fascist attacks, provide protection for ilegal' immigrants, campaign against blackmailers, and organise the whole immigrant community for the jomt campaign against the Act alonpside white trade unionists and sympathisers.
STOP PRESS Some members of a group of immigrants being beld in Pentonville Prison started a 24 hour bunger strike last Sunday in sobdarity with the demonstration. On Tuesday the Home Secretary decided to permit mine of this group to stay in Britain, and to deport 26 The Internationn Marxist Group is calling for a picket outside Pestonville Prison one of the muin deten tion centres for suspocted "Illepal" immigrants and those being held for deportation - to demand an umediate hale on all deportations, release of all those in custody, and no further arrests. This will be hekl at Pentonville Prison on Sacurday, 4 August at 2 p.m.
Dave Baikey