One of the greatest issues of the 21st century that has been exacerbated by American liberals and conservatives alike is the question of undocumented immigration, an issue that liberals ostensibly support the humane treatment of those fleeing wars, economic destitution, rising fascist tides, and environmental devastation, but in fact contribute to this mode of oppression by giving the concept of “illegal humanity” credence.

Many in the media and among the liberal elite are outraged at President Trump’s administration, with respect to the obscenely racist comments Mr. Trump himself has made with banal regularity since his nomination for the Republican candidacy—“bad hombres,” “rapists, criminals," “terrorists” these are only a few of the pejoratives Trump has lobbed towards immigrants, particularly Mexicans and Syrians. And now Trump has overridden his previous immigration ban to still terrorize those without green cards, or to ban select immigrants in a blatant Islamophobic panic to distract from his other political aims. Paranoia, xenophobia and a contempt for the poor are awfully fascist views for a country that bases itself in Christian notions of freedom and love, yet liberals continue to debate Trump and his lackeys on their terms, refusing to take a wider, more systematic analysis on the question immigration.

There is already a problem with liberal thinking in that the Trump administration is not instituting an entirely new xenophobic agenda, neither in scale nor substance; the Obama and Bush administration also pursued Islamophobic and anti-Latinx foreign policy, both to court neoconservative donors on Wall Street and also to justify imperialist expansion in the Middle East and Mesoamerica. Yet liberals (Elizabeth Warren and Tom Perez come to mind) object to Trump because he is openly, rather than covertly, racist.

We have many steps to take in order to express proper solidarity with those subject to exploitation abroad, who are forced to cross borders for the sake of a better quality of life for themselves and their family. Queer youth are the target of straight aggression in the Third World, but choose to come to the United States out of survival (even if in some parts and for many queer folks of marginalized identity, we are no better), and we who would claim to be their comrade in the fight for their liberation must work towards providing a life in the States that goes beyond simply signing a sheet of paper allowing them rights that are contained arbitrarily within the institution of marriage.

Moreover, we, liberals and leftists alike, should challenge why we call those who immigrate “illegal." That label is inaccurate at best, and complicit in the White supremacist imagination at worst. An even greater step towards an accurate radically political understanding of immigration would be to recognize borders as lines drawn by political elites in order to section off laborers, to define them by nationality instead of common identity as workers. My elder and activist, Yasmin Nair, cross examines immigration in the context of her experience as a queer academic, and calls to attention the broader scope of economic inequality that capitalism creates as a part of what sustains its structure.

We know conservatism is evil, evil in that it seeks to preserve Whiteness and White wealth above all else. But it is a lie to assume that neoliberalism as ideology and practice effectively counters the overt Nazism of Trump supporters - the only path forward for marginalized people, especially immigrants, is the radical outlook of socialism. There are many tactics outlaid by activists and organizers, but it is important to examine who is trying to accomplish what goal. Democrats and the sycophants who mindlessly rail against Trump’s Twitter antics are not interested in liberating people, nor are they disabling fascism; they are not interested in upending the status quo for the better. Let us dispense with the escapism and the elitism of neoliberalism. Let us do better. Let us declare, “No Más Fronteras!”