The Palmer Raids were a series of raids conducted in November 1919 and January 1920 by the United States Department of Justice under the administration of President Woodrow Wilson to capture and arrest suspected socialists, especially anarchists and communists, and deport them from the United States. The raids particularly targeted Italian immigrants and Eastern European Jewish immigrants with alleged leftist ties, with particular focus on Italian anarchists and immigrant leftist labor activists. The raids and arrests occurred under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, with 6,000 people arrested across 36 cities. Though 556 foreign citizens were deported, including a number of prominent leftist leaders, Palmer's efforts were largely frustrated by officials at the U.S. Department of Labor, which had authority for deportations and objected to Palmer's methods.

The Palmer Raids occurred in the larger context of the First Red Scare, a period of fear of and reaction against communists in the U.S. in the years immediately following World War I and the Russian Revolution. There were strikes that garnered national attention, and prompted race riots in more than 30 cities, as well as two sets of bombings in April and June 1919, including one bomb mailed to Palmer's home.

Between November 1919 and January 2020, Palmer’s agents deported nearly 250 people, including notable anarchist Emma Goldman, and arrested nearly 10,000 people in seventy cities.

100 Years Ago, the First Red Scare Tried to Destroy the Left meow-anarchist

“For a World Without Oppressors:” U.S. Anarchism from the Palmer Raids to the Sixties - Andrew Cornell anarchy

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  • anticlockwise [love/loves, she/her]
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    11 months ago

    It has been said that humanity must abandon luxury. Not without reason have people paid particular attention to this concept. Nothing can replace luxury. It is neither beauty, nor spirituality, nor improvement, nor creation, nor compassion, nor kindness — no good concept can replace it. Luxury represents the destruction of resources and opportunities. Luxury represents decay, for any construction beyond the divine rhythm can only represent decay. One can see clearly enough that mundane luxury has already been shaken, yet one should still seek concordant cooperation in order to cure the infection of luxury. Selfishness will object that luxury is an earned abundance. People will also say that luxury is regal — but this would be slander. Luxury has always been a sign of decline and darkening of the spirit. The chains of luxury are just as terrible for the Subtle World, where what is required is advancement and constant improvement of thought. Any encumbrance will block the path to the next Gate.