Chuy Garcia visits with Democratic Socialists of America
CHICAGO – While a lot of focus has been on New York's newest Congress member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her widely-publicized promotion of socialism, little – if any – attention is being paid to a Chicago Democrat that will be sworn into the U.S. House Wednesday. His name is Jesus "Chuy" Garcia. He's succeeding radical Leftist Luis Gutierrez in representing the highly Latino 4th CD. Garcia – who failed ousting Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2015 – has a farther Left history than Ocasio-Cortez.
Garcia's political history long history is closely tied with and heavily involved in Illinois' prominent Communist Party – one that President Barack Obama at one time connected with, writes Epoch Times' writer Trevor Loudon.
Garcia is pro-immigration as much as Gutierrez was, Loudon writes:
Like Gutierrez, one of Garcia’s main pet policy issues is illegal immigration. Garcia supports a blanket amnesty for recipients of former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, which will presumably eventually extend to their parents. Garcia has been a supporter of so-called “comprehensive immigration reform,” and a vocal critic of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In a lengthy assessment of Garcia's political views and his political past, Loudon writes that Garcia's 1984 opponent for 22nd Democratic ward committeeman said at the time Garcia was “100 percent communist, if not 110 percent.”
Throughout his political career, Garcia maintained close connections to the Maoist, pro-Soviet Communist Party USA and “democratic socialist” strands of the Chicago left, Loudon says.
Additional examples of Garcia’s radical bona fides include his contribution to Unity, the journal of the pro-China League of Revolutionary Struggle, on April 30, 1990, and his attendance at various Communist Party USA functions.
Up through the summer of 2018, Garcia publicly addressed Communist Party functions in Chicago.
"If Garcia is not a secret Communist Party USA member, he is certainly a close party sympathizer," Loudon concludes. "There is no doubt that Garcia will loyally follow the Communist Party USA agenda throughout his time in Congress. This begs the question: How could Garcia pledge an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution?"
More at Epoch Times' "Meet Representative-Elect ‘Chuy’ Garcia: A Longtime Friend of Communists"
Here's what the Democratic Socialists of America are promoting, their website says:
DSA and YDSA chapters organize around a variety of issues based on local priorities, especially labor solidarity and anti-austerity work. However, the national office provides resources and support for the main activist priorities of the organization as voted on by delegates to our national convention:
Medicare for All
Health care is a huge segment of our economy and health care access is a deeply and widely felt need. In the capitalist system, you have to pay to get care or go without, and under a democratic socialist system, we would collectively provide care as a society. Medicare for all is a stepping stone towards that vision and our campaign is designed to build a working class base of people fighting for state and national power. Click here to go to the campaign website.
Strong Unions
Capitalism pits us against each other and workplaces are fundamentally authoritarian unless workers can self-organize and build collective power. This is why people build unions, and why employers undermine them. It is also why the capitalists as a class constantly work to undermine unions and promote narratives about unions that frame them as unnecessary, undemocratic or ineffective. We are forming a national project to fight back and build power in the economy, since outside of Wall Street, workplaces are the place where the owning class extract resources from the working class. Click here to learn more about the Democratic Socialist Labor Commission.
Electoral Power
Bernie Sanders launched a political revolution and we continue to build it, supporting democratic socialist candidates running for local and state office. We’re also grappling with how to build independent political power to hold candidates we elect, and others, accountable to their constituents rather than the donor class. Click here to go to our electoral website.
