{"id":42705,"date":"2025-07-17T23:25:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T06:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=42705"},"modified":"2025-07-17T23:25:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T06:25:10","slug":"the-palmer-raids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/07\/17\/the-palmer-raids\/","title":{"rendered":"THE PALMER RAIDS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a>
A. Mitchell Palmer<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Palmer Raids<\/strong> were a series of raids conducted in November 1919 and January 1920 by the United States Department of Justice<\/a> under the administration of President Woodrow Wilson<\/a> to capture and arrest suspected socialists<\/a>, especially anarchists<\/a> and communists<\/a>, and deport<\/a> them from the United States. The raids particularly targeted Italian immigrants<\/a> and Eastern European<\/a> Jewish immigrants<\/a> with alleged leftist<\/a> ties, with particular focus on Italian anarchists<\/a> and immigrant leftist labor activists<\/a>. The raids and arrests occurred under the leadership of United States Attorney General<\/a> A. Mitchell Palmer<\/a>, with 6,000 people arrested across 36 cities. Though 556 foreign citizens were deported, including a number of prominent leftist leaders, Palmer\u2019s efforts were largely frustrated by officials at the U.S. Department of Labor<\/a>, which had authority for deportations and objected to Palmer\u2019s methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Palmer Raids occurred in the larger context of the First Red Scare<\/a>, a period of reactionary<\/a> fear of communists<\/a> in the U.S. in the years immediately following World War I<\/a> and the successful Russian Revolution<\/a>.[1]<\/a><\/sup> There were strikes<\/a> that garnered national attention, and prompted race riots<\/a> in more than 30 cities, as well as two sets of bombings<\/a> in April and June 1919, including one bomb mailed to Palmer\u2019s home in response to his policy of politically motivated mass arrests<\/a> and deportations.[2]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During the First World War<\/a> there was a nationwide right-wing campaign in the United States against the real and imagined divided political loyalties of immigrants and ethnic groups, who were feared to have too much loyalty for their nations of origin. In 1915, President Wilson<\/a> warned against hyphenated Americans<\/a> who, he charged, had \u201cpoured the poison of disloyalty into the very arteries of our national life.\u201d \u201cSuch creatures of passion, disloyalty and anarchy\u201d, Wilson continued, \u201cmust be crushed out\u201d.[3]<\/a><\/sup> The Russian Revolutions of 1917<\/a> added special force to fear of labor agitators<\/a> and partisans of ideologies such as anarchism and communism. The general strike in Seattle<\/a> in February 1919 represented a new development in labor unrest<\/a>.[4]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fears of Wilson and other government officials were confirmed when Galleanists<\/a>\u2014Italian immigrant followers of the anarchist Luigi Galleani<\/a>\u2014carried out a series of bombings in April and June 1919<\/a>.[5]<\/a><\/sup> At the end of April, some 30 Galleanist letter bombs<\/a> had been mailed to a host of individuals, mostly prominent government officials and businessmen, but also law enforcement officials.[5]<\/a><\/sup> Only a few reached their targets, and not all exploded when opened. Some people suffered injuries, including a housekeeper in Senator Thomas W. Hardwick<\/a>\u2018s residence, who had her hands blown off.[5]<\/a><\/sup> On June 2, 1919, the second wave of bombings occurred, when several much larger package bombs were detonated by Galleanists in eight American cities, including one that damaged the home of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer<\/a> in Washington, D.C.[5]<\/a><\/sup> At least one person was killed in this second attack, night watchman William Boehner, and fears were raised because it occurred in the capital.[5]<\/a><\/sup>[6]<\/a><\/sup>[7]<\/a><\/sup> Flyers<\/a> declaring war on capitalists in the name of anarchist principles accompanied each bomb.[5]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In June 1919, Attorney General Palmer told the House Appropriations Committee<\/a> that all evidence promised that radicals would \u201con a certain day\u2026rise up and destroy the government at one fell swoop.\u201d He requested an increase in his budget to $<\/a>2,000,000 from $1,500,000 to support his investigations of radicals, but Congress limited the increase to $<\/a>100,000.[8]<\/a><\/sup>[9]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An initial raid in July 1919 against an anarchist group in Buffalo<\/a>, New York<\/a>, achieved little when a federal judge tossed out Palmer\u2019s case. He found in the case that the three arrested radicals, charged under a law dating from the Civil War<\/a>, had proposed transforming the government by using their free speech<\/a> rights and not by violence.[10]<\/a><\/sup> That taught Palmer that he needed to exploit the more powerful immigration statutes<\/a> that authorized the deportation of alien<\/a> anarchists, violent or not. To do that, he needed to enlist the cooperation of officials at the Department of Labor. Only the Secretary of Labor could issue warrants for the arrest of alien violators of the Immigration Acts, and only he could sign deportation orders following a hearing by an immigration inspector.[11]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On August 1, 1919, Palmer named 24-year-old J. Edgar Hoover<\/a> to head a new division of the Justice Department<\/a>\u2018s Bureau of Investigation<\/a>, the General Intelligence Division<\/a> (GID), with responsibility for investigating the programs of radical groups and identifying their members.[12]<\/a><\/sup> The Boston Police Strike<\/a> in early September raised concerns about possible threats to political and social stability. On October 17, the Senate<\/a> passed a unanimous resolution demanding Palmer explain what actions he had or had not taken against radical aliens and why.[13]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 9 p.m. on November 7, 1919, a date chosen because it was the second anniversary of the Bolshevik<\/a> revolution, agents of the Bureau of Investigation, together with local police, executed a series of well-publicized and violent raids against the Union of Russian Workers<\/a> in 12 cities. Newspaper accounts reported some were \u201cbadly beaten\u201d during the arrests. Many later swore they were threatened and beaten during questioning. Government agents cast a wide net, bringing in some American citizens, passers-by who admitted being Russian, some not members of the Russian Workers. Others were teachers conducting night school<\/a> classes in space shared with the targeted radical group. Arrests far exceeded the number of warrants. Of 650 arrested in New York City, the government managed to deport just 43.[A]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Palmer replied to the Senate\u2019s questions of October 17, he reported that his department had amassed 60,000 names with great effort. Required by the statutes to work through the Department of Labor, they had arrested 250 dangerous radicals in the November 7 raids. He proposed a new Anti-Sedition Law to enhance his authority to prosecute anarchists.[16]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raids and arrests in January 1920<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/a>
Men arrested in raids awaiting deportation hearings on Ellis Island, January 13, 1920<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Newspaper<\/a>
Cartoon by Archibald B. Chapin on the South Bend News-Times<\/a><\/em> \u2013 November 8, 1919<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Inasmuch as Attorney General Palmer struggled with exhaustion and devoted all his energies to the United Mine Workers<\/a> coal strike in November and December 1919<\/a>,[17]<\/a><\/sup> Hoover organized the next raids. He successfully persuaded the Department of Labor to ease its insistence on promptly alerting those arrested of their right to an attorney<\/a>. Instead, Labor issued instructions that its representatives could wait until after the case against the defendant was established, \u201cin order to protect government interests.\u201d[18]<\/a><\/sup> Less openly, Hoover decided to interpret Labor\u2019s agreement to act against the Communist Party<\/a> to include a different organization, the Communist Labor Party<\/a>. Finally, despite the fact that Secretary of Labor William B. Wilson<\/a> insisted that more than membership in an organization was required for a warrant, Hoover worked with more compliant Labor officials and overwhelmed Labor staff to get the warrants he wanted. Justice Department officials, including Palmer and Hoover, later claimed ignorance of such details.[19]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Justice Department launched a series of raids on January 2, 1920, with follow up operations over the next few days. Smaller raids extended over the next 6 weeks. At least 3,000 were arrested, and many others were held for various lengths of time. The entire enterprise replicated the November action on a larger scale, including arrests and seizures without search warrants, as well as detention in overcrowded and unsanitary holding facilities. Hoover later admitted \u201cclear cases of brutality.\u201d[20]<\/a><\/sup> The raids covered more than 30 cities and towns in 23 states, but those west of the Mississippi<\/a> and south of the Ohio<\/a> were \u201cpublicity gestures\u201d designed to make the effort appear nationwide in scope.[B]<\/a><\/sup> Because the raids targeted entire organizations, agents arrested everyone found in organization meeting halls<\/a>, not only arresting non-radical organization members but also visitors who did not belong to a target organization, and sometimes American citizens not eligible for arrest and deportation.[C]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Justice at one point claimed to have taken possession of several bombs<\/a>, but after a few iron balls were displayed to the press they were never mentioned again. All the raids netted a total of just four ordinary pistols<\/a>.[23]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While most press coverage continued to be positive, with criticism only from leftist<\/a> publications like The Nation<\/a><\/em> and The New Republic<\/a><\/em>, one attorney raised the first noteworthy protest. Francis Fisher Kane<\/a>, the U.S. Attorney<\/a> for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania<\/a>, resigned in protest. In his letter of resignation to the President and the Attorney General he wrote: \u201cIt seems to me that the policy of raids against large numbers of individuals is generally unwise and very apt to result in injustice. People not really guilty are likely to be arrested and railroaded through their hearings\u2026 We appear to be attempting to repress a political party\u2026 By such methods, we drive underground and make dangerous what was not dangerous before.\u201d Palmer replied that he could not use individual arrests to treat an \u201cepidemic\u201d and asserted his own fidelity to constitutional principles. He added: \u201cThe Government should encourage free political thinking and political action, but it certainly has the right for its own preservation to discourage and prevent the use of force and violence to accomplish that which ought to be accomplished, if at all, by parliamentary or political methods.\u201d[24]<\/a><\/sup>[25]<\/a><\/sup> The Washington Post<\/a><\/em> endorsed Palmer\u2019s claim for urgency over legal process: \u201cThere is no time to waste on hairsplitting over infringement of liberty.\u201d[26]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aftermath<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a few weeks, after changes in personnel at the Department of Labor, Palmer faced a new and very independent-minded Acting Secretary of Labor in Assistant Secretary of Labor Louis Freeland Post<\/a>, who canceled more than 2,000 warrants as being illegal.[27]<\/a><\/sup> the 10,000 arrested, 3,500 were held by authorities in detention; 556 resident aliens<\/a> were eventually deported under the Immigration Act of 1918<\/a>.[28]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a Cabinet meeting in April 1920, Palmer called on Secretary of Labor William B. Wilson<\/a> to fire Post, but Wilson defended him. The President listened to his feuding department heads and offered no comment about Post, but he ended the meeting by telling Palmer that he should \u201cnot let this country see red.\u201d Secretary of the Navy<\/a> Josephus Daniels<\/a>, who made notes of the conversation, thought the Attorney General had merited the President\u2019s \u201cadmonition\u201d, because Palmer \u201cwas seeing red<\/a> behind every bush and every demand for an increase in wages.\u201d[29]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Palmer\u2019s supporters in Congress responded with an attempt to impeach<\/a> Louis Post or, failing that, to censure<\/a> him. The drive against Post began to lose energy when Attorney General Palmer\u2019s forecast of an attempted radical uprising on May Day<\/a> 1920 failed to occur. Then, in testimony before the House Rules Committee<\/a> on May 7\u20138, Post proved \u201ca convincing speaker with a caustic tongue\u201d[27]<\/a><\/sup> and defended himself so successfully that Congressman Edward W. Pou<\/a>, a Democrat presumed to be an enthusiastic supporter of Palmer, congratulated him: \u201cI feel that you have followed your sense of duty absolutely.\u201d [30]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 28, 1920, the nascent American Civil Liberties Union<\/a> (ACLU), which was founded in response to the raids,[31]<\/a><\/sup> published its Report Upon the Illegal Practices of the United States Department of Justice<\/em>,[32]<\/a><\/sup> which carefully documented unlawful activities in arresting suspected radicals, illegal entrapment<\/a> by agents provocateur<\/em><\/a>, and unlawful incommunicado detention<\/a>. Such prominent lawyers and law professors as Felix Frankfurter<\/a>, Roscoe Pound<\/a> and Ernst Freund<\/a> signed it. Harvard<\/a> Professor Zechariah Chafee<\/a> criticized the raids and attempts at deportations and the lack of legal process<\/a> in his 1920 volume Freedom of Speech<\/em>. He wrote: \u201cThat a Quaker<\/a> should employ prison and exile to counteract evil-thinking is one of the saddest ironies of our time.\u201d[33]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rules Committee<\/a> gave Palmer a hearing in June, where he attacked Post and other critics whose \u201ctender solicitude for social revolution and perverted sympathy for the criminal anarchists\u2026set at large among the people the very public enemies whom it was the desire and intention of the Congress to be rid of.\u201d The press saw the dispute as evidence of the Wilson administration\u2019s ineffectiveness and division as it approached its final months.[34]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 1920, a decision by Massachusetts<\/a> District Court Judge George W. Anderson<\/a> ordered the discharge of 17 arrested aliens and denounced the Department of Justice\u2019s actions. He wrote that \u201ca mob is a mob, whether made up of Government officials acting under instructions from the Department of Justice<\/a>, or of criminals and loafers and the vicious classes.\u201d His decision effectively prevented any renewal of the raids.[35]<\/a><\/sup> [36]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Palmer, once seen as a likely presidential<\/a> candidate, lost his bid to win the Democratic<\/a> nomination<\/a> for president later in the year.[37]<\/a><\/sup> The anarchist bombing campaign, following the ideology of propaganda of the deed<\/a>, continued intermittently in the US for another twelve years.[38]<\/a><\/sup>[5]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Epilogue<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The legal issues involved in the 1919 Palmer Raids during the Woodrow Wilson<\/a> administration have been resurrected during the deportations during the second Trump administration<\/a>.[39]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current Trump administration policy has been compared to the Palmer Raids, and the \u201cRepatriations<\/a>\u201d of the 1930s\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Former President Donald Trump\u2019s call for historic \u201cmass deportations\u201d of immigrants from the United States is forcing the nation to revisit past expulsions that left deep wounds still felt today. The big picture: From the Palmer Raids of Jewish and Italian immigrants of 1919 to the mass deportation of Mexican immigrants in the 1950s, previous deportation operations ignored civil liberties, heightened racial tensions and disrupted families of American citizens for generations.[40]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It has also been compared to the Irish Expulsion, the Palmer Raids and the \u201cSoviet Ark<\/a>\u201d, the \u201cMexican Repatriation<\/a>\u201d during The Great Depression<\/a>, \u201cOperation Wetback<\/a>\u201d during the Dwight D. Eisenhower<\/a> administration, and \u201cThe Deporter-in-Chief\u201d during the Barack Obama<\/a> administration.[41]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 105 years between 1892 and 1997, the United States deported 2.1 million people.[42]<\/a><\/sup> Between 2001 and 2008, during the Presidency of George W. Bush<\/a>, about 2.0 million people were deported, while between 2009 and 2016, during the Presidency of Barack Obama<\/a>, about 3.2 million people were deported.[43]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More at: https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Palmer_Raids<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 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… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42705"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42705"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42706,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42705\/revisions\/42706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}