Rudi Batzell, Associate Professor of History at Lake Forest College, has recently published two opinion pieces in major newspapers. These op-eds are connected to his new book, “Organizing Workers in the Shadow of Slavery: Global Inequality, Racial Boundaries, and the Rise of Unions in American and British Capitalism, 1870–1929,” which was released by The University of Chicago Press in April 2025.
The first op-ed appeared on August 3 in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as part of its Sunday Insight series. In this piece, titled “Pittsburgher Kidnapped into Slavery: ICE Raids Today recall Fugitive Slave Law Fears,” Batzell discusses how recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids evoke memories of the Fugitive Slave Laws. These laws allowed for the capture and return of enslaved people who had escaped to other states or federal territories.
Batzell’s second op-ed was published on July 30 in the Los Angeles Sentinel, a prominent Black newspaper on the West Coast. This article, “Resistance to ICE Recalls Resistance to Slavery in the 1850s,” continues the theme by drawing connections between contemporary reactions to ICE actions and historical responses to Federal Marshals seeking escaped enslaved individuals.
In his Sentinel op-ed, Batzell writes: “Just as ICE agents are reported to police as kidnappers across Los Angeles, abolitionists in the 1850s derided Federal Marshals as kidnappers.”
Both articles reflect Batzell’s research interests and highlight parallels between past and present responses to law enforcement practices related to migration and slavery.
