As agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) work to increase deportations, some labor organizations are increasingly campaigning against ICE raids and seeking to defend members who are being detained and deported.
The arrests that sparked union attention have included unauthorized immigrants, legal permanent residents and visa-holders, and even a U.S. citizen.
- In the state of Washington, Max Londonio, a member of Machinists Local Lodge 695 in Olympia, was arrested at SeaTac Airport May 16 on his way home after a family trip celebrating his 20th wedding anniversary. He’s being held at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma, a private for-profit facility under contract with the government. Londonio is a forklift driver at the aluminum can maker Crown Cork and Seal in Lacey, Washington. A citizen of the Philippines, he’s a lawful permanent resident. His family thinks the government may be seeking to deport him on the basis of a non-violent criminal conviction more than 20 years ago. On June 9, Machinists International President Brian Bryant and Western Region General Vice President Bobby Martinez joined local Machinists leaders at a rally outside the detention center that called for his release.
- Londonio’s case echoes that of SEIU Local 925 member Llewelyn Dixon, a laboratory technician at the University of Washington. Dixon, 64, is a green-card holder who came to the United States from the Philippines 50 years ago. She was detained Feb. 28 at SeaTac while returning from a trip to the Philippines. Her family believes she was targeted because of a 2001 conviction for embezzlement, which had not factored in renewal of her work authorization before. Local 925 and other groups held rallies outside the detention center calling for her freedom. Dixon was released May 29 after a judge ruled she should not be deported.
- Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino, who helped found an independent union representing migrant farmworkers in Northwest Washington, has been held at the Tacoma facility since he was arrested March 25 while driving his wife to work. As part of Familias Unidas por la Justicia, an affiliate of the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC), AFL-CIO, Zeferino organized testimony at the state legislature that led to increased workplace protections for farmworkers working in high temperatures. According to local news reports, Zeferino, now 25, was brought to the U.S. as a child. He was arrested in Bellingham in 2015 at age 15 for driving the wrong way on a one-way street, and had a deportation order. A hearing is scheduled for November.
Several other cases have garnered union support on a national level.
- The best-known is likely Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, an apprentice member of Sheet Metal Local 100 in Maryland. Abrego Garcia was arrested March 12 and deported to El Salvador in violation of a judge’s order. There he was held without charge or trial in a maximum security prison. Abrego Garcia had entered the United States illegally around 2011 and was said by the Trump administration to be a gang member. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled April 10 that his deportation was illegal and ordered the government to “facilitate” his return. On June 6, Abrego Garcia was brought back to the United States, but the U.S. Justice Department says he’s being brought back to face federal charges of unlawfully transporting illegal immigrants for financial gain. The government filed the indictment May 21, based on a police report from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. “Since March, our demand has not changed,” said SMART General President Michael Coleman in a press statement. Kilmar Abrego Garcia must be returned to the United States and receive his right to due process.”
- Rümeysa Öztürk, a graduate student worker and member of SEIU Local 509 at Tufts University in Massachussetts, is a Turkish citizen who was in the United States lawfully on a student visa. She was arrested March 25 by plainclothes federal agents and accused without evidence of supporting Hamas. Öztürk had co-authored an article in the student newspaper the year before criticizing the university’s non-response to student calls for divestment from companies with ties to Israel. Without informing her, Department of Homeland Security had revoked her visa. SEIU campaigned for her release and held protest rallies. After six weeks in custody, she was released May 9 by order of a federal judge.
- In Los Angeles on June 6, a prominent union leader was arrested outside a garment warehouse where an immigration raid was under way. David Huerta, president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU)’s 45,000-member statewide United Service Workers West local, was thrown to the ground by federal agents and was briefly hospitalized after his arrest. Huerta is a U.S. citizen and the grandson of immigrants from Mexico. In 2014 Huerta was honored as a “Champion of Change,” by President Obama for his efforts to help union members learn English and become U.S. citizens. After his arrest, AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler and California Governor Gavin Newsom were among the many elected leaders and union officers making statements in support of Huerta. To demand his release, SEIU organized rallies in at least 19 U.S. cities on June 9, including Portland. Huerta ended up being released on a $50,000 bond the same day as the rallies. Huerta now faces a felony charge of “conspiracy to impede an officer.” Huerta blocked a vehicle, according to U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, who was appointed to that post in April by the Trump administration. A video posted by Essayli on x.com shows Huerta standing facing away from a van for several seconds before he is shoved by a masked man in a police vest. At a press conference after his release, Huerta said it was not his intention to be arrested.
On June 13, Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, joined with Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network and several other organizations to issue a statement condemning plans by ICE Special Response Teams to prepare for deployment to Seattle and calling for peaceful non-violent civil disobedience in response.
