By Angelica C. Gualpa
Thousands of organizers from labor unions, advocacy groups, and allied organizations took to the Downtown Los Angeles streets yesterday ahead of the initial court appearance for a prominent public sector union leader who was arrested three days earlier for allegedly trying to impede a federal raid on undocumented immigrants.
David Huerta, 58, President of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) – the largest public sector union in California and one of the largest in the nation – was arrested and injured during a protest on June 6, for which the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said they arrested 44 undocumented immigrants – many of whom the federal agency claims had serious criminal felonies.
“I am here in solidarity with all of those who LAPD and ICE have brutalized. The day of the ICE attacks, he [Mr. Huerta] was brutalized by ICE and LAPD and the FBI was collaborating with them,” said Desmond, [last name not given], one of the rally’s lead organizers and a member of UAW 481.
“This is an attack on immigrants, an attack on the entire community, an attack on labor unions,” Desmond added.
“I came to support the cause and find out what they are doing here,” said Jabiday Castro, a union member from Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
“I feel like they are attacking us and all the Hispanic people and all the people who are immigrants for no reason. The way that they are doing it is just so cruel, “ Jabiday added.
A guitarist with the Los Jornaleros del Norte mariachi band who went by the name of Coral said she came to the rally to advocate for fundamental human rights being violated.
“Families are being destroyed – families that are even here legally, doing their process legally. They are hard-working people, and they are good people. People that keep this economy going,” Coral said. “It is important to be out here to show – if you can – not go to work, boycott. Don’t go to the streets so people can see that we are the blood of this country.”
The LA arrests aside, ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), have detained thousands of undocumented immigrants nationwide, including some who have been in this country since they were children, causing panic and fear among recent immigrant communities.
These detainments and arrests have also caused outrage in “Sanctuary Cities” that have instituted policies of not working with federal agencies involved with immigrant arrests. Los Angeles – which is roughly 50 percent Hispanic – is considered a “Ground Zero Sanctuary City” with widespread support for its immigrant community that is also a vital part of its workforce.
The recent arrests of undocumented immigrants in LA and resulting protests, a few of which included vandalism, were used as justification for the Trump Administration to order the National Guard and the U.S. Marines to patrol the Los Angeles streets without consulting California officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles City Mayor Karen Bass.
Trump’s unilateral order caused further outrage with City and State officials and Angelinos.
At the rally held in Grand Park directly in front of City Hall, protestors were met by over 2000 law enforcement personnel, including the National Guard and LAPD, armed with tear gas, rubber bullets, and batons.
The overwhelming law enforcement presence sparked outrage and led to another day of civil unrest in the city.
Towards the end of the rally, Huerta was officially charged with obstructing federal agents from conducting an immigration raid and released on $50,000 bail. If convicted, he faces six years in prison.
