David Huerta, SEIU Union Leader, Arrested In LA ICE Raids | EUROtoday

UPDATE: Huerta was launched on bail Monday afternoon, in response to his union.

ORIGINAL STORY: The arrest of a California union chief within the Los Angeles immigration protests has sparked anger throughout the labor motion, with unions denouncing the Trump administration and calling for the quick launch of David Huerta.

Huerta, the president of a Service Employees International Union affiliate, was injured Friday in what his union mentioned was a office raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers. The union mentioned Huerta was peacefully “exercising his First Amendment right to observe and document law enforcement activity” on the time.

He was launched from the hospital the identical day and detained. U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli alleged on X that Huerta had been “interfering with federal officers” by blocking their car and mentioned he could be arraigned in courtroom Monday.

The U.S. lawyer’s workplace in LA mentioned Monday that Huerta had been charged with “conspiracy to impede an officer,” which might carry as much as six years in jail.

Huerta is the top of SEIU-United Service Workers West, a strong California-based union of fifty,000 employees, lots of them Latino immigrants who work as janitors. He can also be the president of SEIU California, an influential group that advocates politically for the union’s chapters within the state.

As a union of service employees, SEIU is among the many most outspoken in defending immigrant rights at a time when President Donald Trump guarantees to ramp up deportations of undocumented employees. Huerta mentioned in an announcement by means of SEIU California that “hard-working people” have been being “treated like criminals.”

His arrest reinforces the main position labor teams might find yourself taking part in in combating the White House’s immigration crackdown throughout Trump’s second time period. The AFL-CIO labor federation deliberate protests Monday at cities throughout the nation calling for Huerta’s launch.

Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, which incorporates 63 unions, instructed HuffPost at a rally in Washington, D.C., that unions wanted to face collectively and defend employees in opposition to deportation.

“I think our mission now is basically to show that these raids on workplaces and attacks on families at the community level… [these] are our neighbors, our co-workers,” she mentioned. “These are people who are looking for a better life and are contributing to our economy.”

Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, one of many largest unions within the nation, instructed HuffPost that Huerta’s remedy was “unacceptable.”

“This is about the right to make your feelings heard in a peaceful way,” Saunders mentioned. “That’s exactly what he was doing. Yet he was beaten up and he was taken to the hospital, and he’s still in jail.”

He added, “We cannot put up with this. We cannot sit back, and we can’t be silent.”

The anti-ICE protests sprouted up in Los Angeles on Friday after immigration officers raided an attire producer downtown. Hundreds of protesters later converged on a federal constructing within the metropolis and clashed with Department of Homeland Security officers who fired pepper spray. The LA police division mentioned it made greater than 50 arrests over the weekend.

Trump deployed lots of of National Guard members to the town, drawing a rebuke from California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The governor mentioned Sunday that the state was submitting a lawsuit in opposition to the administration on the grounds it had illegally federalized the California National Guard simply to escalate rigidity.

It seems to be the first time in 60 years {that a} president has mobilized a state’s National Guard with out a governor asking.

Jaime Contreras, the president of SEIU’s Latino Caucus, mentioned in a speech at Monday’s rally in D.C. that he discovered Trump’s deployment of the National Guard appalling.

“Being a veteran myself, I find that disgusting, disturbing, insulting and unconstitutional,” Contreras mentioned.