Labor Leader David Huerta Released from Federal Custody

David Huerta, president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California and SEIU-United Service Workers West, was injured and detained at an ICE raid in Los Angeles on June 6. After three nights of detention, Huerta was released on a US$50,000 bond Monday afternoon, though he remains charged with conspiracy to impede an officer, a felony that could result in up to six years in prison, CNN reported.

“We are relieved that David is free and reunited with his family and we are deeply grateful to the hundreds of elected officials, civil rights leaders, labor partners and allies from across the nation who stood in solidarity and demanded David’s release,” April Verrett, SEIU international president said. “But this struggle is about much more than just one man. Thousands of workers remain unjustly detained and separated from their families. At this very moment, immigrant communities are being terrorized by heavily militarized armed forces. The Trump regime calling in the National Guard is a dangerous escalation to target people who disagree with them. It is a threat to our democracy. The federal government should never be used as a weapon against people who disagree with them.”

An advocate for workers and immigrants in Southern California for decades, Huerta had become point of tension in an ongoing standoff between federal immigration enforcement officers and protesters, ABC News reported. He began his career as a California-based organizer with Janitors for Justice, a nationwide labor campaign that sought to raise wages and improve working conditions for cleaners at commercial buildings. President Barack Obama honored awarded Huerta as a National Champion of Change in 2014.

SEIU also helped drive an effort to win a $20 an hour minimum wage for fast food workers throughout California, which went into effect in April.