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'This Is What Fascism Looks Like': Beloved Labor Leader David Huerta Arrested
"This is about something much bigger," said the president of SEIU California, still in detention. "This is about how we as a community stand together and resist the injustice."
Jun 07, 2025
Unions and allies in California and across the United States on Saturday are demanding the immediate release of David Huerta, president of SEIU California and SEIU-United Service Workers West, after the highly regarded labor leader was injured and then arrested while witnessing a raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Friday.
"SEIU California members call for the immediate release of our President, David Huerta, who was injured and detained at the site of one of today's ICE raids in Los Angeles," said Tia Orr, executive director of SEIU California, in a statement.
"This isn't just an overreach—it's a nationwide pattern of suppression." —Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.)
In a later update, the union stated that Huerta—a veteran labor leader whose union represents over 45,000 janitors, airport workers, security guards, and other property service workers—had been released from the hospital, where he received treatment for injuries sustained during his arrest, but that he remained in custody.
The union included remarks from Huerta, who said, "We all collectively have to object to this madness because this is not justice. This is injustice."
"This is about something much bigger" than his arrest, said Huerta. "This is about how we as a community stand together and resist the injustice."
According to a statement released by the Department of Homeland Security, approximately 44 individuals were "administratively arrested" in a series of raids at retail stores in the Los Angeles area. In contrast, one individual, identified as Huerta, was arrested "for obstruction" of federal officers.
"This is what fascism looks like," said California State Senator Scott Wiener, a Democrat. "Secret police raids. Injuring protesters. Arresting labor leaders."
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, the chief prosecutor in the Central District of California, claimed in a post on social media that "federal agents were executing a lawful judicial warrant at a LA worksite this morning when David Huerta deliberately obstructed their access by blocking their vehicle. He was arrested for interfering with federal officers and will face arraignment in federal court on Monday."
"Let me be clear: I don't care who you are—if you impede federal agents, you will be arrested and prosecuted," said Essayli. "No one has the right to assault, obstruct, or interfere with federal authorities carrying out their duties."
A video posted by Essayli alongside his statement appears to show the moment Huerta is pushed over by ICE agents amid a chaotic scene on a sidewalk where officers are clearing an area in front of a gate for an approaching van.
Federal agents were executing a lawful judicial warrant at a LA worksite this morning when David Huerta deliberately obstructed their access by blocking their vehicle. He was arrested for interfering with federal officers and will face arraignment in federal court on Monday. Let… pic.twitter.com/GIFD34LIcF
— U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) June 7, 2025
Separate footage from a different angle shows Huerta going down backward due to a forceful push by the officers and landing with his neck and head on a hard concrete curb:
"Today, SEIU-USWW President, my friend, and constituent David Huerta was thrown to the ground, tased, injured, and arrested for exercising his First Amendment right to observe and document law enforcement activity," said Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), who represents areas of Los Angeles. "This isn't just an overreach—it's a nationwide pattern of suppression. We must stand together."
California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom also weighed in. "David Huerta is a respected leader, a patriot, and an advocate for working people," said Newsom. "No one should ever be harmed for witnessing government action."
Outrage over Huerta's arrest and ongoing detention, both from the labor union movement and immigrant rights groups, continued to spread on Friday and into Saturday.
"We refuse to stay silent while ICE terrorizes working-class communities," said the California Federation of Labor Unions (CFLU). "We are turning out and standing united in solidarity with SEIU-California, calling on the release of SEIU President David Huerta!"
In a statement, CFLU president Lorena Gonzalez called for "an end to the cruel, destructive, and indiscriminate ICE raids that are tearing apart our communities, disrupting our economies, and hurting all working people. Immigrant workers are essential to our society—feeding our nation, caring for our elders, cleaning our workplaces, and building our homes."
In a post on social media, SEIU California said: "Let’s be clear: ICE injured and detained the president of SEIU California for peacefully observing. ICE picked the wrong side. The wrong state. The wrong person. And the wrong union. David Huerta stood up. And 750,000 SEIU workers are standing with him."
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SEIU Joins AFL-CIO to 'Unleash a New Era of Worker Power' as Trump 2.0 Looms
"CEOs and billionaires want nothing more than to see workers divided, but we're standing here today with greater solidarity than ever," said AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler.
Jan 09, 2025
The 2-million-member-strong Service Employees International Union announced Wednesday that it is joining the AFL-CIO, bolstering the ranks of the largest labor federation in the United States as unions prepare to fight the incoming Trump administration.
"CEOs and billionaires want nothing more than to see workers divided, but we're standing here today with greater solidarity than ever to reach the 60 million Americans who say they'd join a union tomorrow if the laws allowed and to unrig our labor laws to guarantee every worker in America the basic right to organize on the job," AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler said in a statement.
With SEIU included, the unions that make up the AFL-CIO represent roughly 15 million workers across the nation.
April Verrett, SEIU's international president, said union members "are ready to unleash a new era of worker power, as millions of service and care workers unite with workers at the AFL-CIO to build our unions in every industry and every ZIP code."
"Working people have been organizing our workplaces and communities to build a stronger economy and democracy," Verrett added. "We are ready to stand up to union-busters at corporations and in government and rewrite the outdated, sexist, racist labor laws that hold us all back."
"By standing together, SEIU and the AFL-CIO are sending a powerful message to President-elect Trump and his allies who are trying to pit working people against one another."
While neither the SEIU nor the AFL-CIO mentioned President-elect Donald Trump by name in their statements announcing the move, Shuler acknowledged during an MSNBC appearance late Wednesday that organized labor is "going to be on defense, probably right away," as the Republican leader takes office and moves to stack his cabinet with lobbyists and others with deep corporate ties.
"We know that we've got to play a good defense game, but we also, as April and I have been talking about, we've got to be on offense," the AFL-CIO's president added. "Coming together is how we're more powerful and we rebalance the scales of this economy."
ICYMI: AFL-CIO President @LizShuler and @SEIUPres April Verrett joined Joy Reid to talk about our efforts to build on the labor movement’s momentum and build real worker power. pic.twitter.com/CssN8P74nT
— AFL-CIO ✊ (@AFLCIO) January 9, 2025
Trump's second term is expected to bring an assault on workers' rights much like his first four years in the White House, which saw rollbacks of safety rules, wage protections, and collective bargaining powers.
Among other steps, Trump is expected to fire worker champion Jennifer Abruzzo, general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, and nominate a pro-corporate replacement after he takes office later this month. Abruzzo has led the charge to ban anti-union captive audience meetings, and the incoming Trump administration is expected to try to reverse progress on that front and elsewhere.
Unions are also bracing for Trump's mass deportation plan. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the AFL-CIO "has been working to equip its affiliates around the country to help defend immigrant workers against potential workplace raids and mass deportation efforts once Donald Trump becomes president this month."
"The union federation is also readying rapid response plans to defend federal government employees against the Department of Government Efficiency," Bloomberg added, referring to the advisory commission set to be led by anti-union billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, said Wednesday that "by standing together, SEIU and the AFL-CIO are sending a powerful message to President-elect Trump and his allies who are trying to pit working people against one another: The labor movement will not be fractured or silenced."
"Unions are a crucial part of a robust and fair economy—and SEIU's affiliation with the AFL-CIO strengthens the collective power of millions of workers, enabling them to fight more effectively for better wages, benefits, and working conditions," said Shierholz. "It also amplifies labor's voice in advocating for progressive economic reforms that benefit all working families."
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Free Speech Coalition Vows to Defend Nonprofits From 'Unprecedented' Threat
"Presenting a strong and united front against political and ideological censorship is the only way to protect Americans' right to stand up for what they believe in under the First Amendment," said a spokesperson for Americans Against Government Censorship.
Dec 17, 2024
An alliance of labor unions and advocacy groups launched a new coalition on Tuesday aimed at defending nonprofit organizations from "unprecedented government attacks on free speech," a move that comes amid a Republican-led effort to empower the incoming Trump administration to shutter dissenting organizations.
Americans Against Government Censorship—whose founding members include the AFL-CIO, Oxfam America, Service Employees International Union, and Indivisible—said it was founded to combat the threat posed by bills such as H.R. 9495, which would allow the U.S. Treasury Department to unilaterally strip nonprofits of their tax-exempt status if they're deemed supporters of terrorism.
The legislation, which the ACLU said provides merely an "illusion of due process" for accused groups, represents a potentially existential threat to human rights organizations, news outlets, government watchdogs, and other nonprofits that could be key to uncovering and fighting abuses by the incoming administration.
"This sweeping authority could be weaponized against any tax-exempt organization across the ideological spectrum, depending on which party is in power at a given moment," Caitlin Legacki, a spokesperson for the new coalition, said in a statement. "Presenting a strong and united front against political and ideological censorship is the only way to protect Americans' right to stand up for what they believe in under the First Amendment."
"Any trade union, church, philanthropic, nonprofit media outlet or social welfare organization could become a target if they fall out of favor with the current administration."
The coalition was launched weeks after the U.S. House passed H.R. 9495, with 15 Democrats joining nearly every Republican to push the legislation through the lower chamber.
It appears unlikely that the bill will get a vote in the Senate before the new Congress is sworn in next month, but Republicans could revive the measure once they take control of both chambers and the White House.
On its website, Americans Against Government Censorship warns that "increasingly aggressive activists have been very clear about their intent to use the full force of the federal government to target their enemies and hinder the ability of any opposition to slow or stop their policy agenda—including new efforts to target and weaponize tax status through the IRS."
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is among the Republicans pushing the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of a number of nonprofit groups that support Palestinian rights, including Jewish Voice for Peace and American Muslims for Palestine.
Americans Against Government Censorship emphasized that the powers included in bills such as H.R. 9495 "could be weaponized by any administration against any tax-exempt organization across the ideological spectrum."
"Any trade union, church, philanthropic, nonprofit media outlet or social welfare organization could become a target if they fall out of favor with the current administration," the coalition said. "At any time, this agenda would allow a sitting president—Democratic or Republican—to use their power to punish ideological opponents without fundamental due process."
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