Local SEIU Exec Posts $50G Bond for ICE Release

LOS ANGELES – The president of Service Employees International Union, was released on bail Monday after his arrest Friday while protesting outside a business where federal law enforcement agents were investigating suspected immigration violations.
 
David Huerta,58, was released from federal custody on Monday on a $50,000 bond after a hearing in federal court in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, union members and immigrant advocates led rallies in cities from Los Angeles to Chicago to New York to call for Huerta’s release. In Boston, hundreds of people gathered in City Hall Plaza, with protesters shouting “Free David, free them all.”

Huerta, a long-time labor leader born and raised in Los Angeles County, has become the face of the pushback against Trump’s effort to drive up immigration arrests. His case has also drawn attention to the longstanding ties between Democratic officials and the union that represents hundreds of thousands of janitors, security officers and other workers across California.

Following his release SEIU International President April Verrett said, “David Huerta was arrested while standing up for immigrants’ rights. Today, a judge set him free after federal authorities attacked, injured, and unjustly detained him since Friday. 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.

“SEIU will always stand up to protect the rights and dignity of hard-working people, and the safety of workers in the workplace. Imagine what it feels like for thousands of workers around the country to be attacked by masked men with weapons, or to bear witness to their co-workers getting dragged away, knowing their kids may not see them again.

“It is shameful and wrong that this administration is attempting to tear apart our families, communities and disrupt the lives of peaceful, hardworking people. It is yet another attempt to use people’s race and country of origin to divide us as Americans. It won’t work. And these cruel ICE raids are economically destructive, hurting all working people by targeting the essential immigrant workers who are the backbone of our economy.

“America is a nation of immigrants. Immigrant workers are essential to our society: feeding our nation, caring for our elders, cleaning our workplaces, and building our homes. Immigrants are scientists, they are teachers and professors. They are our co-workers, neighbors and family members. They deserve our respect and they need their constitutional rights respected.”

In response, Freedom Foundation CEO Aaron Withe said, “David Huerta made no attempt to distance himself and his actions this past weekend from his role as SEIU’s California director. In fact, he first made sure to don his union T-shirt in order to make clear to everyone that he considers interfering with law enforcement one of his job responsibilities.”

“Even more brazenly, SEIU California uses member dues to fund at least two groups spearheading the protests — the Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights and LA Rapid Response network. Unsurprisingly, state and national leftists quickly circled the wagons around Huerta because SEIU CA is the major funder of liberal causes and candidates in that state.”

“SEIU members in the Golden State need to ask themselves how David Huerta’s embarrassing spectacle helps enhance their pay, benefits and working conditions. It doesn’t. It simply proves what’s been obvious for years: The welfare of their rank and file hasn’t been a priority for public employee unions in decades — if ever. Unions like SEIU exist solely to fund the failed policies of the left with the hard-earned dues dollars of workers who are increasingly fed up with it.”