New York City
Members of the Service Employees Union (SEIU) and other unions took to the streets in New York City and 30 other locations across the U.S. demanding “Stop the ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] raids! Free David Huerta!” Several hundred union workers, immigrant rights advocates and concerned passersby stretched for two blocks along Broadway near New York’s City Hall, carrying signs that read “Immigrants are Essential.”
New York City, June 9, 2025.
Speaker after speaker condemned the brutal attacks on migrant workers in California and the injury and arrest of Huerta, one of their own and a representative of over 750,000 California and West Coast service employees.
“They messed with the wrong state. They messed with the wrong city. They messed with the wrong union. I am glad we are trying to stop federal agents from breaking up families,” said a speaker from SEIU Local 32BJ (building workers).
“Locking up union leaders is straight from the fascist playbook!” said a Communication Workers (CWA) representative.
Members of SEIU Local 1199 (health care workers), 32BJ and the Committee of Interns and Residents (affiliated with SEIU) were joined at the protest by supporters from the New York State Nurses Association, CWA Local 1180, Teamsters, Laborers, Workers United (NY-NJ), National Writers Union and the New York City Central Labor Council, along with several local elected officials.
A Central Labor Council speaker summed up the spirit of the protest: “The New York City labor movement demands the release of David Huerta. He was showing up and demanding rights for working people and bearing witness to injustice. This is anti-worker, but also about something bigger. It’s about justice for immigrant workers. Solidarity will save us. We stand together in this fight!”