Unions rise for immigrant rights at Tacoma ICE detention center

Tacoma, WA – On May 23, labor unions and Filipino community groups rallied with a unified message: “Free them all and shut it down!” 

As the Trump administration continues escalating attacks against immigrant communities, the working class is drawing closer together to defend itself and fight back. The coalition is demanding the immediate release of a Filipino union member known lovingly as “Kuya Max.” Maximo Londonio immigrated to the U.S. as a 12-year-old boy and is now 42. He was detained at the Sea-Tac airport on his way back home to Olympia from a family trip to the Philippines.

Unions such as the International Association of Machinists (IAM) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) united with community groups Tanggol Migrante, Bayan WA, La Resistencia, and more to make it clear that they will not tolerate these attacks.

Londonio is a member of IAM, and his union siblings began organizing as soon as he was taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). They are also demanding the release of the other immigrants, many of them workers, held by ICE.

“I’m afraid how far this is going to go. How far it’s gone already is not ok. But I’m glad we’re here sticking up for the people who can’t stick up for themselves. When this place goes – you know the contract is up next year, then we should definitely do the work to get rid of it. It doesn’t belong here,” said Latasha Palmer, who is running for Tacoma City Council Position 6.

“It’s disgusting what he is doing to immigrants. He is enacting terror on them, and it’s coming really close to home,” explained Haze Leviathan, a member of Teamsters Local 174, referencing Trump’s attacks.

Despite the fear of repression, people are showing up right outside the Northwest Detention Center in protest against for-profit corporations like GEO Group, which operates the facility.

“We are all going to have to stand together. Immigrants’ rights are real close to workers’ rights. Who are most of the workers? A lot of them are immigrants. Not so long ago, my family were immigrants also. Max is one of my coworkers. That hurts in our shop, having him out. Not only for his family, but on the floor. He is our friend. We want to stand together and get everyone back up and going, to lead their best lives”, stated Richard Howard, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 695.

Wade Phillip, a Teamster with Local 117 and member of International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) stated, “On the international observers mission that ICHRP did this month, we were able to talk to steel workers, steel process workers, teachers and other workers that are organizing under the most intense repression. We heard conditions of steel workers that are working 12-18 hour shifts seven days per week. And they were emphasizing these were the conditions that forced them to go abroad in search of work, to the U.S., to Canada, to Saudi Arabia. Those are the same conditions that create their detainments. Even when they become union members in the U.S., they are still being detained in Tacoma and all around the country.”

#TacomaWA #KuyaMax #MaximoLondonio #IAM #SEIU #ICHRP