What do I know about the leader of the CA Union detained in immigration protest

From Jean QuangCalmness

This story was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

The Union’s federal agents detained for immigration protest in Los Angeles last week are well known to the democratic leadership of California since his age of activism in and outside Capitol.

This is one of the reasons that many leading Democrats have jumped for his defense.

Huerta, the 58-year-old president of the State Union of a porter and of Employees International Union Californiawas arrested by federal agents on Friday in front of a Los Angeles clothing warehouse where Protesters gathered to watch and oppose Obviously raid the immigration to the workplace.

The judgment was poured quickly afterwards.

“David Huerta is a respected leader, patriot and defender of working people,” “
Governor Gavin Newo said in a statement. “No one should ever be hurt because he witnesses government actions.”

In Seiu California, Huerta, which remains in the federal arrest, leads an alliance with nearly 750,000 heavyweight members in state policy. It is a wide range of workers, nurses and university researchers to porters and public sector officers.

This is the main donor of democratic candidates; Managing its purple logo is a badge for some legislators. Last Union victories include a $ 25 minimum wage For all healthcare workers.

“Everyone knows him,” said Lorena Gonzalez, leader of the California Labor Federation, a politically powerful group of alliances. Huerta is also Vice President of the Federation Council. “He’s been around for a very long time in the movement … We sounded the alarm and everyone stood up.”

Huerta grandparents immigrated from Mexico to work in the fields, and his father is a member of the Union of the team, he said. He has organized porters since the 1990s, he has led historical strikes in Los Angeles for salaries and has been involved in immigration policy for so long.

When the federal authorities-working then under the already existing Immigration and Naturalization Service-passed through California airports in repression after 9/11 of immigrant porters and luggage executives, who were hired, Huerta called for reforms that would allow more workers to receive their documents.

As a leader of Seiu United Service West workers, which represents porters and security guards in California, he is underlined Classes and citizenship in English For members. In 2016, his union successfully urged the state to undergo training and a stronger protection of harassment for porters, who often encounter sexual assault working on their own night shift.

Senate President Mike McGuire criticizes “fascist tactics of immigration and customs implementation.” US Senator Adam Schiff called it “part of a greater campaign for intimidation from the White House.”

By Saturday morning, democratic leaders of Congress from all over the country criticized the raids and called for the release of Huerta.

Federal authorities accuse Huerta of obstacles, although the circumstances of his arrest remain blurry. A video posted on Friday on social media by the assembly member Isaac Brian, a Democrat from the city of Culver, seems to be agents in the vests of the order that push the huerta on the ground as the protesters shout nearby.

Bill Esayli, an American lawyer in Los Angeles, wrote on social media that Huerta was “deliberately impeded” federal agents who had a court order by blocking their car. CIANAN MCEVOY, a spokesman for Essayli’s cabinet, will not share the order, saying that agents are “aimed at employers and businesses that are thought to not comply with federal immigration laws.”

The Union leader was detained at the Federal Center for Detention Center in the center of LA and was planned to appear initially on Monday afternoon on charges of preventing a federal agent.

“The difficult people and members of our family and our community are treated as criminals,” Huerta said in a statement published by Seiu California after he was treated at the hospital for injuries during Friday’s arrest. “We all collectively object to this madness because it is not justice.”

The Union is planning a protest on Monday to summon its release.

“It is an union that is many women immigrants,” Gonzalez said. “He is a constant and consistent voice for immigrant workers and has led the fight against the path to citizenship and to stop deportations and attacks in the workplace.”

In the warehouse where Huerta was arrested on Friday, a crowd of workers’ defenders and other protesters had gathered to watch federal agents at Ambiance Abceanle; Immigration it is also reported In the window of Ambiance in the center of LA in the area of ​​clothing.

ICE announced that this day had served four search orders by arresting 44 immigrants who were in the United States without permission, all during jobs.

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.