Release David Huerta immediately.
Huerta, an SEIU leader in California, was violently arrested by agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday in Los Angeles.
At a Washington, D.C., rally on Monday to demand his release, AFSCME President Lee Saunders said: “We stand with David and demand this now: Free David!”
“We are making our voices heard because we care about our country. This is what David is all about. And that is who we are,” Saunders said. “This is an attack on all of us. We need to make our voices heard every single day.”
In a statement on Sunday, Saunders said Huerta’s free speech rights were violated when ICE agents “violently arrested and injured” him as he “peacefully observed immigration enforcement activity.”
Huerta is vice president of the California Federation of Labor, and president of SEIU California and SEIU-United Service Workers West. He released this statement on his arrest through SEIU California.