For Immediate Release

June 9, 2025

On June 6, federal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested David Huerta, president of Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West (SEIU-USWW) and SEIU California, during protests over an ICE immigration raid in downtown Los Angeles.

Huerta was roughly pushed to the ground by agents in riot gear, handcuffed and taken to a hospital before ICE took him into custody. SEIU officials said he was acting as a peaceful observer at the time of his arrest, a constitutional right.

The following is a statement from United University Professions President Frederick E. Kowal on Huerta’s arrest:

“The unlawful arrest of our union brother, David Huerta, is outrageous and appalling. We condemn his arrest in the strongest possible terms and join the AFL-CIO and other unions in calling for his immediate release.

“UUP stands shoulder-to-shoulder in solidarity with David Huerta, SEIU and all unions that abhor and oppose the inhumane, authoritarian actions taken by the Trump administration. David Huerta was doing what union leaders do: we defend workers, we defend our members. For that he was roughed up, arrested and taken into custody. We won’t stand for this, now or ever.

“UUP, like the vast majority of Americans, supports the legal process, established under federal immigration law, whereby the deportation of dangerous, nondocumented immigrants in the U.S. takes place with full due process rights accorded the accused. But we will not remain silent as violent ICE immigration raids meant to terrorize and disrupt communities take place, constitutional rights are violated and, as we’ve seen in Los Angeles, the military is sent in—without being asked by California’s governor—to crush protests that broke out after an ICE raid.

“We loudly call for the release of David Huerta and we call for organized labor to come together and stand against injustice in all of its forms.”