On International Workers’ Day, commonly commemorated as May Day, protests across Seattle and nationwide have laborers and activists rallied with a new purpose — fighting for workers rights, immigrant rights, and the end of the Trump administration that continues to strain the American working class.
Local demonstrations took place across Seattle neighborhoods. Most notably Capitol Hill, where labor rights coalitions and various Seattle-based political advocacy groups mobilized around Cal Anderson Park to South Lake Union. The Seattle demonstration saw speakers tie the inseparable connection between labor rights and immigrant advocacy.
Megan Farmer/KUOW
The ICE arrests in Washington State have not been exclusive to undocumented workers, but immigrants pursuing legal status in the U.S. From Green Card holders pursuing citizenship to asylum seekers have been targeted and faced arrest and deportation.
A speaker at a Capitol Hill demonstration, Maximo Londonio, is a Green Card holder who was detained for nearly two months last year at the ICE detention center in Tacoma. Londonio is one of many examples of ICE arrests not being exclusive to undocumented workers, but asylum seekers and immigrants pursuing legal status.
In a speech documented by reporter Gustavo Sagrero Álvarez with KUOW, Londonio said, “Migrants’ work is hard work. … We take the toughest job. We face harsh conditions, and too often we are treated like our lives matter less than our labor.”
The Seattle demonstration reiterated the goal to close the for-profit, Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma. Prior to May Day, this has been a defining goal for NWDC demonstrations. These protests included testimonies of NWDC’s inhumane conditions, detailing poor facilities long overdue for health inspections that NWDC has repeatedly evaded.
Run by the private prison company GEO Group, La Resistencia has documented eleven years of their continuous withholding of detainees long after they are meant to be released or deported. Fight Back! News reported this has resulted in a detainee surviving a seven-day hunger strike in an effort to get deported.
“So, stand with the migrant workers,” Londino told protesters. “Stand with the families. Stand with the organizing because when we unite, we are powerful.”