Irina Park
We recommend readers study our editorial on ICE raids here and on the Los Angeles anti-ICE uprising here.
In mid-May, Maximo Londonio, a forklift driver and member of Machinists Local Lodge 695, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Seattle–Tacoma International Airport in Washington. He was held for five days before being transferred to the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma, a for-profit prison, separating him from his wife and children. Londonio is a lawful permanent resident and green card holder and has been in the US since he was 12. A GoFundMe has been set up to help with Londonio’s legal fees and support his family. In response to his detention, union members and supporters have rallied outside of NWDC to demand his release.
The rally followed other demonstrations in Washington in solidarity with union members and activists kidnapped by ICE. These include Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino, a 25-year-old farm worker union leader and immigrant rights activist who was arrested in late March, and Lewelyn “Auntie Lynn” Dixon, a laboratory technician at the University of Washington and member of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 925, who lived in the US for more than 50 years. Dixon was detained for three months after returning from visiting family in the Philippines.
SEIU Local 925 held multiple rallies outside of the jail Dixon was held, and some 200 people came out in March to protest ICE and support Dixon and Zeferino. After months of sustained pressure, Dixon was released on May 29, with workers and activists securing another victory in the face of ICE’s terror tactics. Juarez is still being held at NWDC, with a first hearing scheduled in November.
ICE raids continue to intensify. Days after Trump ordered ICE to pause its raids on some workplaces and on migrants without a criminal record, he once again reversed his position, ordering raids on workplaces to continue. The raids are a tool of the ruling class to offset its economic crisis by carrying out mass layoffs, making the status of migrants more precarious to drive down wages across the working class, dividing workers, and consolidating monopoly capital.
As a sign of the growing acuteness of the economic crisis, the raids have grown more militarized and violent. On Tuesday, the Trump administration deployed roughly 700 troops from the armed forces to support ICE in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas, adding to its deployment of nearly 5,000 military personnel to California following the Los Angeles anti-ICE uprising.
The increased militarization signals the weakness and isolation of state forces as workers and activists respond with greater organization and confrontation against the attacks on the working class. Workers and activists have formed rapid response networks, patrols, and have directly confronted ICE agents to protect their neighborhoods from government attacks. The victory of Dixon’s release, the outpouring of support for Londonio and Juarez, and the mass mobilizations that sparked in LA and spread nationally promise increased rebellion in the face of escalated state terror.
Photo: SEIU workers rally for Lewelyn “Auntie Lynn” Dixon in March. Credit: SEIU Local 925
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