On Friday, ICEtapo stormtroopers did a number of secret raids throughout Los Angelos area. In one of the secret police actions, they assaulted, tased and manhandled California SEIU President David Huerta, who was there to defend his union members who were going through the legal immigration process. The response was immediate:
"SEIU California members call for the immediate release of our president, David Huerta, who was injured and detained at the site of one of today's ICE raids in Los Angeles," the union's executive director, Tia Orr, said in a statement. "He is now receiving medical attention while in custody. We are proud of President Huerta's righteous participation as a community observer, in keeping with his long history of advocating for immigrant workers and with the highest values of our movement: standing up to injustice, regardless of personal risk or the power of those perpetrating it."
It also caught the attention of Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-LA), who also issued a statement:
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles, said in a statement that Huerta was arrested at the Roybal Federal Building downtown.
"Huerta was Tased and brutalized for attempting to visit his union members — asylum applicants going through the immigration process legally who have been unjustly, indefinitely detained and are being held in inhumane conditions," Kamlager-Dove said.
Most poignantly, Huerta released his own statement through the union that really drives home the real point:
Early Friday evening, Huerta issued a statement through the union saying, "What happened to me is not about me. This is about something much bigger. This is about how we as a community stand together and resist the injustice that's happening. Hard-working people, and members of our family and our community, are being treated like criminals. We all collectively have to object to this madness because this is not justice. This is injustice. And we all have to stand on the right side of justice."
It's clearly time for every American citizen to take a stand if they haven't already. These assaults on justice and the American way have already gone on too long and all over the country. As the old union saying goes, an injury done to one is an injury done to all.
So ask yourself, which side do you stand on?
