Charleeka Thompson, director of the United Steelworkers’ NextGen program in Whitehall, rallies alongside fellow union and community members in Downtown Pittsburgh on Monday, June 9, 2025, to demand the release of David Huerta, president of SEIU California, and to oppose ICE raids nationwide.
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By Lajja Mistry, PublicSource
Protesters in Downtown Pittsburgh joined a national wave of demonstrations on Monday to demand the release of union leader David Huerta, who was arrested in Los Angeles last week while protesting federal immigration raids.
A crowd of 80 to 100 people, including Mayor Ed Gainey, started the protest on the corner of Grant and Liberty, chanting, “Pittsburgh is a union town.” “We don’t want any ICE around.”
First photo in slideshow: Emilio Cano, field representative and contract specialist for SEIU 32BJ, of Carrick, speaks in front of union and community members holding photos of detained SEIU labor leader David Huerta on June 9, in Downtown. “They want us to be afraid to stand up against these brutal military style raids on our friends and our neighbors,” said Cano. (Photos by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
The demonstration was part of a larger coordinated effort involving multiple cities. Local elected officials and members of a variety of union and advocacy groups, including the Service Employees International Union [SEIU], of which Huerta is the California branch president, Casa San Jose, United Steelworkers, Indivisible, and Bricklayers Allied Craftworkers, came together to express their support.
Emilio Cano, an SEIU representative and one of the organizers, stated that, while Pittsburgh has not yet seen Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] raids, local unions are standing in solidarity with affected communities and sending a message to protect immigrants in the area.
“Things like this can be frightening. And when you band together and know that your brothers and sisters are behind you within the union, it gives you a lot of power and emotion to go ahead and fight for what you believe in,” he said.
Jaime Martinez, Casa San Jose’s community defense organizer, reported an increase in ICE arrests and violent incidents in Allegheny County in recent months. He encouraged attendees to call Casa San Jose’s hotline, which provides updates and advice on how to respond safely to ICE activity, as well as to donate to their solidarity fund.
Monica Ruiz-Caraballo, executive director of Casa San José, speaks with attendees at a rally in Pittsburgh on June 9 calling for the release of David Huerta, president of SEIU California.
Casa San José joined other labor and activist organizations in a nationwide call for the labor leader’s release after he was arrested while observing an ICE raid in Los Angeles on June 6.
“Ultimately, immigration is about paperwork. And so the idea that we’re criminalizing people simply because they lack status is a result of a broken system that our government has repeatedly refused to fix,” he said.
Huerta was arrested on Friday for allegedly interfering with an ICE raid. He was initially hospitalized after being injured before being transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center later that day. On Monday, federal authorities charged Huerta with conspiracy to impede an officer.
At a White House event on Monday, President Donald Trump discussed the Los Angeles protests.
“Thank goodness we sent out some wonderful National Guard,” said the commander. Trump criticized California’s leaders, saying, “They were afraid of doing anything.”
California will soon file a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s extraordinary deployment of National Guard troops to confront immigration protesters in Los Angeles.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta told reporters that the complaint would be filed on Monday, and that he intends to seek a court order declaring Trump’s use of the Guard unlawful, as well as a restraining order to halt the deployment.
Patty Laney of Squirrel Hill points to the name of a graduate student arrested by ICE at Tufts University, which she wrote on an umbrella she carried to a nationwide rally against ICE raids. “I’m very pro-union, pro-Palestine,” Laney said of the various causes for which she displayed her umbrella.
“SEIU-USWW President David Huerta is a champion for justice for all working people — people who contribute to our communities, people who are vital to our state and local economies,” Cano said when he addressed the Pittsburgh rally.
Several union members urged the public to mobilize, protest, and speak out against ICE raids and detentions nationwide.
Gainey joined the protesters, holding a sign that read: “No human is illegal.” He stated that Pittsburgh residents must ensure that immigrant communities understand that the city will protect them.
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey joined a handful of union members who came out to protest Huerta’s arrest and nationwide immigration raids.
“In a land that is made of immigrants, the land that was built by immigrants, I don’t see any reason why you would be sending someone like ICE on our immigrant population.”
Samantha Podnar and Austin Wise, both University of Pittsburgh College Democrats, were among those in attendance. Podnar, whose mother is an immigrant, stated that she felt compelled to support the cause and inspire others to do the same. Podnar and Wise collaborate with Casa San Jose to protect immigrant rights and spread awareness.
“It is so, so important that people like us, young people, stand in solidarity with people,” Wise told reporters. “We all understand that now is the time to stand up. “We cannot allow fascist, wealthy oligarchs to take over our country.”
Daisy Pipkin, an organizer with Workers United, expressed concern about elected union leaders being targeted and arrested arbitrarily. Allegheny County Treasurer Erica Rocchi Brusselars echoed those concerns, asking whether anyone, regardless of legal status, can truly feel safe if fundamental rights are not protected.
Jasmine Green, director of education at 1HOOD Media Academy, said she didn’t expect local protests to sway the administration, but she hoped the combined demonstrations would generate national pressure and reduce divisiveness.
Ben Bashioum and Emma Oberg attended the protest as descendants of families who fled Nazi Germany and expressed their concern about ICE activities throughout the country.
“My grandmother immigrated here from Nazi Germany and she is terrified seeing the same thing happening right now,” according to Oberg.
City Councilor Barb Warwick emphasized the importance of unity, saying that ICE raids instill fear rather than promote safety. She cautioned that arrests like Huerta’s have consequences beyond Los Angeles.
“When we see union leaders being detained in Los Angeles, that means there’s a threat of our leaders here in Pittsburgh being detained.”
