Labor unions are fundraising for workers affected by the surge of immigration enforcement across the US, providing legal and financial support to members affected by the brutal crackdown.
Nearly $20,000 was raised for a homecare worker, Maria, a member of Service Employees International Union Local 503 in Salem, Oregon, and a US citizen who was attacked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on 29 January.
Maria, whose last name is being held for anonymity, was pulled from her car after ICE agents boxed her in with their vehicles and smashed her car window, and then thrown to the ground. They left her alone without medical care after they found her US passport in her purse. She was later treated for mild injuries, including a concussion and bruised ribs.
“We are standing for our workers. ICE in our communities is creating fear. It’s creating havoc,” said Pati Urias, communications director for SEIU Local 503. “The labor movement has always stood for causes that affect workers, and this is one of them.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said it could not confirm whether the incident happened and that neither ICE or Customs and Border Protection contacted a US citizen in Salem.
Urias noted that federal agents often don’t wear identification or give badge numbers or names when request. “How could anyone know if they were impersonators?” she said. “They left her alone when they saw she was a citizen. What might they have done if she wasn’t?”
Foreign-born workers make up 15% of all US union members, with more than 2.2 million workers in 2024, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation, an AFL-CIO affiliate, has raised more than $126,000 to support workers in Minnesota with legal assistance, including representation when attending asylum hearings.
“Things that used to just be simple immigration-related activities to keep people’s status current have turned into things that we have to really support and could put them at risk because of the profiling that’s being done,” said Chelsie Glaubitz Gabiou, the union federation’s president.
The union is also providing mutual aid to members who are sheltering in place, offering help with grocery deliveries, transportation and financial support for those who can’t go into work.
Glaubitz Gabiou noted that the sweeping ICE operations have caused a downturn in economic activity. Minneapolis’s city government estimates local businesses are losing $10m to $20m in sales every week due to the ICE operations.
Unite Here Local 17 in Minnesota has also been fundraising to support a hardship fund for members affected by ICE, raising more than $147,000 so far. Funds are supporting more than 200 members and their families with food and mutual aid, including rental assistance.
“The majority of our membership is women, immigrants and people of color. Minnesota is under attack by federal ICE agents who are indiscriminately targeting people of color,” the union, which represents 6,000 workers in Minnesota, said in a statement.
Local fundraising efforts have helped “families who are too afraid to leave their homes [and can’t] pay their rent, pay their bills, get groceries,” said Amanda Otero, co-executive director of Take Action, a non-profit in Minnesota that has fundraised for families affected by ICE operations. “All the things that have to keep happening even while they’re not going out and working because they’re afraid of ICE.”
The DHS has denied racial profiling, though the department allows searches based on “reasonable suspicion”.
A spokesperson for the DHS, in response to the fundraisers, said “any application for asylum does not preclude immigration enforcement” and that union involvement “is beyond insane”.
“Why would these labor bosses not want these public safety threats out of their communities?” the spokesperson said.
