SEIU President David Huerta released from custody on $50k bond following arrest during ICE raid

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — California union leader David Huerta has been released from federal custody on a $50,000 bond.

Huerta was arrested Friday while protesting immigration raids in Los Angeles. He’s the president of SEIU California, a powerful labor union.

His arrest has become a rallying cry for union members nationwide and Democratic politicians who have called for his release.

His release Monday came as marchers were moving through downtown after a rally by the SEIU.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Our previous reporting follows below.

Hundreds if not thousands of people have gathered for a rally at Gloria Molina Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles, where civil rights and labor leaders are demanding the release of union leader David Huerta from federal detention after he was arrested during an immigration enforcement action on Friday. Huerta is due in court at the Roybal Federal Building at 1:30 p.m. for a bond hearing.

The rally was scheduled for noon, but the large crowd was already growing at 11 a.m. Many demonstrators had flags and signs.

Labor leader Dolores Huerta is among the planned speakers for the event. Organizers said the plan is to keep the rally peaceful.

Federal agents took an unknown number of people — presumably suspected immigration law violators — into custody Friday at multiple locations near downtown Los Angeles, sparking impromptu gatherings of protesters who clashed with authorities at several scenes.

On Friday morning, agents from what appeared to be multiple federal law enforcement agencies could be seen escorting men in handcuffs into vehicles outside a Home Depot at 1675 Wilshire Blvd. in the Westlake District.

People often gather at such stores looking for temporary work, and agents may have taken the opportunity to confront them in accordance with President Donald Trump’s unprecedented crackdown on illegal immigration. He has vowed to wage the most extensive deportation effort in U.S. history.

Later Friday morning, another raid took place at an Ambiance clothing store along Towne Avenue in the Fashion District near downtown Los Angeles. A crowd of people and some protesters gathered outside the store as the operation was being carried out, most of them taking photos or videos with cell phones. Several people wearing FBI vests were seen standing by outside the store.

In response to a query from City News Service, an FBI spokeswoman said specific details about immigration operations and arrests must come from Homeland Security Investigations as the lead agency, but she offered the following statement on the FBI’s posture regarding immigration arrests:

“The FBI is supporting our partners at the Department of Homeland Security in their immigration operations all over the country, as directed by the Attorney General. The FBI is accustomed to providing investigative and technical assistance to our federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners on a regular basis.

“As we have been asked to do, we are sending agents to participate in these immigration enforcement efforts. That includes assisting in cities where major operations are already underway and where we have special agents embedded on operational teams with DHS. Our help may vary depending on what DHS needs, such as SWAT operators, who can support high risk arrest operations, and other resources such as intelligence analysts and technical support working from command posts.”

The Service Employees International Union California issued a statement saying Huerta, the union’s president, was injured and detained during the immigration actions.

“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 Friday. “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.”

Huerta, a U.S. citizen, is charged with interfering with federal agents.

“What happened to David Huerta is concerning, should be concerning to all of us. We’ve seen this administration act without regard to our constitutional rights, which is what we’ve been doing out in the streets, raising our voices in a peaceful manner. We believe that it’s a concern when you have federal agents that act without regard to those rights,” said Luis Fuentes, the SEIU USWW Regional Vice President.

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.

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.”

U.S. Senators sent a letter to top Trump officials on Monday, demanding answers regarding Huerta’s arrest and detention, saying the labor leader was injured, arrested, and detained by federal officials in Downtown L.A. while exercising his lawful right to observe the conduct of immigration enforcement personnel on Friday.

City News Service and The Associated Press contributed to this report.