LA Times: California senators demand review of arrest of union leader David Huerta
By Andrea Castillo and Brittny Mejia
California Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla sent a letter Monday to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice demanding a review of the arrest of union leader David Huerta.
Huerta, president of Service Employees International Union, was detained and injured while documenting a workplace immigration raid in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. He was treated at a hospital and transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center. He remains in custody.
“It is deeply troubling that a U.S. citizen, union leader, and upstanding member of the Los Angeles community continues to be detained by the federal government for exercising his rights to observe immigration enforcement,” the senators wrote.
The letter, led by Schiff and also signed by Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), asked the leaders of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to review which federal agencies and personnel were involved in Huerta’s arrest and what disciplinary actions may be necessary for those involved in the actions that resulted in his injuries. The senators also asked the DOJ to state the legal authority under which Huerta is detained.
“We have a constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice and its components to ensure that the rights of Californians are upheld,” they wrote.
They gave a deadline of Friday for a response. The Homeland Security and Justice departments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Rallies are scheduled in more than a dozen cities across the U.S., including in Los Angeles, by union members and other supporters demanding Huerta’s release and an end to the workplace immigration raids.
In an interview with NBCLA-TV over the weekend, Bill Essayli, the U.S. attorney in L.A, accused Huerta of obstructing law enforcement vehicles from getting into a facility where they were conducting a search warrant.
“They tried to move him and then he got into a physical altercation with one of our agents and he resisted and he had to be pepper sprayed and subdued,” Essayli said.
Essayli said authorities “had no idea who he was” and found out later after politicians reached out, “suggesting that he get special treatment.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Essayli said.
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