IUPAT Statement on the Unjust Targeting of Union Members by ICE
Press Releases
Hanover, MD — The IUPAT has always stood firm in its commitment to protecting the rights of every worker, regardless of their immigration status. The recent actions by this administration deploying ICE to target workers, including the unjust deportation of our union brother Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia and detention of our union sister Rumeysa Ozturk, highlight the ongoing dangers faced by our members who are protected under Temporary Protected Status (TPS), Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), asylum seekers, and other long standing, essential immigration programs.
The policies that protect workers with green cards, asylum, TPS and DACA are not just legal protections but moral imperatives. The continued targeting of our union brothers and sisters by ICE is proof of a degradation in civil liberties and the rule of law in the United States. We will always fight for the working class, whether they are born here or abroad, because we know that the strength of our union is built on the solidarity of all workers.
We call on the Trump Administration to stop this unjust targeting of workers and stripping away of legal status, and instead to commit to respect due process, transparency, free speech, and basic decency for all the hard-working immigrants of this country. To our members, we stand with you unwaveringly. We will continue to fight for the rights of every worker to be treated with dignity and respect.
Contact: Ryan Kekeris, rkekeris@iupat.org
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The International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) represents a growing community of over 140,000 active and retired craftspeople in the United States and Canada. The IUPAT membership extends far beyond the workplace. Recognized as one of the most active unions in the labor movement, IUPAT members help shape their communities in many ways: through an abiding commitment to service, by fighting passionately for workers’ rights that benefit all working families, and through effective worker education and mobilization.