TACOMA, Wash. — Chanting “Free Max!” and “Protection, not deportation!” some 200 protesters joined a June 6 rally outside Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Northwest Detention Center here, called by the International Association of Machinists. They demanded the release of IAM Local Lodge 695 member Maximo Londonio, who is being held there.
Londonio is the lead forklift driver at Crown Cork & Seal in Olympia, Washington. The 42-year-old father of three is a green-card holder who came to the U.S. from the Philippines when he was 12. He was arrested by immigration cops at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport May 15 after returning from the Philippines where he had visited his family.
Members of several Machinists locals, Teamsters, United Food and Commercial Workers, UNITE HERE, Service Employees International Union and International Longshore and Warehouse Union attended. Dozens wore T-shirts reading “IAM UNION” and “IAM MAX.” Members of the immigrant rights group Tanggol Migrante and many young Filipinos also took part.
“I want Maximo and his family to know that his union fully supports him,” IAM International President Brian Bryant told the rally. “We will be here for whatever it takes for as long as it takes. We want Max free now!”
Bryant was here to celebrate the 125th anniversary of one of the Tacoma IAM locals. He told the rally that the men who formed the local were probably immigrants, like those held now in the Northwest Detention Center, trying to improve their lives by forming the union.
Bryant led chants of “Union rights are immigrant rights!” The IAM is raising funds for Londonio’s legal fees and to support his family.
“My daughters want their father home,” Crystal Londonio, Maximo’s wife, told participants. “We’re fighting for the ones we love, and not just for our families, but everyone inside who doesn’t have a voice or the support we do.” She helped hold the IAM District 160 banner.
Nieces of Lewelyn Dixon, a Filipina permanent resident and member of SEIU Local 925 at the University of Washington, spoke about her detention at the same facility, and the protests by her union, other unions and family members that led to her release May 29. They announced that “Aunty Lynn,” as Dixon is known, had started back at her job. Like Londonio, she was stopped at the airport on her way back from the Philippines.
Tricia Schroeder, president of Dixon’s local, also spoke at the rally. “They want us fighting each other and not fighting for wages,” she said.
April Sims, president of Washington State Labor Council, explained that raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are used to intimidate workers.