TACOMA, Wash. — Hundreds have protested in front of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Northwest Detention Center here over the past two weeks.
On July 14 demonstrators brought support for several immigrants facing immigration court hearings that day.
Family members of Kimlis “Steve” Tek, a U.S. veteran who is threatened with deportation to Cambodia, addressed the protest. Tek was born in a Thai refugee camp as his family was fleeing the Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror in Cambodia. They immigrated to the U.S. when he was 2 years old, settling in Monterey Park, California.
Tek joined the U.S. Army and was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, where he was arrested and convicted of assault. He completed a 15-year sentence and was immediately transferred to ICE custody to await deportation.
He has no ties to Cambodia and his family is fighting for his release. His next hearing is set to take place in five weeks. His family aims to continue building public support.
Ngoc Phan addressed the rally. Her husband, Tuan Thanh Phan, originally from Vietnam, was deported to South Sudan in March. His permanent residency had been revoked in 2009 after he was convicted of murder. After serving 16 years, he was released from prison March 3, and immediately picked up by ICE agents.
“They are disappearing people who can be tortured or killed, then wash their hands of it,” Ngoc Phan told participants. “This is double punishment.”
Several groups participated in the rally, called by Community to Community, including a delegation from United Food and Commercial Workers Local 3000.
Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino is a leader of Familias Unidas por la Justicia, a farmworkers union in the Skagit Valley in northwestern Washington state. He has been held at the detention center for months. When the judge at his hearing that morning rejected his motion to be released, he sent a statement to his supporters.
He said he has decided to return to Mexico. “I want everyone to know, no matter where I end up, I will continue fighting for justice alongside all of you.”
Two weeks later 100 people rallied in front of the center July 26 at an action sponsored by La Resistencia and Service Employees International Union Local 775.
Dora Polky, a caregiver and SEIU 775 member in Tacoma, spoke at the rally. “This prison is a hellhole,” she said. “I stand in solidarity with those detained and let them know they are not forgotten. Our country is rooted in immigration.”
Henry Dennison, a member of SMART-TD Local 324, spoke. “What’s happening in this detention center affects the entire working class in this country,” he said. “This is where we see the real meaning of the slogan ‘An injury to one is an injury to all.’
“Working people everywhere can be won to this fight,” he said.
Dennison noted that SMART President Michael Coleman has given support to SMART member Kilmar Abrego García’s fight to remain in the U.S.
Jacob Perasso contributed to this article.