News
Major union boss injured, arrested during ICE raids
David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California and SEIU-United Service Workers West’s president, was injured and detained by federal agents during a series of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in downtown Los Angeles on Friday.
Newsweek reached out to SEIU via its online form on Saturday for comment.
The Context
As reported by Newsweek, hundreds of people flooded the streets of downtown Los Angeles on Friday following a series of reported raids carried out by ICE earlier that day.
The raids resulted in the detention of at least 44 individuals and sparked protests, with demonstrators clashing with law enforcement. ICE agents used pepper spray and smoke grenades to disperse the protesters.
ALI MATIN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images
What To Know
Reports say Huerta was observing and documenting ICE operations when he was allegedly pushed to the ground by federal agents, resulting in a head injury.
ABC News said, at one point, a scuffle broke out involving federal agents, during which Huerta appeared to be pushed and struck his head. In one video, a federal agent is seen pushing him while his hands are at his hips, causing him to fall to the ground.
Huerta was hospitalized for treatment and later transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he remained in custody, the Los Angeles Times said.
What People Are Saying
SEIU stated on its X, formerly Twitter, page: “Let’s be clear: ICE injured and detained the president of SEIU California for peacefully observing.
“ICE picked the wrong side. The wrong state. The wrong person. and the wrong union. David Huerta stood up. And 750,000 SEIU workers are standing with him.”
The post has since had over 949,000 views.
A SEIU press release updated Friday, stated: “David Huerta, President of SEIU California and SEIU- United Service Workers West, has been released from the hospital where he was treated for injuries sustained during his arrest and at this time remains in custody.”
Huerta made the following statement: “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. Hardworking 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.”
Tia Orr, executive director of SEIU California, said in a statement: “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. 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.
“We call for an end to the cruel, destructive, and indiscriminate ICE raids that are tearing apart our communities, disrupting our economy, and hurting all working people. Immigrant workers are essential to our society: feeding our nation, caring for our elders, cleaning our workplaces, and building our homes.”
Elected officials have denounced both the raids and Huerta’s detention.
California Governor Gavin Newsom posted on X: “David Huerta is a respected leader, a patriot, and an advocate for working people. No one should ever be harmed for witnessing government action.”
Senator Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena) issued a statement saying: “I call for the immediate release from custody of SEIU President David Huerta who was harmed and arrested while protesting one of several immigration raids taking place today in Los Angeles County. David is a respected leader in California’s powerful and united labor movement.
“The reign of terror and merciless attacks on our immigrant communities by the Trump Administration must stop.”
Congresswoman Linda Sánchez posted on X: “ICE violently detaining and injuring labor leader David Huerta for exercising his constitutional rights is an attack not just on him, but on every worker and immigrant.”
However, not everyone was in agreement.
Bill Essayli, U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, posted on X: “Federal agents were executing a lawful judicial warrant at a LA work site this morning when David Huerta deliberately obstructed their access by blocking their vehicle. He was arrested for interfering with federal officers and will face arraignment in federal court on Monday. Let me be clear: I don’t care who you are—if you impede federal agents, you will be arrested and prosecuted. No one has the right to assault, obstruct, or interfere with federal authorities carrying out their duties.”
What Happens Next
Since his inauguration on January 20, President Donald Trump has introduced widespread changes, primarily through executive orders, with immigration control emerging as a central focus of his administration.
The latest incident has intensified scrutiny of ICE’s enforcement tactics and raised concerns about the treatment of community observers and labor leaders during such operations.
The museums, designed by conservative nonprofits and Trump appointees, tell the story of early America, from colonization to revolution. The one exhibition looking beyond the early years is the “Wall of American Heroes.” It is a list of 51 people, chosen to illustrate 250 years of American history.
A White House spokesman said they were “individuals who shaped this nation’s history, culture and spirit across generations.”
The people pictured on this national honor roll — and the people left out — help illustrate what this administration sees as the highlights of American history.
Amid the administration’s efforts to reshape the nation’s relationship with its past, Trump appointees heavily weighted the list toward a single era of American history — and a few specific kinds of hero.
The other exhibitions in the Freedom Trucks were crafted by a pair of conservative nonprofits, PragerU and Hillsdale College. But the “Wall of American Heroes” was created by Freedom 250, a nonprofit effort whose leaders were chosen by President Trump and that was created to lead the planning of celebrations of the nation’s 250th birthday, overshadowing a bipartisan congressional commission.
A spokeswoman for Freedom 250 said Mr. Trump was not directly involved in the selection of those featured.
But the list clearly tracks Mr. Trump’s own lifetime and the heroes of the conservative political movement.
The wall’s tilt toward heroes of the baby boomer generation, for instance, extends beyond Hollywood stars and musicians. Of the four religious leaders on the list, two — Archbishop Fulton Sheen and the Rev. Billy Graham — also appeared on TV regularly in the 1950s and 1960s. The only painter on the list is Norman Rockwell, known for his idealized depictions of American life in that period.
By contrast, there is only a handful of figures from the first decades of American independence.
“That’s a disservice, if your intention is to present the last 250 years,” said Sarah Weicksel, the executive director of the American Historical Association. “Because all of the people on this list are building on the work and struggles and progress that was made by the people in the 150 years prior.”
The “Wall of American Heroes” was inspired by a similar display in a traveling museum created by the State of Virginia. But Virginia’s display celebrates little-known historical figures.
Mr. Trump’s, by and large, celebrates people who are already well-known — and, often, people who were famous in their own time. For example, it praises P.T. Barnum, a circus impresario who used hoaxes and freak shows to draw crowds. The wall calls him an “icon of American sensationalism.”
The spokeswoman for Freedom 250 said that many of the names on the wall were drawn from a list of 250 people that Mr. Trump wants to include in a “Garden of American Heroes” in Washington.
The spokeswoman declined to say what criteria were used to narrow down the list.
The only president whose name appears on the wall — not on the list of heroes, but alongside his quotation — is Mr. Trump himself.
Explore the Wall of Heroes
Navigate the display by dragging from side to side.
Washington — Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. of New Jersey will return to Congress on June 30, his spokesperson said, after being away since March in an unexplained absence that has confounded Capitol Hill.
“Congressman Kean is eager to return to in person work on June 30 and resume a full schedule,” Kean’s spokesperson, Harrison Neely, told CBS News on Thursday. The New Jersey Globe first reported on his return date.
Kean’s whereabouts since he last voted on March 5 have not been disclosed. When he first made a statement about the absence in late April, the New Jersey Republican said he was addressing a “personal medical issue.”
Kean said earlier this month that he would return to Washington within a matter of weeks, at which point he would provide more details about his health.
“Right now I am focused on my recovery and under the advice of healthcare professionals, I will transition from virtual work to in person work within a matter of weeks. At that time I will be completely transparent as to the nature of my medical condition,” Kean said in a June 2 statement released by his campaign.
The statement came hours before polls closed in New Jersey’s GOP primary for his seat, in which he ran unopposed.
He has missed more than 130 votes during his absence.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters earlier this month that he had recently spoken with Kean. Johnson said he was aware of the health issue, but would not disclose the details.
“What he’s dealing with is not very common and not a big thing,” Johnson said.
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