“When workers’ rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” and "Chingra la migra" were two of the chants that could be heard trailing from Capitol Hill toward downtown this May Day. The national day of action brought over a thousand Seattleites on a sunny Thursday out to the streets, with the ongoing detentions and deportations of the Trump administration and the rollback of constitutional rights being a key theme.
“Our president’s performing a coup and oppressing our rights, and he’s taking away people’s jobs and healthcare, and he’s hurting the people of this country. It’s got to be stopped,” attendee Catherine Ruha told the SGN.
Ruha said she hadn’t protested for decades but turned out to help show state and federal leaders that they must stand up to Trump’s hurtful regime. She noted how Americans fought a revolution to free themselves from a king.
“Now you’re installing a king?” she asked. “I’m tired of the revenge tactics. I don’t want to be a part of their authoritarian father-figure paradigm.”
Solidarity among various groups, such as workers, immigrants, the LGBTQIA+ community, women, and veterans, among others, has been growing rapidly during Trump’s second term. A colorful array of protest signs — including “Stronger Together” and “Laws Not Kings” — proved just that.
Veterans for Peace (VFP) is an organization that raises awareness about the cost of war. It aims to restrain the government from overtly and covertly intervening in the affairs of other nations, resists racism and repression, and opposes the militarization of law enforcement. Not only that, VFP seeks justice for veterans and war victims and works to abolish the use of war in national policy.
“Trump and his billionaire profiteers are trying to create a race to the bottom — on wages, on benefits, on dignity itself,” read a VFP infographic at the booth. “This May Day we are fighting back. We are demanding a country that puts our families over their fortunes — public schools over private profits, healthcare over hedge funds, prosperity over free market politics.”
The Seattle Revolutionary Socialists were also present, handing out flyers across Cal Anderson Park — where the event began at noon — and educating passersby at its booth, like how May Day was inspired by the eight-hour workers movement in the US. On an infographic, it stated that Trump’s attacks against immigrants are being used to attract votes:
“The ruling class wants to divide workers. It uses racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and bigotry against immigrants to undermine solidarity and weaken our fight back. If citizen workers blame immigrants for job loss, they won’t blame the real cause — the ruling class that makes record profits by refusing to pay decent wages, busting unions, and breaking strikes.”
How can people push back, according to the group? By opposing all forms of bigotry and oppression, and demanding equal rights for all people in the US, regardless of their citizenship status.
“I am calling on those of us with the privilege of American citizenship to speak up for immigrant families.”
Zenia Javalera, president of SEIU 6, was one of the speakers who stepped up on the stage at Cal Anderson, giving an empowering speech about the beauty of immigrant workers and the need to protect them.
SEIU 6 comprises about 10,000 janitors, security officers, airport workers, and others. Javalera said the union is proud of its diversity because that is their power. Between portions of Javalera’s speech, a Spanish translator proudly reiterated her remarks.
“Our members are majority immigrants and people of color, and together we speak over 30 languages. As a union, we fight for equity together. We fight for justice, and we know damn well that there ain’t no social justice, there ain’t no economic justice without racial justice,” Javalera said, drawing massive cheers from the crowd.
Javalera’s words about how Trump is attempting to create divisions between communities echoed from standing speakers set up around the park. She said that each week, people are learning more about who are “outsiders,” or targets of the Trump administration, like immigrants or undocumented people; those who demand an end to genocide; LGBTQIA+ people; or those who “simply…give a damn about people.”
“The thing about it is, is that the more of us he pushes out, the more of us will find each other out here together!” Javalera announced into the speaker, and the crowd cheered in agreement.
As the daughter of immigrants, she said her parents’ dream was that this country would offer opportunity and a ticket to safety through hard work. But while her mother obtained citizenship, her father didn’t. During the Obama administration, he was sent to the detention center in Tacoma, which is the same ICE facility that is actively holding SEIU 6 union member Lewelyn Dixon.
Javalera’s father was deported, and she said she still feels that same pain she felt back then, which doesn’t go away. She, like many others in the audience, have cracking hearts, knowing that families and children are experiencing that exact pain now.
The Trump regime is using immigrants as scapegoats to snatch democracy away from Americans, she said, and using temporary protective status (TPS) — a pathway to safety for people who are unsafe in their home countries — as a weapon to hurt and demonize people. Javalera said some SEIU 6 members have TPS from several countries, including Afghanistan and Ukraine, and are only now finding solid footing in the US.
“I am calling on those of us with the privilege of American citizenship to speak up for immigrant families,” Javalera said. “Speak up for those with TPS — none of us should be scared of being sent back home, or back to places that we fled, or to the detention center, or to the damn prison in El Salvador!”
Follow the SGN on TikTok and Instagram @SeattleGayNews_ to view more May Day footage.
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