Statement on ICE’s Detention of SEIU Local 509 Union Member Rumeysa Ozturk and Yesterday’s Federal Collective Bargaining Executive Order
“The MA AFL-CIO strongly denounces federal immigration authorities’ detention of Rumeysa Ozturk, a graduate student at Tufts and a union member with SEIU Local 509.
As a labor movement with a centuries-long history of being unlawfully targeted by the government in response to peaceful protest, we once again affirm our commitment to the rule of law, including, but not limited to freedom of speech, freedom of association, and due process.
Political speech by lawful residents, no matter the specific content, is entitled to the strongest protections offered by the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution. Indefinitely detaining and/or deporting a lawful resident without any due process fundamentally breaks with our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms and should chill every American to the bone.
We call on the courts to find that ICE's detention of Rumeysa Ozturk was unlawful and to order her release without delay. We call on elected officials to use their voices and all legal options at their disposal to end the Trump/Musk Administration's unlawful actions toward immigrants and other vulnerable populations in our communities meant to intimidate people from exercising the First Amendment rights that are bedrock to our Democracy.
This is not the first or only attack on unions and working people across the country and in Massachusetts by the Trump administration. Just yesterday, we saw another unprecedented attack on the working class with the executive order stripping collective bargaining and union rights from 700,000 federal workers.
This executive order is another illegal attempt to gut the rights of the working class, straight out of the Project 2025 playbook. It strips the fundamental right to unionize and collectively bargain from workers across the federal government at more than 30 agencies. These are dedicated public servants who are our food inspectors, care for our veterans, help us in public health emergencies, and so many more who are being bullied out of their voice on the job. It’s clear that this is a retaliatory order as punishment for unions who are leading the fight against the administration’s illegal actions in court—and a blatant attempt to silence us and intimidate others for exercising their legal rights.
To every single American who cares about the fundamental freedom of all workers, now is the time to be even louder. The labor movement is not about to let Trump and his unelected billionaire club destroy the freedoms that are the bedrock of American democracy. We will fight this outrageous attack on our members with every fiber of our collective being.”
Media Contact
Martin Mulkerrin, mmulkerrin@massaflcio.org
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