Hospitality Union UNITE HERE Slams Trump for Threatened Raids and Deportations – Calls on Hotel and Food Service Employers to Refuse to Cooperate
President D. Taylor: “Hotels are meant to welcome people from all over the world, not jail them”
Statement by D. Taylor, President of UNITE HERE:
“UNITE HERE stands for protecting and fighting for the dignity of all people within the borders of the United States and Canada. We fight for every working person in the U.S., whether they were born here or have come to this country seeking freedom and the opportunity to provide for themselves and their families.
“The Trump administration’s mass detention and deportation of immigrant families is an assault on American values. Holding children in jails and cages is not only illegal—it is an affront to basic human decency. We have seen this darkness in world history before, and we swore, ‘never again.’ Never again is now.
“The threatened deportations may include the detention of one million immigrants and their families, and Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has indicated it will use hotels as detention facilities to carry out this plan. Hotels are meant to welcome people from all over the world, not jail them.”
“That’s why, on behalf of our 300,000 UNITE HERE members in the hospitality industry and their families, we are calling on our employer partners to join us in refusing to aid and abet this administration’s mass detention of immigrant families. This must be opposed by every American who shares a sense of decency and an understanding of history. We are calling on our partners to declare publicly that no part of their respective companies or brands will contract with the U.S. government to facilitate the jailing of people seeking refuge in this country.
“We expect our employer partners to reassure their employees, customers, shareholders, and guests that they will refuse to profit from the pain and misery of millions.”
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UNITE HERE represents 300,000 members working in the hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, transportation, and airport industries in the U.S. and Canada, including many immigrant, DACA, and TPS members.