The abduction of Rumeysa Ozturk, a graduate student at Tufts University and a member of PSI affiliate SEIU Local 509, by masked federal immigration authorities on March 25th, is just the latest example of the weaponisation of immigration as tool of political intimidation.

In response, SEIU and other PSI affiliates and allies organized demonstrations on April 1st at more than 10 ICE detention centers and field offices across the United States. This action, marked by the hashtag #4the1st, represents a crucial stand for free speech rights and worker protections.

"When authorities start abducting union members in broad daylight, it's not just an attack on one person - it's an attack on all working people and our fundamental right to speak up," says Daniel Bertossa, General Secretary of Public Services International.

A lawful visa holder from Turkey, Rumeysa was violently detained after exercising her constitutionally protected right to free speech—including co-authoring a student newspaper op-ed in solidarity with the people of Palestine. She has since been unjustly transferred to a detention center in Louisiana, stripped of due process and transparency.

Similar incidents have been reported in various regions, where union activists face intimidation, arbitrary detention, and deportation threats for exercising their fundamental rights to free speech and association.

PSI calls on all affiliated unions to show solidarity with union members under attack in the USA. Protecting freedom of speech and workers' rights is vital to preventing authoritarian overreach.

• Join SEIU's campaign for freedom of speech (Hashtag: #4the1st)