Activists march through Sky Harbor Airport to support airport workers, demand ‘ICE out’

On Monday evening, community organizers from across the Valley hosted a demonstration at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport to demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents be removed from the airport’s security checkpoints.

ICE agents were deployed to 14 airports across the U.S. on March 23 to assist the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) during the partial government shutdown. Within days, videos of ICE activity in airports went viral online, including one of a mother and daughter being arrested in the San Francisco International Airport.

According to activists, travelers are not the only individuals who have been targeted by ICE at airports; airport employees in places like Minneapolis have also been the subject of ICE detentions.

David Bonilla is an organizer with Unite Here Local 11, a union representing hospitality workers across Arizona and Southern California. He works as a cashier in Sky Harbor through SSP America, but plans to shift his efforts to work with the union in the near future.

“Our sister organization in Minneapolis, Unite Here Local 17, when [ICE] was there at the airport, [they] were at security checkpoints, standing right there and they even detained four of our members,” Bonilla said in an interview with CALÓ News.

According to Bonilla, these detentions were performed despite the extensive badging procedure that all airport workers are required to complete. None of the detained members was charged with a crime.

“The [union] members were released, but the trauma still remains,” Bonilla said.

Reports like these from across the country inspired activists from multiple organizations to coordinate a local demonstration. At 5:30 p.m. Monday evening, protestors gathered on the ground floor of Sky Harbor’s Terminal 4, just outside of the baggage claim area, where community organizers spoke to the crowd of activists and travelers. 

Erika Andiola, one of the speakers at the event, is the political director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), an organization focused on defending the rights of migrant workers.

“Donald Trump had the ability to fund TSA all along and he chose not to do it,” Andiola said. “Why did he choose not to fund TSA workers, people who — just like day laborers — are trying to feed themselves, feed their families and have a life with dignity and respect?... Because he does not care about American workers, he does not care about immigrant workers and he does not care about us.”

Hayden Nguyen is an organizer with the Phoenix chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and another speaker at the demonstration. According to him, Trump’s decision to put ICE agents in airports is not about security, but about sending a message.

“Our demands are simple: that Trump give workers [at TSA] their full salaries, that ICE agents are thrown out of Sky Harbor and that ICE is fully abolished,” Nguyen said. “We are not disposable. We are not illegal. And we are not going anywhere!”

After community organizers spoke, they led the crowd of approximately 50 demonstrators inside the baggage claim area up the escalators and into the main terminal, chanting “ICE out now!”, “No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here!”, and “TSA workers, we stand with you!”

As noted by speakers after the event, many travelers and employees inside the airport showed nonverbal support for the demonstration by giving thumbs-up or raising fists. Airport security and Phoenix Police were present throughout the protest, but no action was taken against the demonstrators.

“To all of us that have been organizing for years and all of us that have just joined… stay strong, because this is just the beginning,” Andiola said. “We are going to continue to fight until people have what they deserve.”

According to Bonilla, the success of events like Monday’s demonstration depends on the attendance of activists across all experience levels.

“We could be at home, sitting on our couches, watching the world pass by us, but going out there and standing firm on what we believe in is the way that we're gonna get our messages across,” Bonilla said. “It's about constant presence, always showing up, always being there. That’s how we keep this momentum going. That's how we fight back against the administration.”

Alongside suggestions of future demonstrations at Sky Harbor, organizers called attention to a national general strike planned for May 1.

River Graziano is a freelance journalist for CALÓ News. They grew up in the Ahwatukee area of Phoenix and later attended ASU in Tempe, where they spent two years as an editor at The State Press. Their reporting with CALÓ News covers advocacy efforts impacting Latine communities across the Valley.