Detroit May Day marchers demand the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia

DETROIT—The streets of Detroit thundered with the defiant chant: “Bring him home! Bring him home! Bring him home!” Hundreds of trade unionists and labor activists rallied for this year’s May Day march, demanding the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a sheet metal apprentice and SMART Local 100 member illegally deported by the Trump administration.

Despite a Supreme Court ruling declaring his deportation unlawful, Garcia remains imprisoned in El Salvador, sparking a nationwide labor fightback for his freedom.

This year’s May Day saw a historic turnout, with 600 marches across the U.S. as workers mobilized against the Trump administration’s relentless attacks on labor, immigrants, and working-class communities. In Detroit, SMART Local 80 and the Michigan Building Trades Council led the charge, flanked by many other unions—UAW, Steelworkers, Teachers, Postal Workers, Bricklayers, Electrical Workers, and Teamsters—united in solidarity.

Jason Gruenwald, a SMART Local 80 business agent, told People’s World: “We’re out here for May Day in full solidarity with the entire labor movement. Our International union is pulling out all the stops to bring Brother Garcia home.”

Eric McPherson, another SMART Local 80 member, echoed the urgency: “Kilmar was snatched away and thrown into a prison in El Salvador. That’s why we’re here today—standing with our union brother. And look around—the whole labor movement is standing with us.”

Steve Noffke, a UAW Local 600 member at Ford’s River Rouge plant, praised the massive turnout. “People are sick of the status quo. Kilmar’s deportation was the last straw—they came for one of ours, and now the whole labor movement is fighting back.”

Chuck Kukawka, retired president of Bricklayers Local 2, helped organize a strong presence by the Building Trades this year. “The UAW has always been a fixture on May Day, but this time, we made sure the Building Trades stepped up too,” he said. “Even the Michigan AFL-CIO joined the fight. That’s solidarity.”

Maureen Taylor, a longtime fighter for workers and the poor in Detroit with the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, told People’s World: “Our call here today is to make certain that we talk about the importance of pulling ourselves together, particularly in the face of what is surrounding us at this very moment” with the fascistic maneuverings of the Trump administration.

“It’s important that the low-income get organized with union folks, and non-union folks to come together, not as individual fingers, but as a fist so we can strike a serious blow.”

Cassandra Ford, a retiree from UAW Local 22, agreed. She also emphasized the international significance of May Day, or International Workers’ Day.

“May Day is an international holiday to support workers’ unity. It’s so crucial to have workers around the world come together and demand what they need from this awful system because at the end of the day, it’s the workers who make all the economy run,” she said.

Terrell George, Vice President of Unite Here Local 24, marched under his union’s banner: JUSTICE FOR ALL. He told People’s World that they mobilized this year because no worker should be left vulnerable to attack.

“The unions are under attack. Social Security, Medicaid, and education are under attack. The billionaires are basically operating Project 2025 right in front of our eyes,” he said.

Michael Joseph, a retiree from UAW Local 600 and president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) Detroit, said that the CBTU is just one part of the “giant fabric of working people fighting for justice and upholding our Constitution.”

“CBTU all over the country stands with our brothers and sisters under attack. And we have to stand up because the bosses won’t. We have to do it. We are the people and we are the power.”

Josh Medina of the Communist Party USA spoke mid-march at the Federal Building downtown on behalf of the People’s Assembly, linking the fight for Kilmar to the broader struggle against ICE raids and workplace repression.

“They terrorize our immigrant neighbors, brothers, and sisters—but we can’t let them divide us. The fight against deportations doesn’t only happen in the streets; it happens on the shop floor too. And the fight for union contracts is tied to defending our communities from ICE. That’s how we win.”

Speakers also drew connections between local labor struggles and international worker solidarity, particularly with Palestinian workers fighting to survive under Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“While we fight Trump’s attacks here, we can’t ignore the bombs dropping on workers in Gaza,” said one rank-and-file IBEW Local 58 member. “The same corporations profiting from genocide are the ones exploiting us here at home. Our liberation is tied together,” she said.

Jenin, speaking for the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, said that Palestinian workers are super-exploited, restricted, and dehumanized under apartheid conditions.

“Workers are forced to build the very infrastructure of their oppression, crossing checkpoints, working in settlements, denied rights, denied safety. And still, they resist,” she said.

Multiple speakers stressed that working-class unity means confronting all forms of oppression. “These billionaires feed off racism, sexism, and LGBTQ+ hate to keep us divided,” said one marcher carrying a red flag—the color for May Day. “But we’re saying no. A worker is a worker—no matter their skin color, gender, or who they love. Our movement is stronger when we fight for everyone.”

Monique Buchanan, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3239, which serves Social Security employees in Metro Detroit, told People’s World that the unity emerging after the Trump administration’s attacks on labor is inspiring.

“The positive that has come out of these attacks, though, is that we’re able to join together in solidarity, and I’ve never seen a movement like this in my lifetime,” she said.

“I really believe that the power of the people is what’s going to overturn what’s happening in this country,” she said.