Immigrant rights and the essential roles that immigrant workers play in our nation and economy were major rallying cries at many of the more than 1,000 events that took place across the country as part of May Day celebrations on Thursday. In Oregon, farmworker Araceli Cortes stressed that without essential immigrant workers, “many industries would be left empty.”
“We are the farmworkers, the construction workers, the custodians, the restaurant workers, and the factory workers. All of us who, day in and day out, go to work for a better future, regardless of where we come from,” she told the Salem crowd. “As immigrants, we are the backbone of this country. Without our work, many industries would be left empty.”
(2:10 p.m. PT) May Day protest by PCUN (Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste) in Salem.
Reyna Lopez, executive director of farmworker advocacy group Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, told Oregon Public Broadcast that it was important to say that immigrants belong.
“There’s been many attacks on our immigrant community,” she said. “And for us it was really important that we tell our message at this event by saying immigrant Oregonians are home, they are what makes the state beautiful and prosperous. They’re our friends, our neighbors, they’re farmworkers, they’re grocery workers, they’re people that make the state work.”
#Milwaukee! 📣🪧 #MayDay #DayofAction (Voces de la Frontera March & protest)
— Wisconsin Resist (@wisconsinresist.bsky.social) 2025-05-02T00:16:29.854Z
“Fight for the workers and immigrants’ rights!” People in Milwaukee, Wisconsin showed up on #MayDay to rally for workers, immigrants, and democracy.#Wisconsin #MayDayStrong #HandsOff #Immigrants@juciebox4242
— Liz Ahern 🌈🧜🏼♀️ (@austinmermaid.bsky.social) 2025-05-01T20:22:17.304Z
In Milwaukee, Waukesha South High School senior Alondra Arce told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that she was marching because she believes immigrants belong here.
“We’re not going to stay silent, and we’re going to stay here and fight,” the student said. “This is our home and our land as well. We should all feel welcome and accepted.” It was the message needed when many long-settled community members, like warehouse worker Anely Santos, are in fear. “But Santos also was optimistic the protest movement—one of numerous marches across the country—could make an impact,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel continued. And, the protest movement was loud all across the nation. See some highlights below.
CALIFORNIA:
🚨 Live from LA 🚨 CHIRLA members are ready to march for #MayDay! Immigrants — all of whom are workers — march alongside workers & allies from ALL walks of life.We’re taking to the streets because we’re in the midst of a national emergency! ✊🏽Together, we say: One Struggle, One Fight — Workers Unite!
CHIRLA Is present in downtown Los Angeles on this #MayDay ready to stand up to fight and protect our workers and immigrants families. 🦋✊🏽#InternationlWorkersDay
EVERYONE is deserving of dignity and respect no matter who they are or where they come from. ✊🏽🦋🧡#MayDay2025
The detainment and disappearance of students and workers without due process is an attack on every one of us in the streets today, and those of you at home.We won't be ignored.Los Angeles won't back down.#WeMakeAmericaWork#MayDay #InternationalWorkersDay
— California Fast Food Workers Union (@cafastfoodunion.bsky.social) 2025-05-01T16:58:39.646Z
On #MayDay farm workers and their supporters held a rally in front of Windmill Mushroom Farms before they joined in the Sunnyside WA May Day event. #WeFeedYou
— United Farm Workers (@ufw.bsky.social) 2025-05-02T00:47:50.389Z
UFW presente at the Madera CA #MayDay march!¡La UFW presente en la marcha del Primero de Mayo de Madera CA!
— United Farm Workers (@ufw.bsky.social) 2025-05-02T01:26:40.535Z
HAWAII:
ILLINOIS:
Just finished great rally with every union at the @mspairport.bsky.social and heading to the State Capitol next. Meanwhile, get these pictures and videos from @afacwa.org and @cwaunion.bsky.social members in Chicago. Happy International Workers Day! #MayDay 1/2
— Sara Nelson (@flyingwithsara.bsky.social) 2025-05-01T18:48:18.125Z
Baby on the balcony standing with workers marching and @uaw.org
— Sara Nelson (@flyingwithsara.bsky.social) 2025-05-01T18:49:31.793Z
MINNESOTA:
More scenes from A Day Without Immigrants May 1st 2025 at the MN State Capitol #mayday #adaywithoutimmigrants #LaborRights
— Indivisible Twin Cities (@indivistwincities.bsky.social) 2025-05-02T04:24:29.656Z
NEW YORK:
“Power to the workers not the billionaires! Ice out of our communities!” New York showed up for workers, unions, immigrants and democracy on #MayDay!#NewYork #MayDayStrong #HandsOff #InternationalWorkersDay
— Liz Ahern 🌈🧜🏼♀️ (@austinmermaid.bsky.social) 2025-05-01T19:55:47.519Z
Big attendance at May Day NY Bar Association protest in Foley Sq where the lawyers recited their Oath to the Constitution to uphold the Rule of Law #MayDay
— Ted Smyth (@tedsmyth.bsky.social) 2025-05-01T19:26:13.689Z
PENNSYLVANIA:
Good afternoon, Philadelphia! Unity is power. Today we march together – immigrants and allies – for a future where every worker is valued and protected. #WeMakeAmericaWork #MayDay
🗣️Immigrants are essential! #WeMakeAmericaWork #MayDay
Solidarity means standing up when others are targeted. Danny Bauder, President of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO, addresses the crowd at City Hall on #MayDay. #WeMakeAmericaWork
From healthcare cuts to union busting, our rights are being stripped away. This #MayDay, home healthcare worker and SEIU member Rabia Davis talks about why we must fight back for our future.
We won't be silenced. Detaining workers without due process is an attack on EVERY SINGLE PERSON LIVING IN THIS COUNTRY! #MayDay
One of the most widely-attended May Day events took place in Washington, D.C., where Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the U.S. citizen wife of wrongly detained Maryland dad and SMART union brother Kilmar Abrego García, joined labor leaders and members to continue shining a light on the unjust detention of her husband.
The Bulwark’s Adrian Carasquillo reports that organizers expected 3,000 people to crowd Lafayette Square to hear her speak. More than 5,000 ultimately showed up to support immigrant rights, due process, and hear Vasquez Sura speak.
“It has been fifty days of pain and suffering. Fifty days of uncertainty. And as we finally saw proof that Kilmar was alive, my children and I had to watch the Trump and Bukele administrations taunt and ridicule our pain,” Vasquez Sura said in emotional remarks reported by Carasquillo. “This pain is indescribable. My children have been left to live in the silence of their father’s absence. They miss him more than anyone can imagine. The highest court in this nation ruled that Kilmar should be returned home, so why are we still waiting? Enough is enough. Stop playing political games with my husband’s life!”
“Through all of this pain, I continue to find strength in my faith and immense support from our community,” she continued. “My brothers and sisters from CASA, members of the SMART union, allies, faith leaders—all of you continue to lift me up in the darkest of times. Kilmar, if you can hear me: I love you, know that your children and I are still fighting for you. And we will never give up.”
Abrego García’s union, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART), has loudly called for his release and due process rights for all. Carasquillo reports the representatives from SMART, American Federation of Teachers, the Service Employees International Union, UniteHere, the National Education Association, and the AFL-CIO were at Thursday’s rally to continue that advocacy. In remarks to Maria Peralta’s The Contrarian, America’s Voice Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas said that “disappearing mothers and toddlers, denying them access to lawyers, and deporting them without due process goes against everything our country claims to stand for.”
“An injury to one is an injury to all,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “When Trump targets immigrant families like Kilmar’s and Rümeysa’s, he targets all workers.”
JUST NOW: Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s wife Jennifer Vasquez speaks at a May Day rally in DC: “It’s been 50 days. 50 days of pain and suffering. 50 days of uncertainty. As we finally saw the proof that Kilmar was alive, my children and I had to watch Trump and Bukele’s administration laugh at our pain”
— Marco Foster (@marcofoster.bsky.social) 2025-05-01T20:24:50.844Z
We are fighting back as workers, immigrants, and a multiracial movement who know firsthand how important it is to protect and expand our fundamental rights and dignity, in our workplaces, communities, and countries.
May Day reminds us that solidarity is where our power comes from. It's what helps us overcome the odds every time, and it will carry us through this struggle.
In New Jersey, Movimento Cosecha organizer Haydi Torres stressed the importance of solidarity and standing up for community members who are feeling vulnerable. “We have to take care of each other in this moment,” she said in remarks reported by NorthJersey.com
“You see a lot of our community members are missing today because there’s a lot of fear in our communities and it’s real. The repression and the persecution that our communities are living with right now is difficult for a lot of families. So we have to honor that and also honor the resistance of everybody who’s here today.” In California, Los Angeles Daily News reports that social studies teacher Rosa Salas said that resistance “is actually standing up for yourself and standing up for others, even in privilege. I think today is a day that we find inspiration, that we see that we are united and that there’s a path forward in unity.”
