Maine AFL-CIO Demands Sheetmetal (SMART) Local 100 Union Member Be Brought Home from El Salvadoran Prison

PHOTO: Maine AFL-CIO Executive Board calls for the release of Brother Kilmar Ábrego García.

Sheet Metal Air & Rail Transport (SMART) Local 100 member Kilmar Ábrego García was abducted on March 12 in front of his five-year old child and deported to El Salvador in what the Trump administration admitted was an "administrative error." He is being held in a dangerous El Salvadoran prison. The Supreme Court of the United States, in a 9-0 ruling, has ordered the administration to facilitate his return, but the White House has said he “will never live in this country again.”

"To this day, the Government has cited no basis in law for Abrego Garcia’s warrantless arrest, his removal to El Salvador, or his confinement in a Salvadoran prison. Nor could it," the Supreme Court wrote in its unanimous decision. "The Government remains bound by an Immigration Judge’s 2019 order expressly prohibiting Abrego Garcia’s removal to El Salvador because he faced a 'clear probability of future persecution' there and 'demonstrated that [El Salvador’s] authorities were and would be unable or unwilling to protect him.''"

In a statement, SMART General President Michael Coleman applauded the court decision and demanded that Garcia be brought home.

"The federal district court judge who heard Kilmar’s case stated she ‘[hadn’t] been given any evidence’ to support the government’s allegations and ordered the government to bring Kilmar home," said Coleman. "Our call is unchanged, and it is now backed by the Supreme Court: The government must bring Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia home and grant him due process. We are overjoyed for Kilmar and his family, and we look forward to the Trump administration taking immediate steps to bring him back to the U.S.”

In a powerful speech this week, North America's Building Trades Unions President Sean McGarvey demanded the Brother Garcia be brought home immediately.

“We need to make our voices heard,” McGarvey said. “We’re not red, we’re not blue, we’re the building trades; the backbone of America. You want to build a five billion dollar data center? Want more six-figure careers with healthcare, retirement, and no college debt? You don’t call Elon Musk! You call us!”

“And yeah, that means all of us. All of us! Including our brother, SMART apprentice Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who we demand to be returned to us and his family now! Bring him home!” McGarvey said to a standing ovation.

Use this form on his union website to ask our Congressional delegation to bring Kilmar home.