Prosecutors move to drop charge against California labor leader arrested during immigration protest

Federal prosecutors have moved to dismiss a charge against a labor union leader who was arrested while protesting the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in California.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles filed a motion Monday to dismiss its case against David Huerta, president of Service Employees International Union California, which has more than 750,000 members including janitors, security officers and other workers.

“We said from the outset that this prosecution had no legal basis,” Huerta’s lawyers, Abbe D. Lowell and Marilyn Bednarski, said in a statement.

“This case, like others, sought to silence criticism of the administration’s improper immigration actions. Today’s filing is proof that David and other critics will not be silenced,” the lawyers said.

It was the latest case to fall apart in the Justice Department’s efforts to prosecute people accused of assaulting or hindering federal officers while protesting President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles said the department doesn’t arrest people for peacefully protesting. The office said in a statement that Huerta was charged with interfering with a judicial search warrant and has complied with the terms of his bond for more than a year.

“Pursuant to an agreement entered into with our office, if Mr. Huerta continues to comply with his pretrial release terms, we expect the criminal case against him to be fully dismissed by the end of next month,” the statement said.

Huerta was arrested in June 2025 while protesting outside a business in Los Angeles where federal agents were investigating suspected immigration violations. Union leaders and immigrant advocates rallied in cities across the country demanding his release and Huerta became the face of the pushback against the Republican president’s effort to drive up immigration arrests.

Federal prosecutors initially charged Huerta with felony obstruction and in October reduced the charge to a misdemeanor.

Huerta has worked for the SEIU for more than two decades and in 2022 was elected president of SEIU California. He was honored during the Obama administration for his efforts to build an immigrant integration program that included English classes for union members.