BY COMMUNITY ALLIANCE STAFF
Lewelyn Dixon, affectionately known as “Auntie Lynn” in her community, is a 64-year-old lab tech at the University of Washington Medical Center and a member of SEIU 925.
She was detained in late February at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Wash. She went to the Philippines, just as she had for many years, to visit family. She was detained on the way back from this trip.
Dixon came to the United States when she was 14 and is a legal permanent resident (or green card holder).
She had a light conviction many years back, but she complied with the court decision on the case. Perhaps this small incident got the attention of ICE personnel at the airport.
SEIU mobilized hundreds of its members in support of Dixon nationwide. In downtown Fresno, several members of the union protested her detention on May 29 in front of the Federal Building.
She was freed by a judge on May 30.
Dixon is among several green card holders who have been detained at airports when coming back to the United States amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration. Some of these residents appear to have been detained due to previous nonviolent convictions.
