Texas AFL-CIO Delegates Pass Resolutions Supporting Immigrants, Calling for ICE Out of Communities at 2026 COPE Convention
During the 2026 COPE Convention in Georgetown, TX, the following resolutions were passed unanimously by delegates on Sunday, Jan. 25.
“Our Texas labor movement is united in standing up for immigrants, union members, and our families, and calls for ICE to get out of our communities,” said Texas AFL-CIO President Leonard Aguilar. “We condemn the horrific shooting of AFGE union member Alex Pretti and stand in solidarity with everyone impacted by ICE. We are committed to fighting back, and we’ll be organizing all of our unions, workplaces, and communities to fight back alongside us. An attack on one is an attack on all.”
1. Resolution supporting Minneapolis solidarity; ICE out of communities
WHEREAS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has taken over Minnesota's Twin Cities, taking aim at working people regardless of immigration or citizenship status. Armed, masked, and often in civilian clothes and unmarked cars, they have terrorized the working class of Minneapolis and St. Paul, targeting people from their doorsteps and on the streets during protests. ICE has repeatedly abducted and brutalized union members; and
WHEREAS, ICE agents have unjustifiably killed two residents of the Twin Cities, Renee Good, and have assaulted others in pursuance of their racist, authoritarian agenda; and
WHEREAS, elsewhere, ICE agents have acted as strikebreakers, intimidating workers from standing up and taking action for a fair contract; and
WHEREAS, ICE has abducted and illegally deported union members, such as SMART Local 100 member Kilmar Abrego Garcia and SEIU Local 509 member Rumeysa Oztruk; and
WHEREAS, ICE has physically assaulted, arrested, and are currently prosecuting union leaders, such as SEIU-USSW President David Huerta; and
WHEREAS, IUPAT President Jimmy Williams, Jr. has argued before the US Congress on the need for immigrant workers’ rights to be protected in order to ensure all workers are safe from threats of intimidation by “low-road contractors [who] exploit workers with rampant wage theft, [and] misclassification.”; and
WHEREAS, the unit representing ICE agents, AFGE Council 118, legally separated from their parent union in 2022 after calling the whole of the AFL-CIO a “corrupt, far-left” organization that doesn’t care about workers; and
WHEREAS, ICE continues to separate families here in our own home state of Texas, including with multiple unlawful arrests and apprehensions of children and parents across rural and urban areas, from taquerias, to outside of schools, to violent apprehensions at the immigration courts of San Antonio; and
WHEREAS, AFL-CIO President Liz Schuler has demanded that “ICE immediately stop these dangerous operations and leave our communities and workplaces before even more innocent people are hurt or killed.”; and
WHEREAS, the Texas AFL-CIO reaffirmed its commitment to advocating, assisting, and defending immigrant workers and their families and condemned ICE’s lawless behavior in a resolution passed at its convention last summer; and
WHEREAS,The Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation, in coalition with faith groups and other working class organizations in the Twin Cities held a successful Day of Truth and Freedom on January 23rd, calling on residents not to go to school, work, or shop in order to end business as usual and demanding:
ICE must leave Minnesota now.
The officer who killed Good must be held legally accountable.
No additional federal funding for ICE in the upcoming budget.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
The Texas AFL-CIO stands in firm solidarity with the working class of the Twin Cities in its fight to achieve peace, freedom, and justice.
The Texas AFL-CIO echoes the calls of the Twin Cities’ working class for accountability, an end to ICE funding, and for federal agents to stop their attacks on the working class.
The Texas AFL-CIO stands ready to defend the rights of all workers - immigrants and native-born alike - in our communities, Texas, and all across the country.
The Texas AFL-CIO calls for ICE out of all communities and affirm our unwavering solidarity with immigrant communities of all backgrounds, recognizing their inherent dignity, safety and right to live free from fear.
2. Resolution to Support Fightback vs. Potential Expanded Immigration Dragnet and Introduction of Military Troops in Texas
WHEREAS, union values compel us to stand for fairness, due process, and the dignity of all workers, regardless of nationality or citizenship status; and
WHEREAS, many union members live in mixed-status families, where a single enforcement action can separate parents from children, tear apart households, and inflict lasting trauma on working families; and
WHEREAS, the introduction of federal troops and expanded immigration enforcement in cities undermines the freedom, economic security, and dignity of working families across the nation; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that ICE may stop individuals based on race, accent, occupation, or location, creating a dangerous legal landscape that invites profiling and discriminatory targeting of immigrant and working-class communities; and
WHEREAS, federal agents involved in immigration enforcement activities have repeatedly engaged in lawless and unconstitutional behavior, including detaining individuals without warrants, denying access to legal counsel, rushing deportations, often in violation of court orders, and systematically violating due process rights guaranteed by the Constitution; and
WHEREAS, the Trump administration has begun to target not just blue cities in blue states, but also blue cities in red states, such as Memphis, TN; Charlotte, NC; and New Orleans, LA; signaling an escalation that threatens regions like ours; and
WHEREAS, 18.4% of Texas residents are foreign-born; with the greater Houston region being home to one of the most diverse immigrant communities in the country; and
WHEREAS, Daily ICE arrests in Texas have jumped from an average of 85 per day during the final 18 months of the Biden Administration to 176 per day in the first six months under Trump; and
WHEREAS, members of Texas unions and their family members are among those at risk of being detained and deported without due process, including but not limited to construction sites, public park maintenance, road improvement, facility maintenance, road crews, and public schools, as are members of their families and communities; and
WHEREAS, local and state labor councils have played leading roles in resisting similar attacks, offering a strong track record of education, training, organizing, coalition building, advocacy, litigation, business engagement, unified messaging and mobilization providing a tested playbook for effective response:
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Texas AFL-CIO will bring every Central Labor Council (CLC), Area Labor Federation (ALF), Statewide Leadership and if possible local unions together to proactively prepare for and oppose the dangerous expanded immigration dragnet and introduction of military troops into our regions, using a multi-faceted approach that includes:
Developing a unifying message, training, and other tools to educate and mobilize union members and allies, and to educate our members and the public about these harms.
Organizing a rapid-response network to support union members, union families, our co-workers, and members of the community caught up in the immigration dragnet, including, but not limited to, communications support and legal defense.
Building broad coalitions with like-minded leaders and organizations in the community, such as faith leaders.
Pressing signatory employers to take a range of actions to not cooperate with these federal actions, such as refusing to allow federal agents into workplaces, within the constraints of the law.
Engaging local, state, and federal officials to use the full range of tools at their disposal to not cooperate with these federal actions, within the constraints of the law.
Putting pressure on targeted companies and/or executives for collaborating with the Trump administration.
Training ourselves in how to engage in large-scale, strategic, nonviolent resistance, if needed.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, The Texas AFL-CIO calls on every Central Labor Council (CLC), Area Labor Federation (ALF), Statewide Leadership and if possible local union affiliates to appoint at least one person in their union to serve as their representative on immigration matters.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, The Texas AFL-CIO will create a Statewide labor/immigration table where the designated immigration representatives, (ex. through Central Labor Council Immigration Committees), will meet to discuss the topics above.