Bruce Batuli Daniel, a 41-year-old from Congo who works as a cabin cleaner at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, worries he wouldn't be able to fly on the same airplanes he cleans.
Daniel, a permanent legal U.S. resident with a green card, moved to the United States 12 years ago, hoping to make enough money to support his four children's education, which can come with hefty fees in Congo. Now, he won't travel back to Congo to see his kids and wife because he's afraid he would be blocked from reentering the United States.
Daniel worries about changes in immigration policy under President Donald Trump, who has reshaped enforcement, moved to restrict birthright citizenship and ended some refugee programs. In Washington, Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained a green card holder who has lived in the United States for 50 years, leaving other immigrants in the region to wonder what protection they might actually have.
"We worry about Trump every day. We cannot even breathe," Daniel said. "I've already spent my life in America. This is my home now."
Daniel has worked as a cabin cleaner at Sea-Tac Airport for five years. Before that, he worked in food service at the airport. He's one of thousands of immigrants and refugees who keep the airport running — from the baristas who hurriedly make coffee to the workers who push passengers in wheelchairs to those who wipe down seats and tray tables between flights, making sure the cabin is fresh for travelers.
Most of those workers are represented by unions, including local chapters of the Service Employees International Union, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and Unite Here. Those unions don't keep detailed demographic data on members, but said the majority of workers they represent at Sea-Tac are immigrants or refugees.
Those workers are the "backbone of Sea-Tac Airport," said Katie Garrow, the executive secretary-treasurer of the umbrella labor organization MLK Labor.
In SeaTac, the city that houses the airport, 37% of the nearly 32,000 residents were not born in the United States, according to data from the Port of Seattle's Equity Index. In nearby Tukwila, 34% of the 20,400 residents are foreign-born.
At this moment in the United States, "it's hard not to feel heartbroken or disappointed," said Zenia Javalera, president of SEIU6, which represents cabin cleaners like Daniel, as well as wheelchair and ramp agents at Sea-Tac. "It just lets me know how close to the edge we really are."
Sea-Tac workers are already under a lot of pressure, Javalera continued. The companies they work for, which have contracts with the major airlines, expect employees to move fast. Some workers rush to keep up the pace, which can increase their risk of injury. One worker, for example, said they often have to push a wheelchair in one hand and a luggage cart in the other.
With an average wage of $20.82, workers also say they struggle to make ends meet in a region with a rapidly increasing cost of living.
The 600-plus members of SEIU6 are gearing up to start contract negotiations this month and hope to secure higher wages, better health care and a guaranteed 40-hour workweek. More than half of members don't have health insurance, the union said, because the employer-provided plan is prohibitively expensive. A recent SEIU6 survey found 78% of members are struggling to afford housing and 32% have trouble paying for groceries.
Most of the union's requests match what it has bargained over in the past. The SEIU6 unit was the first union in the nation to secure a $15 minimum wage in 2013, launching the Fight for $15 movement that led to pay increases for workers around the country.
This time the union is also hoping to secure more protections for immigrants and refugees, Javalera said. That includes contract language that guarantees time off if workers need to sort out their immigration status and, if they are detained, ensuring that their job is waiting for them when they are ready to return.
"They would have the ability to fix whatever they need to fix without losing their seniority," Javalera said. "What good is a contract if you don't have job security?"
Other unions in the area are working on similar protections, including MLK Labor, UFCW and the Washington State Labor Council, which represents more than 600 unions in the region.
UFCW3000, which represents Hudson News employees at the airport, is hoping to solidify contract language to require employers to notify the union if immigration enforcement comes to the jobsite and to agree not to share any employee information with enforcement officials unless required by law.
Lawmakers in Washington are also considering legislation that, if passed, would allow workers to use sick time to prepare for or participate in immigration proceedings.
April Sims, president of the State Labor Council, said at a March SEIU6 event that ongoing organizing activities are "proof that workers are undeterred."
"Immigrants, refugees, women of color, despite all the risks they face, they're still inspiring the entire labor movement," said Sims, the first woman and first Black woman to lead the labor council.
Still, workers who spoke to The Seattle Times, said the uncertainty about federal policy and the increased enforcement from immigration officials has been frustrating, distracting and frightening. That's on top of the mix of emotions they already grapple with as they long to see family from their home country and struggle to make ends meet with low-paying jobs.
Daniel, the cabin cleaner, recently moved from Federal Way to Tacoma in search of an affordable place to live. It takes him nearly two hours by bus to get to work each morning.
This isn't what he expected when he chose to move to America 12 years ago, he said, but he can't go back home, where he would have to "start from zero."
Concerns about what will happen at the federal level make it hard for him to focus on his job, Daniel said. "I can be at work but my mind is not there."
Another member of SEIU6, who asked to remain anonymous due to concerns about their immigration status, similarly said it's hard to cope with the uncertainty.
That worker, a 32-year-old who drives passenger carts at Sea-Tac, came to the United States through a program to help Ukrainian refugees. He made a stop in the Czech Republic before moving to America two years ago. Trump abruptly canceled that program when he took office, leaving many Ukrainian refugees anxious about what comes next.
Living paycheck to paycheck, the Sea-Tac worker said he hasn't been able to save enough money to afford any education programs here or to start his life over somewhere else. He worries about what would happen if he got hurt on the job and needed time off.
"It scares me," the worker said. "I never planned to move here. I never planned to move anywhere. To be somewhere and have nothing, it's hard.
"I feel myself even, right now, in jail. I can't move. ... You're always worried about what you should do," the worker continued. "I was expecting to feel safe here but not anymore."
Another worker, who also asked to remain anonymous to protect his status in the U.S., said he plans to start carrying immigration documents at all times in case he is stopped by police or immigration officials without notice.
That worker, 49, is a member of Unite Here and works as a delivery driver for an airline catering service, dropping off the food that stocks airport lounges and flights. He moved to the United States from Afghanistan four years ago after the Taliban returned to power. Now, while he is grateful for the refuge and opportunities America has provided, he spends every night thinking about how to see his children and wife back home.
"Most people come to the United States with big hope and big wishes," the worker said. "Their wishes are destroyed."
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