People’s victory! Ate Michelle is free from ICE Detention!
Filipino women, advance the struggle of workers to liberate migrants, women, and all people!
On Wednesday April 30th, GABRIELA Seattle and GABRIELA Portland joined the Tanggol Migrante Network to rally at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma, WA as part of the Defend Migrants Campaign National Day of Action. On this day, Ate Michelle, a Filipina mother and worker, testified inside the NWDC's immigration court, awaiting the judge's decision if she would be deported or released from detention. The community rallied for hours outside the detention center, awaiting updates on the outcome of the hearing.
Ate Michelle is a green-card holder who was detained by Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) on February 12, 2025 at an airport in California. Her hands and feet were brutally chained together as she was transferred to Bakersfield and then two days later to the NWDC. In addition to the overcrowded conditions and undercooked food, Ate Michelle suffered from a tumor and was denied medical treatment while detained. In late March, the Tanggol Migrante Network, including GABRIELA, quickly responded after learning of Ate Michelle's situation to ensure she had community, legal support, and financial support. Ate Michelle and the Tanggol Migrante Network reached out to the Philippine Consulate General of San Francisco relentlessly to request support and Assistance to Nationals. With community pressure, the Consulate visited Ate Michelle in early April, but they offered nothing more than general legal advice, and never followed up with her in the weeks leading up to her hearing. Ate Michelle, Aunty Lynn, and countless other Filipinos in deportation proceedings around the country are still awaiting the Consulate to issue a portion of the 1.5billion PHP budgeted for Assistance To Nationals, which are funds specifically to help Filipinos in distress.
Tanggol Migrante gathered nearly 100 people outside the NWDC, sharing statements, reading letters of support, singing and dancing to keep spirits high and ensure that Ate Michelle and the migrants inside knew they were not alone. With Ate Michelle's courageous testimony and the community behind her at every step of the way, her request to cancel deportation orders was approved. That same day, she was able to step outside of the barb-wired walls of the NWDC for the first time in two and a half months, and was welcomed with open arms by members of Tanggol Migrante. Tagumpay para sa masa at para kay Ate Michelle!
"[Because of] us coming together: the countless sleepless nights, the hours waiting in that visitation room, making phone calls, reaching out to your neighbors, the building of the Tanggol Migrante Network clusters, hosting bake sales and conducting political education... doing all the very necessary tedious and painstaking work is going to free many more migrants. And more than just Ate Michelle and the Filipinos in the detention center, but all migrants by addressing the root problems that is causing so many Filipinos to leave the homeland." - Jhem, GABRIELA Seattle
Filipino women who face joblessness and poverty wages in the Philippines are forced to seek work abroad in capitalist countries oceans away. While they are able to send money through remittances, it is never enough to compensate the emotional toll it takes to be separated from their loved ones. GABRIELA organizations with the Tanggol Migrante Network bring many people together to fight for and alongside women like Ate Michelle, Aunty Lynn, Alma and Ligaya – who have been torn from their families and criminalized merely for being migrant mothers struggling to maintain a sustainable livelihood. It is the same migrant women who are often times the breadwinners not only for their family but other close relatives in the Philippines. When they are robbed of their ability to work by being detained or exploited by their traffickers – this affects an entire community back home. However carrying the economic burden of a country in crisis should not be the sole responsibility of overseas women workers -- the Philippine government must be accountable to the people as it has the means to channel its resources to address the needs of migrant workers everywhere.
During the Tanggol Migrante Network National Day of Action, different areas across the U.S. demanded that the Philippine government take concrete action to support Philippine Nationals like Ate Michelle. After the Philippine Consulate and Embassy repeatedly denied necessary services to their constituents in need - Filipinos took to the streets to confront the institution that is responsible for their suffering.
Different delegations of community organizations attempted to deliver an open letter to Ambassador Jose Romualdez and Consular Generals demanding that they do their job in protecting other detained migrants such as Alma Bowman, Ligaya Jensen, Dhenmark Francisco, Aunty Lynn, and countless unnamed workers who are trafficked and otherwise exploited. Instead of the PH Embassy and Consulates taking the demands of the people seriously, Embassy officials locked people out and prioritized holding a business forum which included representatives from Northrop Grumman, a war-profiteering tech company.
This a clear example of how the Philippine government under the Marcos Jr. administration has willfully ignored the demands of the people and negates any claim that they are "ensuring the welfare" of migrants in detention. They continue the whole sale of the Filipino people and our resources in order to cater to foreign businesses and capitalists that worsen the crisis of forced migration from the homeland, filling their own pockets at the expense of the thousands of overseas Filipinos - majority who are women.
Marcos and Romualdez’s subservience shows that they are willing to allow Filipinos to languish in these horrible conditions to stay in the good graces of the US imperialists. This is a global issue that impacts migrant women every where. As GABRIELA, we remember the story of Flor Contemplacion who was wrongfully executed as a migrant domestic worker and demand immediate clemency for Mary Jane Veloso who is still imprisoned despite her return to the Philippines. The Filipino people have everything to gain from fighting for genuine democracy and national sovereignty and we call on all Filipino women to join us and organize Filipino migrant workers who experience violence due to exploitative conditions in detention, in their workplace, and most especially by the state.
On May 1st, also known as May Day or International Workers Day, GABRIELA took to the streets alongside Tanggol Migrante, worker and migrant formations, unions and grassroots organizations to call and unite workers to claim the power they have through collective action. In the Philippines, thousands upon thousands marched to call for higher wages; a family living wage of 1200 PHP per day which would alleviate the burden of migrant Filipinos who are forcibly separated from their families. We echo their demands for genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization and ensure the democratic rights of our people to dignified life and livelihood!
"We are binding together Filipino workers to make a promising future for all Filipinos... We are more determined to advance our just struggle for dignity, liberation, and a country to come home to. Mga kababayan, hindi tayong nagisa - ipaglaban ang kabuhayan, at isulong ang pambansang demokrasya" - Bea, Migrante sa UWMC (University of Washington Medical Center)
Ate Michelle's release is a victory of the people! It would not have been possible without the full participation of the migrant women impacted and the strength of our community organizations. We first learned about Ate Michelle through Aunty Lynn, another Filipina detained at the NWDC - who is an inspiring example of what it means to fight back! Migrant workers are taking the lead in defending our communities and fighting against state repression! It is only through collective participation that we can see genuine change! Below are some of the various ways people can be involved:
Join the Tanggol Migrante National Campaign Call on May 8th
tinyurl.com/DMC0508Sign onto the Manifesto for Family Living Wage in the PH
www.bayanusa.org/family-living-wageLink with your local GABRIELA Chapter - Direct Message us for more information
Advocate for the release of ATN to Ate Michelle, Aunty Lynn, Dhenmark, Ligaya, Alma and all Filipinos experiencing distress
