Rally for Auntie Lynn

Supporters will rally for SEIU Sister Lewelyn Dixon on Thursday during her immigration hearing

TACOMA, WA (May 27, 2025) — SEIU Local 925, Tanggol Migrante Network, and labor and community supporters will be back in front of the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma on Thursday, calling for the immediate release of Lewelyn Dixon, affectionately known as Auntie Lynn. The rally is coinciding with Sister Lewelyn’s immigration hearing, and her family will be in attendance to share updates on the hearing’s outcome.

Auntie Lynn, a SEIU Local 925 member, works as a lab technician at UW and has lived in the United States for more than five decades. She was detained coming back to the U.S. from the Philippines in late February, and has been held at NWDC ever since, despite having a green card. Due to a unique and draconian interpretation of the law currently being challenged by a lawsuit led by the Northwest Immigrants Rights Project, immigration judges in Tacoma refuse to grant bond to even permanent residents held at the facility, leaving people to linger in detention for months.

SEIU members and staff rallied for Lewelyn in March. Photo: SEIU Local 925

Auntie Lynn and her family have worked closely with Tanggol Migrante Network, sharing updates on her condition with supporters. At a rally for all detained Filipino immigrants on Friday, supporters shared that Dixon has been helping connect other detainees held at NWDC with resources, the same way her coworkers at UW describe her always stepping up for them.

Another Filipino American union member, Max Londonio, was detained coming back from the Philippines in May, and was sent to NWDC last week. Brother Max’s family, his union, IAM District Lodge 160, and Washington’s labor movement continue to call for his release, as well as the release of Familias Unidas por la Justicia organizer Alfredo ‘Lelo’ Juarez Zeferino and all those held at the privately-run, for-profit detention center.

TAKE A STAND: rally for Auntie Lynn on Thursday, May 29 in front of the NW Detention Center (1623 E. J St., Tacoma, WA 98421). Setup begins at 12:30 p.m., with the rally starting at 1:30 p.m.