Rodante Rivera, known as Kuya Dante, was released from the North West Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma, Washington on June 12. The court dismissed his deportation case.

Previously, the Customs and Border Protection (ICE) agents apprehended Rodante on May 18 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport while he was returning to the US from the Philippines.

Rivera, 44 years old, is a legal US resident and has lived there permanently for several decades. He was apprehended for a conviction in a case that was resolved more than a decade ago.

Rivera experienced inhumane conditions inside NWDC because of severe overcrowding in the facility.

According to Tanggol Migrante, Rivera’s experience is part of the anti-migrant policy of the Trump regime, which abducts and secretly detains immigrants to reach the target of 3,000 ICE agent arrests per day.

Despite this, Filipino officials have taken no action to support Filipinos. Instead, Department of Foreign Affairs secretary Enrique Manalo and US Ambassador Jose Romualdez met with US State Secretary Rubio to discuss military and economic agreements between the US and the Philippines. They did not discuss immigrants or the crisis faced by Filipinos at all.

“The community, not government officials, is the one fighting for migrants,” according to Tanggol Migrante.

The collective action of national democratic organizations in the US, allied organizations, and Filipinos in the community succeeded in freeing “Michelle” and Lewelyn Dixon, both Filipino immigrants who were illegally detained by ICE.

“We need to fight the brutal attacks on our communities. The release of Kuya Dante demonstrates the power of the people and the importance of not losing hope,” according to Tanggol Migrante.

“Let us continue to unite and organize to free our detained compatriots and defend all migrants!” the group called.