From Political Prisoner to Freedom Fighter: Standing with the Unjustly Detained

Isabelita Sombillo, a proud member of SEIU, joined the Justice Journey not just as a union member, but as someone who knows firsthand what it means to be detained and silenced. A former political prisoner in the Philippines, Isabelita shared her powerful story as she made her way on the journey to rally outside ICE detention centers in Louisiana.

“I know how it feels to be out there... and in jail. Nobody can visit you. The authorities don’t want your family to visit you.” 

She joined this Justice Journey to stand in solidarity with detained immigrants as she is someone who has experienced being locked up for political reasons and who has felt isolation, and who knows what it would have meant knowing someone is fighting for her.

“A group is fighting for them and they're not alone.”

Isabelita was one of many union members who traveled across the country to demand justice for innocent immigrants currently detained at detention centers in Louisiana. These centers have been condemned for inhumane treatment, lack of legal access, and cruel isolation. Isabelita travelled all the way to Louisiana to let the detained know: we see you, we’re with you, and we’re not backing down.

"I'm elated actually to see all these people coming from different places, from different parts of the country to support and to rally, to make sure that those people inside the jail can feel that they're not alone."

Isabelita survived political repression in the Philippines, where her voice was silenced and her freedom stripped away. Today, she stands tall as a union member with 1199SEIU, channeling that lived experience into powerful advocacy for others facing injustice and attacked by the Trump administration. As part of the Justice Journey, she shares her story as a call to action fighting for those being silenced and unjustly detained.