Workers say the Trump administration illegally revoked their security clearances, costing them their jobs

A major union filed a lawsuit Friday accusing the Trump administration of illegally revoking the security clearances of dozens of immigrant airport workers who are authorized to work in the United States, effectively costing them their jobs.

The Service Employees International Union said at least 80 workers at Boston’s Logan International Airport have lost what is known as customs stampwhich they need to access certain areas of the airport. Other workers at airports in New York, Orlando, San Francisco and Houston also had their seals revoked, according to the lawsuit.

“These actions constitute a nationwide attack against immigrant airport workers,” the union alleged in its complaint.

A CBP spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

SEIU represents about 40,000 airport workers nationwide who clean aircraft terminals and cabins, escort elderly travelers and work in restaurants and stores. The union says many of those workers cannot do their jobs without displaying a customs stamp.

The seal application process was “simple” until shortly after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, according to the complaint. Then, workers who had previously had no problems with their background checks were denied renewals.

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“Once CBP grants a stamp, the agency will generally renew it if there is no material change in the stamp holder’s circumstances. Employers, airport authorities, airlines and workers have relied on this system for decades,” the union alleged. “However, since February 2025, defendants have abruptly and haphazardly altered this established system.”

The lawsuit names four plaintiffs who recently lost their seals, including one worker, Raquel Molina, 65, who worked at Logan for 27 years after emigrating from El Salvador.

Another plaintiff, Saint Paul Paul, 58, said he worked in Logan for three years as a cabin cleaner until his seal was revoked last summer.

“The letter I received from Customs and Border Protection on June 30 said I was an ‘unacceptable risk,’ even though I have the authority to work, even though I am a good worker,” Paul, who is from Haiti, said in a statement through the union. “I think this language is an excuse for the government to discriminate against immigrants like me.”

CBP is the Department of Homeland Security agency responsible for enforcing customs laws and safeguarding ports of entry, including international airports. Although a separate agency from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, CBP officers have been enlisted in ICE operations as part of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown.

SEIU says CBP has been revoking customs stamps “en masse” for green card holders, asylum seekers and foreign-born workers with temporary protected status, which protects people from certain countries from deportation.

Since losing their jobs, the four named plaintiffs have struggled to find work with similar pay, according to the complaint. Paul ended up taking a job at Chipotle.