Biography
Joe Prudencio was a World War II veteran and militant rank-and-file member of the Filipino cannery workers’ union, later ILWU Local 37. Immigration agents arrested and jailed him in the federal campaign against the union’s leadership, then arrested him again between February and March 1951 under the McCarran Act. The union obtained bail by the end of March, but the surviving record does not establish exact custody dates. The government ultimately dropped the deportation case after the Local 37 court victories.
The National Guardian, November 16, 1953, printed page 5 (PDF page 9) reports a historical age. Contemporary report gives age 39 in November 1953, placing birth in 1913 or 1914; no exact birth date or custody endpoint given. This is an approximate research lead based on the reported age, not a confirmed birthday; the birth-date field has not been filled from it.
