WASHINGTON, D.C., February 5, 2013 - Yesterday CDM, along with a coalition of labor, migrant rights and anti-trafficking leaders, released a new report, The American Dream Up for Sale: A Blueprint for Ending International Labor Recruitment Abuse. As the immigration debate heats up in the nation's capitol, labor rights, migrant rights and anti-trafficking organizations have come together to speak out against immigrant worker abuse and to call on Congress to address their concerns as part of comprehensive reform of the nation's broken immigration system. 

With their publication today of a new report-The American Dream Up for Sale: A Blueprint for Ending International Labor Recruitment Abuse-the AFL-CIO, American Federation of Teachers, Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc. (CDM), Farmworker Justice, Global Workers Justice Alliance, National Employer Law Project, National Guestworker Alliance, Southern Poverty Law Center, and a diverse group of other international and national labor organizations, joined forces to highlight the abuses experienced by internationally recruited workers.

FILED UNDER: Guestworkers

The New School's Center for Public Scholarship is sponsoring a conference on Food and Immigrant Life: The Role of Food in Forced Migration, Migrant Labor, and Recreating Home, on April 18-19, 2013 at The New School in New York City.

The conference will examine the complex relationships between food and migration. Food scarcity is not only at the root of much human displacement and migration—the food industry also offers immigrants an entry point into the U.S. economic system and it, simultaneously, confines migrants to low wages and poor, if not unsafe, work conditions. In addition, food allows immigrants to maintain their cultural identity. The conference places issues of immigration and food service work in the context of a broader social justice agenda and explores the cultural role food plays in expressing cultural heritage.

The keynote address will be given by Dolores Huerta, co-founder and first Vice President Emeritus of United Farm Workers of America, on Thursday, April 18 at 6:00pm. The complete conference program and speakers' bios are available online.

FILED UNDER: Agricultural Workers | Immigrant Workers

In light of recent developments around immigration reform, the National Employment Law Project’s Immigrant Worker Justice Project has developed a chart summarizing the terms of past legislative proposals for immigration reform, with particular attention to provisions affecting immigrant workers. We will also update the chart as legislative developments progress. We hope that this resource is of use to you.

The chart is a work in progress, so if you have any suggestions or edits, please contact echo@nelp.org.

FILED UNDER: Immigrant Workers | Immigration Reform | Legislation

Statement of Christine Owens, Executive Director, National Employment Law Project:

Our nation’s leaders are poised to take up immigration reform, at long last.  It’s a move that’s good for our nation, good for our economy, good for the millions of immigrants, regardless of status, who call this country home, and good for all Americans. 

We applaud President Obama and lawmakers from both parties for their leadership in finally putting this momentous issue front and center on the national stage. 

Immigration reform—including a path to citizenship—is badly needed for the 11 million undocumented immigrants who live and work in America.  An opportunity for citizenship would allow our nation’s undocumented workers and their families to overcome one of the greatest barriers to economic opportunity in our society.  Reform, done right, will enable these workers to fully contribute to our economic recovery and be wholly integrated into our economy and communities. 

Strong labor protections must be an essential part of reform.  Although the details must still be worked out, any legislation must include protections for all workers who seek to exercise their workplace rights, without fear of retaliation and regardless of their status, now and in the future.  As long as unscrupulous employers can exploit immigrant workers with impunity, employment protections and economic security will continue to be compromised for all workers.

A pathway to citizenship should not be contingent upon the implementation of still-stricter immigration enforcement measures—resources dedicated to enforcement are already at an all-time high.  Nor should one’s work history or unemployment be used to disqualify people from eligibility.  Immigration reform must also not be used as an opportunity to mandate that all employers run every single hire through a flawed and unreliable immigration status database, at the risk of endangering the economic and civil rights of workers and employers alike. 

We look forward to working with policymakers and allies to shape a just and humane immigration policy that fortifies our economy and our communities and lives up to the highest ideals and promise of our nation. 

The National Employment Law Project is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts research, education and advocacy on issues affecting low-wage and unemployed workers.  For more about NELP, visit www.nelp.org.

FILED UNDER: Immigration Reform | Legislation

Congratulations to AALDEF!

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) announced that Filipina immigrant worker Elizabeth Ballesteros, represented by AALDEF’s Anti-Trafficking Initiative, has been awarded $1.2 million in damages in a human trafficking civil suit against Colonel Arif Mohamed Saeed Mohamed Al-Ali, a former student at the U.S. Naval War College's International Program from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

FILED UNDER: Immigrant Workers | Litigation