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Problems faced by immigrant workers in the Gulf Coast,
including worksite raids by immigration authorities and exploitation by
dodgy employers, were the main topics raised by representatives of
several national and local immigrants' rights groups and labor
organizations when they met earlier this year with officials from the
U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S.
Dept. of Labor (DOL).
During a Jan. 30 meeting with officials from
ICE, representatives from the AFL-CIO, Catholic Legal Immigration
Network (CLINIC), National Council of La Raza (NCLR), United Food and
Commercial Workers (UFCW), and NILC discussed their concerns about
reports that the agency has been increasing worksite enforcement
activities and immigration raids in the Gulf Coast. While ICE officials
denied that there had been any such increase in enforcement activities
in the region, they committed to working with the DOL to develop a
process whereby ICE will determine, before it deports any worker
detained in the region by immigration authorities, whether the worker
has unpaid wage claims. ICE officials also pledged to keep advocates
updated as to the implementation of this process.
Many of the advocates who met with ICE
officials, along with representatives from Interfaith Worker Justice,
Southern Poverty Law Center, and local groups such as the Loyola Law
School in New Orleans and the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance
(MIRA), also met with officials from the DOL on Feb. 2. The goal of the
meeting, which was held at the agency's Washington, DC, office, was to
share information and to work with the DOL to develop a process of
expediting wage claims filed in the Gulf Coast. The local advocates
painted for the DOL a picture of lawlessness in the region, featuring
unscrupulous contractors and rampant labor violations. In the course of
the meeting, advocates made clear that outreach to workers by the DOL is
imperative if the hundreds of thousands of workers being exploited on a
daily basis are to stand any chance of being protected from these
practices.
Advocates also expressed concern with the
inadequacy of staffing and resources currently allocated to the two
local DOL offices in Louisiana and Mississippi. But advocates left the
meeting with assurances that the DOL will take concrete steps to
increase its resources in the Gulf region. One week later, a
representative of the DOL reported to NILC, which had convened the
meeting, that the DOL had already met internally to discuss ways to
address the issues raised by advocates.
NILC will work closely with local advocates to
continue monitoring the effectiveness of the DOL's efforts to ensure
that workers in the Gulf Coast are being paid for their work, as
required by law. Similarly, NILC will monitor ICE's activities to
assess what political or legal strategies may be necessary to protect
immigrants' civil and human rights. Despite the agency's denials,
reports by local advocates and media indicate that immigration
enforcement in the Gulf region has been on the rise.
By
Monica Guizar,
NILC employment policy attorney, and
Marielena Hincapié, NILC director of programs
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