Recently in Workers' Rights Category

This is the story of those migrants swept of in the Postville Iowa immigration raid as told by one of the interpreters. The article, at the New York Times, is titled "An Interpreter Speaking Up for Migrants" and only serves to remind us of the injustices against those simply trying to work and survive. When I read a story about migrants being detained and unjustly prosecuted I think of what the United States is supposed to represent and stand for. We like to think this is the “land of the free, home of the brave” and place where “liberty and justice for all” is not just a slogan for a dime store t-shirt. The truth is many that come here, through whatever means, see the country the same way so it’s hard to read about people being shackled and dragged through court only to end up in prison in this land where “all men are created equal.”

From Erik Camayd-Freixas’s video on the NY Times website:

What was striking was to see these people enter – and basically you know they’re shackled at their feet, at their wrists and their wrists are shackled to their waste with chains. So they can only take a few little steps, short little steps and the chains are dragging on the floor so it makes a terrible impression. Then you see that they are all about five feet tall and you start – when they start calling their names you start recognizing Mayan names – last names. So there was a real racial contrast between the detainees in chains and the rest of the court with its grandeur. They were being charged with Social Security fraud, using a false Social Security number, but what struck me was that they were also being charged with aggravated identity theft and that just seemed awkward. It didn’t fit.

I just saw a video on the plight of Indian guest workers working for Signal International in New Orleans.  This just goes to show that we're fighting for more than just rights here.  We're fighting for migrant freedom.



Contact the New Orleans' Workers Center for Racial Justice to find out how you can help.

The Postville raid was the largest in the history of the U.S. and I'm going to keep posting on it.  The other side often claims that "migrants bring wages for U.S. citizens down".  Harvard economist George Borjas is often their citation of choice.  I tend to see this in the same light as everything else migrants are blamed for -- healthcare, education, etc. -- migrants are straw men people hold up because they don't want to ask themselves the hard questions with all these issues.

The solution for increasing wages in the U.S. is not kicking every single migrant out, it is unionizing and collective bargaining.  That's why most labor unions, like the AFL-CIO, are supportive of legalizing undocumented migrants.  They know they can unionize undocumented migrants when they're legalized, and raise wages for everyone.  In the meantime, they see the way U.S. immigration laws are being enforced as being counterproductive to labor.  Raids are often used as a scare tactic, and employers are almost never punished for exploiting undocumented workers.