With the growing migratory crisis that for decades has left thousands of undocumented New Yorkers in the shadows, and in the face of Washington’s lack of real action to approve a broad path towards legalization, which has remained mere “little birds of gold”, hundreds of immigrants, activists and community leaders from the Big Apple will raise their voices this Saturday to demand relief from the Biden Administration against deportations.
After convening the so-called “Popular Assembly of New York: From Invisible to Visible,” the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) and tri-state day laborer centers and workers’ rights organizations will march this Saturday afternoon to the offices of the Department of Homeland Security and the Immigration Building, in Manhattan.
The protest, with which they are also promoting the campaign “Give it from below”, seeks to ask the federal authorities to speed up the implementation of a plan joint, (in force for several months), between the Departments of Labor and Homeland Security (DHS) to grant deferred action relief to workers who have been mistreated, stolen wages, threatened and exploited by their employers.
This was stated by Jorge Torres, from the National Network of Day Laborers Organization (NDLON) , who said that the initiative, from which some workers have already benefited, prevents them from being deported.
“It is time to protect our workers from deportation and to solve this migratory crisis, not with the migratory reform, in which I do not think it will be approved, because it has been for more than 28 years just a political game, but with the extension of Deferred Actions”, said the activist.
The leader of the workers stated that the objective of the call is also to explain to the worked up You are aware that there is currently the option to request deferred action against deportation, if you have a case before the Department of Labor, OSHA or other federal entities.
“The federal Department of Labor announced a few months ago the guidelines so that workers who are victims of workplace abuse can apply for Deferred Action in cases under investigation. This information has already been received by the Department of Homeland Security, and although there have been cases of workers who have already applied and received their papers under this parameter, that Department is being very slow and they have not published the guidelines to inform about this option”, added Torres.
Precisely at the meeting prior to this Saturday’s march, workers who have already been granted deferred action will share their stories narrating how they achieved it, to motivate more workers than qualify for that benefit request it.
“The first recommendation we are giving is that if a worker has been a victim of abuse, they approach a non-profit organization to talk about their cases. And once you have a case with the Department of Labor, NLRB (The National Labor Relations Board) or OSHA, you can do the paperwork,” said the NDLON spokesperson.
Torres was clear in warning that currently the undocumented immigrant community has no other options to seek protections against deportation beyond the so-called deferred actions (including DACA and TPS), for which he urged to be informed about this possibility, recognizing that the fear of being on Immigration’s radar has prevented many workers from seeking that protection.
“The fear has been constant since we left our countries and We cross the border. So what we tell people is that to overcome that fear you have to have a lot of bases covered. For example: do not trust notaries, talk to local organizations and denounce labor abuses and take advantage of this option that exists so that exploitation ceases and rights are respected”, added the immigrant.
Torres explained that the case lasts while agencies such as the Department of Labor carry out the investigation of labor abuses and then those federal agencies, seeing merits, send a letter of recommendation to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and they grant protection relief. against deportation,” said the activist, who added that before the case is shared with DHS “agencies are not supposed to share information” about undocumented immigrants.
Not yet established in New York State worker applications related to this option to receive protection from deportation, but in Chicago and Las Vegas, several immigrants victims of abuse have won their cases, so they will be in the Big Apple motivating others to follow in their footsteps.
One of them is the Mexican Rosario Ortiz, who has 19 years in the United States and recently managed to get the Department of Homeland Security to grant him deferred action, which gives him peace of mind that you will not be deported. It is a kind of permit to remain within the country without being persecuted by immigration authorities, but it is not legalization and does not allow leaving the United States.
“In my case we had to fight for a long time and put a lot of pressure on the Department of Labor to support us and also with Alejandro Mallorca, director of National Security, to be able to seize deferred action,” said the immigrant, who working as a painter was the victim of wage theft for overtime, threats for his immigration status and even work for free on Saturday weekends and verbal insults.
“That is why I can advise workers who have suffered abuse , what p The main thing is to denounce these abuses, because we can obtain a benefit. Obtaining my deferred action was a process of a year and a half, almost two, but I finally achieved it and I can be calmer“, concluded the beneficiary of the deferred action that prevents him from being deported.
The exact number of undocumented workers in New York who could benefit from this measure is unknown, but according to activists, it is estimated that a 60% of workers in general have suffered abuse and wage theft.
According to a memorandum from the Department of Homeland Security from October of last year, both ICE, CBP and USCIS would develop strategies to prioritize the workplace enforcement against unscrupulous employers and, through the exercise of prosecutorial discretion, facilitate the participation of vulnerable workers in labor standards investigations, but has not yet been implemented.
Demonstration data
- When: This Saturday October 1st
- What time: 8 : am to 3: 00 pm there will be a workers’ meeting at the Borough of Manhattan Community College; 120 Chambers Street, New York, NY
- 4: 00 pm: The march will begin towards the office of the Department of Homeland Security in New York, in Washington Market Park: 120 Chambers Street
- 5: 00 pm: There will be a rally at the federal Immigration building in the 26 Federal Plaza
- For those who cannot attend the march, they can participate virtually through the live broadcast on Radio Jornalera NJ’s Facebook page: (https://www.facebook.com/RadioJornaleraNJ /).
- Who organized it: National Network for the Organization of Day Laborers; day labor centers and workers’ rights organizations throughout the tri-state area
2897226What is the march against the Department of Security seeking? National?
- The event on October 1 is part of a campaign led by NDLON to inform workers about the new policy of the Biden administration, in which for more than a year, the DHS has made promises mentioning that they would follow the guidelines of the federal Department of Labor (DOL) and other labor agencies, and create a process to give protections against deportation to immigrant workers who report labor abuses.
- Protections against deportation (called Deferred Action) have already been earned in several individual cases in states other than New York, but DHS has yet to put their promises into action.