Community Activitists Protest in Support of Immigrant Workers' Rights
Labor leaders, workers and community activists vowed to defend new deferred action programs pushing for immigration reform a day ahead of the set date for the expansion of a program that would allow millions of people to live and work legally in the United States.
Participants vowed they would support immigration reform without the help of Congress if they need to.
"Far from paralyzing us, the current legal injunction of the deferred action programs further highlight something that we in the labor movement know very well: that organizing is the only real force that moves our country forward," said AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre in a press release sent to Latin Post.
UFCW Executive Vice President Esther Lopez, BAC President Jim Boland, NDLON Director of Legislative Affairs Salvador Sarmiento and other activist groups and leaders joined Gebre in his fight.
"Tomorrow should have started a process where undocumented workers could apply for legal rights and some peace of mind," Lopez said. "It was about taking a step forward, however modest, in the fight to fix our broken immigration system."
Back in November, President Barack Obama announced an expansion of the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program where nearly 4.4 million undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children would be granted temporary permission to stay, according to National Immigration Law Center.
Parents of U.S. citizens are also eligible for the same kind of program under DAPA.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration issued nearly 2,000 DACA work permits after U.S. Judge Hanen put a stop to the president's executive amnesty programs, according to Breitbart.
Now, computer issues are disabling the amnesty programs from taking effect.
"Tomorrow was to be a day of hope for people like me and for many families, but politicians have chosen to continue playing games with our lives," said Carlos Castillo, an immigrant worker and member of United Workers for DC.
"It's clear now, we can no longer wait for justice from the courts and instead we must turn to each other as we organize ourselves on the job and in our communities to continue this fight for our rights," Castillo added.
"The best way to fight back is to continue getting ready for this program," Lopez said.
Supporters are calling on all branches of government to do more in protecting immigrant workers.
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