Thread: Carpenters organizer faces prison, deportation

Carpenters organizer faces prison, deportation
By DON McINTOSH, Associate Editor

In a case that has brought immigration controversy to the heart of a local union, a Portland-area labor organizer is facing prison and deportation, stemming from the fact that he was in the United States illegally.

José Alfredo Cobián, 36, known to local union members as Jose Luis Mendoza, or simply Luis, spent the last five years working for the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters.

As an organizer, Cobián visited non-union construction sites to tout the benefits of joining the union.

Many of the workers on whose behalf he advocated were illegal immigrants.

He was held at the downtown Portland Justice Center over the weekend, and indicted Sept. 11 on three felony charges: making a false statement on a passport application, using someone else’s birth certificate to obtain a Social Security number, and making false statements on a 2004 immigration petition to allow his wife to remain in the country.

http://www.nwlaborpress.org/2006/11-17-06Imm.html

Contact for more info...Oregonians For Immigration Reform...Seen the Billboard? http://www.oregonir.org...PH# 503-435-0141

Now I sent my own scathing email to this union on my thoughts about their aiding and abetting an admitted felon, and illegal alien, here is my email, and the response from the asscoiate editor follows:

I was intrigued when directed to your article about the illegal alien who used fake documents to obtain a passport, and his subsequent arrest.

I found it very enlightening to know that this is where all of the union jobs are going, to illegal aliens instead of American workers.

I could go on, give a long spiel about the many Americans I know who struggle to feed their kids daily, even with two incomes. I could go on about the many hardworking Vietnam Veterans, like my husband, who suffered from one time or another, PTSD, which can be debilitating at times, and not one person has lent a hand, but I suppose that would be because these men are simply just veterans of foreign wars, served their country, not illegal aliens who have committed crimes, then receive more money to help them out of the predicament they got themselves into, knowingly.

No I suppose our local unions do not see all of that. They only see cheap labor when they see illegal aliens. They do not look to their fellow Americans to fill those jobs.

The day when our unions feel sorry for the criminals and aid them, is the day I know that unions need to be abolished from this country.

This union ought to be ashamed, for aiding and abetting someone who knowingly came here illegally, knowingly provided false documentation, time and again, and knowingly lied, thus stealing a job.


Thanks for your letter.

Is it intended as a letter to the editor for publication? If so, could
you tell us what union you belong to? We give preference to letters
from our union member readers, though we do sometimes publish letters
from others as well.

Also, I'm curious to know how you found the article.

--
Don McIntosh
Associate editor
Northwest Labor Press
www.nwlaborpress.org

GREAT letter Elizabeth! Tell him you belong to the Union of Law-abiding American Citizens and Tax-payers!

I feel he seemed surprised by the fact that someone outside of the union would have gotten wind of this article, thus knowing what the union is encouraging. He responded and said the union in no way knew of this mans illegal status, and that they were simply helping his family now the they were in need.

I asked him why this mans employer had not thought to use the SAVE system to verify his legal status instead of feigning ignorance, a common tactic of employers.

I found it disheartening that the union members would not only help an admitted felon and one who had broken the laws to come here illegally, when there are so many American men and women out of work, some homeless, all hungry, many cannot find work, and their unemployment benefits run out, leaving them high and dry, these people do not get the benefits of a group of union workers supporting them while they look for work as they are doing with this man, an illegal alien, and criminal.

No, American citizens just get to go hungry, lose their electrical service, and at times, their homes.

So far, he has yet to respond to my most recent email.

This whole issue has enraged me today. I can see helping simply to make sure the children do not go hungry, but to outright support them and do it under the instruction of the union, well that did it for me.

They are simply encouraging people like this to come here and do this more and more. The employers have no excuse, they know the laws, and they know there are Americans out of work.