Thread: Pressure to protect undocumented laborers

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld ... 4160.story

Pressure to protect undocumented laborers

BY INDIA AUTRY
WASHINGTON BUREAU

June 16, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Labor unions and an immigrant rights group joined in an unusual alliance yesterday to urge Congress to better protect immigrant workers, including the undocumented.

"We cannot shy away from the fact that immigrants are systematically denied their most basic rights both as workers and as human beings," said Linda Chavez-Thompson, executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, at a news conference.

The effort comes as Congress considers changing federal immigration policies.

A bill co-sponsored by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) would allow immigrants to work in this country temporarily and later be eligible for legal status. Immigrant advocates say they support the legalization provision in the measure but want stronger labor laws.

Without legal status, workers aren't likely to report employer abuses for fear of deportation, said Marielena Hincapié, director of programs at the National Immigration Law Center. Labor laws are the best barriers to illegal immigration, she said.

If employers can't exploit the labor of undocumented immigrants, demand for that demographic will fall, she said.

Critics call the approach unrealistic. There aren't enough resources to enforce labor laws well, said Dan Stein, president of Federation for American Immigration Reform.

Meanwhile, a report released Tuesday by the Pew Hispanic Center found that many undocumented immigrants are confined to jobs that don't require government credentials and have incomes 40 percent less than those of legal residents.

The concentration of the undocumented settling in traditional areas like New York has dropped.

The state has about twice as many undocumented immigrants as it did a decade ago, most from Mexico.

"We cannot shy away from the fact that immigrants are systematically denied their most basic rights both as workers and as human beings," said Linda Chavez-Thompson, executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, at a news conference.

They can go back to Mexico and complain to Foxie. The AFL-CIO should concern themselves with AMERICANS.

They can go back to Mexico and complain to Foxie. The AFL-CIO should concern themselves with AMERICANS

This is why I left the Teamsters, and vowed never to accept another job in one of their shops. Thye've been making nice with illegal immigrant groups for years.

Excuse me, Linda Chavez Thompson. I failed to find the part where you talked about the Rights of Legal U.S. Citizens. Or, are you dismissing that as unimportant?

Linda!! Your intelligence and integrity is mind boggling!!! Where did you go to college? Fox University?