Thread: Workers must show legal immigration status to stay employed

Queens bakery workers must show legal immigration status to stay employed

BY REUVEN BLAU GINGER ADAMS OTIS
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, March 22, 2017, 10:30 AM



Henry Rivera, 22, protests alongside his Tom Cat Bakery co-workers at the Wednesday demonstration.

(GO NAKAMURA/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
Workers at Tom Cat Bakery in Queens say they’ve gotten letters threatening to fire them in 10 days if they can’t prove they’re in the U.S. legally, the Daily News has learned.

The 30 staffers at the Long Island City bakery said the company blamed an audit being conducted by the Department of Homeland Security for the abrupt move.

“We’ve tried to ask the company what role DHS played in what’s happening, but we have no answers,” said Daniel Gross founder and executive director of Brandworkers, a not-for-profit organization protecting and advancing the rights of retail and food employees.

Workers at the bakery learned of the possible dismissals last Wednesday when they were told by a Tom Cat boss that they must produce proof they are in the country legally or be fired with no severance within 10 days.

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“I was surprised,” said Hector Solis, 45, who has worked at the bakery for 12 ½ years. “I never thought that was going to happen.”

The bakery apparently got an I-9 audit request from the Department of Homeland Security, according to the immigration activists.

The audit requires employers to identify their employees and to prove that they are eligible to work in the country.

Companies who fail to fill out the audit can be hit with fines. DHS can also notice agents at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about undocumented workers.

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Peeved workers say Tom Cat Bakery is targeting longtime employees for harassment — and suspect federal heat is to blame.
(GO NAKAMURA/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

Reps for ICE and DHS did not respond to a call and email seeking comment.

On Wednesday, Solis, and the other workers, declined to discuss their immigration status at the press conference outside the Tom Cat Bakery with community leaders and immigrant rights advocacy groups.

Solis came to America from Mexico City over 20 years ago and supports his wife and two children living in Brooklyn and his mother back home in Mexico.

At Tom Cat, he works the night shift baking different kinds of bread.

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“I’ve worked hard for them for many years,” he said.

The workers, who come from places like Guatemala and Peru, reached out to Brandworkers for help after they were contacted by management, Gross said.

Whatever their immigration status, the workers had decided to go public with their situation, Gross said.

Around 30 workers at Tom Cat Bakery in Queens say they received letters ordering them to prove they're in the U.S. legally.
(GO NAKAMURA/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

“This group is really prepared to stand up for itself,” Gross said. “The choice here is not to run and hide but to hit this head on and resist.”

Tom Cat Bakery worker Henry Rivera said he was shocked when he got his letter.

"I've been there 11 years and like so many of my co-workers I worked hard to help make the company a success — we wanted it to grow and do well," he said. Rivera declined to comment on his immigration status but said he and others were speaking up to defend workers' rights.

"At the end of the day, we're human beings right? We are trying to pay the rent and put some food on the table for our families. We were really surprised that the company has treated us like this — it's been a shock," Rivera said.

After the press conference, Rivera, who comes from Honduras, said he hoped their plight inspired other immigrants.

“We are organizing not just for Tom Cat workers but for workers in New York and the whole nation,” he said, “to encourage them to stand up unified and fight for justice.”

The bakery did not respond calls and emails seeking comment.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.3005092

I'd say it's time to give notice to the agents to descend upon Tom Cat Bakery.

"Solis came to America from Mexico City over 20 years ago and supports his wife and two children living in Brooklyn and his mother back home in Mexico."

"We are trying to pay the rent and put some food on the table for our families. We were really surprised that the company has treated us like this — it's been a shock," Rivera said."

The bakery must pay quite well. And I thought NYC was a pretty expensive place to live.

Putting all their signs in Spanish doesn't help either.

Originally Posted by Scott-in-FL

"Solis came to America from Mexico City over 20 years ago and supports his wife and two children living in Brooklyn and his mother back home in Mexico."

"We are trying to pay the rent and put some food on the table for our families. We were really surprised that the company has treated us like this — it's been a shock," Rivera said."

The bakery must pay quite well. And I thought NYC was a pretty expensive place to live.

Putting all their signs in Spanish doesn't help either.

Yeah, I thought the signs in Spanish was a funny touch. They claim they've been here all these years, yet they can't even write a protest sign in English.

Remove the jobs they are not entitled to and the illegals will self deport; hopefully take their anchor babies with them to "keep their family together".

Originally Posted by MW

Yeah, I thought the signs in Spanish was a funny touch. They claim they've been here all these years, yet they can't even write a protest sign in English.

They know their audience. No one cares what they are saying but other Spanish speakers.

They have no legal right to work here if they are illegally in the country.

This makes me so angry, more illegal aliens for 12 years illegally employed at this bakery
and the owner didn't know?

How did you pay them?

Did they provided you a social security number?

Did you deduct income tax, SSI, Medicare?

These jobs should of went to American citizen teenagers or young adults in college.

Shame on you Tom Cat!

The open border politicians know all the hardships to our youth these mega millions of illegals WORKING, sending billions back yearly in remittances, have done to our youth. They don't care - obama didn't care one bit and obviously gw didn't either.

Just about every single restaurant has BOH illegals working. All the landscaping positions, the hotel positions, housekeeping positions, private construction - illegals. Really galling are the rich that want cheap domestic help; they want them here rather than pay a couple dollars more for an American worker. That is why they are still here.

E-verify every job. That is the magic word - they will self-deport and take their anchor babies with them if there are no jobs for illegals. Politicians do not want that to be done, they want them here because they are for the rich, elites & campaign contributors' quest for cheap labor. There is nothing humanitarian @ this open border stuff but there is GREED.

E-Verify is a good start but it has major flaws in the verification of Social Security Numbers.

It cannot flag a person borrowing someone else's ss# for employment and it can not flag a dummy ss# which will result in a false positive as legally able to work.

With all these multi billionaires in the tech industry, it's inexcusable to not have a modern, updated high-tech data tracking system in place.

Look everyone, here's the problem. Americans today are looking for some easy way to solve this problem that doesn't involve moving around, dragging people out of their homes by the hair, fighting to get them into the police van, risking their lives in raids and busts and personal confrontations. Americans are looking for a solution they can do sitting in a chair, clicking on a computer. Unfortunately, that isn't how we're going to solve this problem. This is a physical problem. Boots and shoes on the ground, vests on the chest, walking, running, chasing, tugging, pushing, shoving, it's physical removal. There is no easy non-physical way to deport 30 million illegal aliens. Face recognition, biometrics, DNA, real ID, E-verify, this is all smoke and very expensive smoke. It's not even enough smoke to start the fire to end this problem let alone burn it through completion.

There is only one way to solve this problem: Robots.