As people of faith, we recognize and honor the social and economic contributions made by immigrant workers. We believe that all workers must enjoy basic human rights, civil rights, and labor rights, regardless of their national origin or immigration status. Our goal is to promote greater awareness and understanding among people of faith, and the public in general, around issues having to do with immigrant workers in the United States.

Immigration Delegation Toolkit
Interfiath Worker Justice has developed a toolkit for religious delegations to members of Congress on immigration issues.

Oppose the SAVE Act!
Representative Heath Shuler (D-NC) introduced the Secure American through Verification and Enforcement Act (SAVE Act), H.R. 4088, in November 2007. This bill would seek to use workplaces as immigration-enforcement mechanisms but would not offer protections to workers, either U.S. citizens or immigrants, from unscrupulous employers.

Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to speak to your representative, or send them an e-mail here. Tell them the SAVE Act would hurt our workforce and would not fix our broken immigration system.

Click here to learn more about the SAVE Act and read the letter the Low Wage Immigrant Worker Coalition sent to members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Guestworker Programs
The importation of workers from various countries to work in the U.S. is nothing new. During World War II, the U.S. developed a program (often called Bracero) to bring in Mexican workers for temporary work all over the country, mostly as agricultural laborers. Although the Bracero program ended in 1965, the importation of temporary workers under various off-shoot programs has continued. Currently, there are over 40,000 guestworkers in the U.S. each year. Guestworkers work in farm labor, processing plants, work as nurses, and even work in high-tech jobs. We oppose such programs, because the guestworkers have few rights, can’t organize/unionize, and are rigidly controlled. Main points of guestworker programs:

• Temporary employment status for foreign workers, which ends when their work ends.
• (most proposals) Payment of half of the guestworkers’ wages in the U.S., with the other half to be paid to the workers when they return to their home country.
• Lack of (or lowering of) protections regarding wages, working conditions, and housing.
• Inability of workers to leave abusive jobs, switch to other jobs, or organize/unionize.
  

Employer Abuse of Immigrant Workers
Undocumented workers who raise complaints about wages and working conditions have been intimidated by their employers, who often threaten to call the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service). Conversely, some employers threaten U.S. citizens and permanent resident workers who raise complaints by reminding them that they can easily be replaced with undocumented workers. We see such actions as a violation of basic human and worker rights.

Groups Nationwide join Struggle to Support Immigrant Workers
In 2000, the Executive Council of the AFL-CIO adopted a position supporting the rights of all immigrant workers, regardless of their immigration status. In November, 2000, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a similar statement. Groups nationwide have increased their involvement with the immigrant rights issue. Main points the groups agree on:

• Opposition to any guestworker legislation.
• Reform of immigration laws to reach a fair, generous immigration policy.
• Permanent residency status granted to as many immigrant workers as possible, with as simple and smooth a process as possible.
• The end of “Employer Sanctions;” replaced with laws that truly prosecute and punish employers who violate labor laws and exploit undocumented workers.
• U.S. foreign and economic policies which better address the conflict, poverty, and denial of human rights which pressure people to come to the United States.

For information on supporting immigrant workers
contact Ted Smukler, Public Policy Director at (773) 728-8400, ext. 39. You can also visit the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride Coalition website.