Texas Immigrant Worker Project
The only way to stop the race to the bottom in wages and standards is for working people of all races, religions and immigration status to stand together and demand an end to policies that put profits over people. The entire workforce suffers when millions struggle to support their families without a way to speak up on the job, and ramping up fear in our workplaces only serves to increase exploitation. Instead of deporting immigrants, we need to ensure that all working people have rights on the job and are able to exercise them without fear of retaliation. Enacting meaningful immigration reform is critical to our long-term efforts to lift labor standards and empower workers, and the labor movement will continue to stand in solidarity with all working people.
Immigrant workers are a critical part of our national economy, and even more so here in Texas. The Texas Immigrant Worker Project seeks to engage with and support the nearly 1 million lawful permanent residents in our state. Our programming includes advocacy for humane immigration policy, Naturalization and Citizenship training and clinics, free direct legal services for union members, and ESL and civics instruction.
Our Work
To date, the Texas Immigrant Worker Project has:
- Provided legal assistance to 2,000 workers statewide
- Engaged over 1000 labor union members and community volunteers in legal clinics in 10 cities across the state.
- Educated 1000 union members at 27 affiliates about the importance of being in solidarity with immigrant workers including:
- AFGE, AFSCME, AFT, APALA, Building Trades, Carpenters, CWA, IAFF, IAM, IATSE, IBEW, ILA, Insulators, Ironworkers, IUPAT, IUOE, LCLAA, NNU, OPEIU, Sheet Metal, SEIU, SIU TARA, TWU UFCW, UNITE HERE
- Built broad support for immigrant workers in the Texas labor movement and formed an advisory committee with 10 labor union locals participating
Contact: Fabiola Barreto | fabiola@texasaflcio.org