YOUR Union Supports YOUR Pathway to Citizenship…
The United States has a broken immigration system. People who have come here seeking a better life than they had and a better life for their children are paying a heavy price for it. Employers frequently exploit immigrant workers.
The number one priority in any immigration reform should be the people involved in the process. The people working and doing the jobs striving for a better life and the American Dream need to the priority of any legislation that gets passed, not corporations and employers who seek to profit off of the backs of these workers.
That’s why the RWDSU supports a comprehensive, worker-centered approach as part of a common-sense immigration process.
Know Your Rights
Click here for information on your rights in English & Spanish:
Citizenship Clinics
Learn more about the RWDSU’s Immigration & Citizenship Clinics:
Immigration laws are changing rapidly, check back here regularly for the latest.
Deferred Action for Workers Standing Up for Their Rights
On January 13, 2023, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that noncitizen workers now have an expedited way of securing protections from detention or deportation from DHS when participating in a labor investigation.
Through this procedure workers who experience or witness abuses like having their right to organize and collectively bargain violated, having their wages stolen by their employer, made to work in treacherous job conditions can report them to government labor agencies and at the same time apply to DHS for temporary protection through deferred action.
That means that if a worker files a claim with a labor agency and is concerned about being retaliated against because of their immigration status, they can request additional immigration protections from DHS.
This process will improve DHS’s longstanding practice of using its discretionary authority to consider labor and employment agency-related requests for deferred action on a case-by-case basis.
These improvements advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to empowering workers and improving workplace conditions by enabling all workers, including noncitizens, to assert their legal rights.
What is Public Charge, and does it apply to me?
Public charge is defined as being primarily dependent on the government for subsistence, as demonstrated by either the receipt of public cash assistance for income maintenance or long-term institutionalization at government expense. That means that when an immigration officer is evaluating public charge (the “public charge test”) they are determining whether they believe the person is likely to rely, in the future, on public cash assistance for income maintenance or long-term institutionalization paid for by the government.
Have questions about immigration and citizenship?
Are you an RWDSU member in need of support? Let us know how we can help, send us a message and we’ll get you to the right Regional Director, Union Representative, Business Agent or Local President to help!
Interested in forming a union in your workplace, but need some help navigating language barriers or have concerns about your immigration status? Let us know what you’re experiencing and an Organizer will reach out!