Reply #34: AFL-CIO Position on Illegal Immigrants [View All]

What Union Members Should Know About . . .
The AFL-CIO Policy on Immigration

The AFL-CIO proudly stands on the side of
immigrant workers. Immigrant workers are an
extremely important part of our nation’s economy,
our nation’s union movement and our nation’s
communities. In many ways, the new AFL-CIO
immigration policy signals a return of the union
movement to its historical roots. It is increasingly clear
that if the United States is to have an immigration
system that really works, it must be simultaneously
orderly, responsible and fair. The policies of both the
AFL-CIO and our country must reflect those goals.


The United States is a nation of laws. This means the
federal government has the sovereign authority and
constitutional responsibility to set and enforce limits
on immigration. It also means our government has
the obligation to enact and enforce laws in ways that
respect due process and civil liberties, safeguard
public health and safety and protect the rights and
opportunities of workers.


The current system is broken

Unfortunately, the current system of immigration
enforcement, while failing to stop the flow of
undocumented people into the United States, is
causing workplace discrimination against
immigrants and minorities, particularly
undocumented workers. The current system leaves
unpunished unscrupulous employers who exploit
undocumented workers and retaliate against them
when they join with other workers to assert their
rights, thus denying labor rights for all workers.


This system of workplace immigration enforcement
in the United States, with its emphasis on the I-9
system, is broken, targets workers instead of the
egregious employers who exploit them and needs to
be fixed.

Labor’s principles

We believe the following principles should form our
national immigration policy. Specifically:

• Undocumented workers and their families
make enormous contributions to their communities
and workplaces and should be provided
permanent legal status through a new legalization
program;
• Employer sanctions and the I-9 system should
be replaced with a system that targets and
criminalizes employers who recruit undocumented
workers from abroad for economic
gain;
• Immigrant workers should have full workplace
rights, including the right to organize and protections
for whistle-blowers;
• Government safety net benefits are important
for all workers, and those unfairly taken away
by Congress in 1996 should be restored.
• Labor and business together should design
mechanisms to meet legitimate needs for new
workers without compromising the rights and
opportunities of workers already here; and
• Guest worker programs should be reformed
but not expanded.

The AFL-CIO supports a broad legalization program
that makes no distinction based on country of origin
and that allows undocumented workers and their
families who have been working hard, paying taxes
and contributing to their communities the
Defending the Rights of Immigrant Workers
opportunity to adjust to permanent legal resident
status. We should recognize that one of the reasons
for undocumented immigration is that our current
legal immigration system for family members and
for workers is in shamefully bad shape. A broad
legalization program providing permanent residence
status, rather than a large new guest worker program,
should be the focus of our efforts.

The AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions will work
vigilantly with our coalition partners representing the
immigrant, ethnic, faith and civil rights communities
to ensure that comprehensive legislation providing
for legalization and the enforcement of workplace
rights for all workers is introduced in Congress and
ultimately signed into law.

History has proven that mistreatment of one group in
a workplace ultimately will lead to the mistreatment
of all workers. We must be mindful of and learn
from the history of oppression that many U.S.
workers have faced, in particular the long struggle of
African American workers. All workers must
understand the difference that unions make for
workers, whether it is a living wage, better benefits
or a safer work environment.

http://www.aflcio.org/issues/civilrights/immigration/upload/AFLCIOPO.pdf