Immigrant Workers
Labor Center Projects
Immigrant Worker Overview
Immigrant Worker Resources
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Contact: Alexis Mazon
Phone: (510) 642-1583
Email:
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Reducing Tensions Concerning Immigration and Employment
A two-year project funded by the Ford Foundation to develop a set of popular education curricula aimed at building stronger working relationships between African American and Latina/o immigrant workers on issues of employment and immigration. The project will build the capacity of unions and community-based workers centers to develop and implement strategies for achieving common goals across race, nationality and migration status. This will be achieved by creating popular education modules in Spanish and English and conducting train-the-trainer workshops in coordination with unions and workers centers across the country. The project also includes technical assistance for two local Bay Area unions who have committed to building their power by developing closer ties between their Latino/a immigrant and African American members.
The Labor Market Impact of State-Level Immigration Legislation Targeted at Unauthorized Immigrants
January 2009, by Steven Raphael and Lucas Ronconi
» Download Paper 
Paper evaluates the impact of state immigration legislation targeting employment on the employment levels, population, and employment rates for working age natives and immigrants. The authors conduct pre-post comparisons of changes in key outcomes for states passing punitive legislation relative to states that do not. Findings include significant declines in state employment, population, and in many instances, employment rates for Hispanics in states that pass such legislation. The adverse impacts of these laws are generally concentrated on non-citizens from Latin American countries, though there are also relative employment declines among foreign-born Hispanic citizens with a high school degree or less. Using a broader definition of "pre-period"— the six months preceding legislative enactment—the authors find similar relative declines in employment and population for Latinos, but with the adverse patterns concentrated on native-born Latinos. In all models, there is little evidence of an adverse impact of these laws on the employment, population, and employment rates of non-Latino racial/ethnic groups.
English as a Second Language Worker Rights Curriculum: Winning at Work: English for Worker's Rights
2003, by Warren Mar and Alison Webber
» Ordering information
An English as a Second Language and workers’ rights curriculum designed by the Labor Center for use in unions and community colleges. It combines language learning with a detailed discussion of legal protections at work, and exercises on how to protect those rights.
Advancing an Asian Agenda for Immigration Reform
2002, by Katie Quan
» Conference Summary
» Conference Overview
A summary of major topics covered at the 2002 conference held in Oakland, CA, co-sponsored by the UC Berkeley Labor Center and attended by Asian/Pacific Islander (API) immigration rights activists from across the country. Topics include post-9/11 policies affecting the API community, such as the suspension of refugee immigration and H-1B visa restrictions. Sex trafficking, immigrant family reunification, and refugee quotas are also discussed. Each topic summary is followed by recommendations for policy, action, and further study.
Mexican Hometown Associations and Mexican Immigrant Political Empowerment in Los Angeles
Winter 1998, by Carol Zabin and Luis Escala Rabadan
» Working Paper
Article details the activities and leadership structure of three Los Angeles-based Mexican “hometown associations” (HTAs)—organizations linking together immigrants from the same point of origin through (primarily) social and cultural activities in the new area, and projects for the betterment of the hometown. The authors describe the social and philanthropic activities common to most HTAs, while also noting major differences between organizations. A key point of investigation is the political involvement of the HTAs studied, and the potential for these organizations to emerge as progressive forces in immigrant rights and social justice battles. Finding reluctance on the part of many HTA leaders and members to move beyond culturally oriented activities, the authors explore internal conflicts over increased political activism, and offer possible reasons for the general lack of political involvement.
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