#Not1More Deportation

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Demand that Labor Stand #UnitedAgainstHate

Sign for the Removal of the Border Patrol Union from the AFL-CIO

Click Here to See the Letter to the AFL-CIO

To: President Richard Trumka
You have strongly led for all working people regardless of documentation status.  You stood up to the Administration’s record deportations and stood with undocumented workers to demand an end to the unjust removals.Throughout your tenure, the Border Patrol union has countered the federation’s mission of achieving immigration reform and protecting the rights of all workers.  Instead it has protected abuse of power and sought to prevent justice in multiple cases of violence and wrong-doing.Now it has gone further by endorsing the racist and xenophobic campaign of Donald Trump which not only promises mass deportation but mass destruction of the broader labor movement and the values it’s built upon.The National Border Patrol Council’s presence in the house of labor has been tolerated for too long. Labor has turned a blind eye to its abuses one too many times. But now it has gone too far and its relationship with the federation must be ended immediately.

For the safety of our families, for the future of workers, please terminate NBPC’s membership immediately.
[Signature]

The legacy of abuse and unaccountability within Border Patrol has made its membership in the American Federal of Labor (AFL-CIO) an issue of contention. But the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) statement endorsing Donald Trump for president on Wednesday, March 30th, marking NBPC’s first presidential endorsement, is a breaking point. Read more


Statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka
Applauding the #Not1More Campaign
April 4, 2014

(Washington, DC) The AFL-CIO is proud to join the National Day Laborers Organizing Network (NDLON) and other community allies as a sponsor of the “Two Million Too Many National Day of Action” this Saturday, April 5th.

In more than 50 locations across the country, labor and immigrant rights groups will express with one voice that continuation of the deportation crisis is incompatible with our values as a country.  From actions in Atlanta, Georgia to Tacoma, Washington, and from Clovis, New Mexico to Washington, D.C., the labor movement stands with the pro-immigrant movement’s fight for an end to the deportation crisis.

House Republicans have, in the time since the Senate passed its bill, allowed zero votes on the Senate bill while promulgating a flimsy eight paragraphs of throat-clearing “standards.” Their callous disregard for immigrants appears to be as dug in as it is appalling. Their obstruction of comprehensive immigration reform must end.

Enough is enough—we need the passage of immigration reform that leads to citizenship and an end to a deportation machine that criminalizes hardworking immigrants while deporting hundreds and hundreds of people a day without even an appearance before a judge. The Administration shouldn’t just wait for a tone-deaf Republican Party to finally listen to voices from Pope Francis to the business community. We need the Administration to do the right thing on behalf of immigrants in order to energize the majority and overcome Republican obstruction.

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Labor, Latino and immigrant advocate groups called on President Obama on Monday to suspend deportations of illegal immigrants who could be eligible for a pathway to citizenship under a bipartisan bill to overhaul the immigration system that is under consideration in the Senate.

Among the organizations demanding that the White House halt most removals were the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the country’s largest federation of labor unions; the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or Maldef, a Latino civil rights group; the National Day Laborer Organizing Network; and United We Dream, a national group representing young illegal immigrants. They said Mr. Obama should act immediately, even before Congress votes on the bill.

They based their demand on an enthusiastically upbeat analysis of the bill’s prospects for passage.

“Immigration reform has unstoppable momentum,” said Ana Avendaño, director of immigration for the A.F.L.-C.I.O. “For the A.F.L., this bill is not fragile. It is supported by a broad coalition.”

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Immigration advocates called on President Obama on Monday to suspend deportations of undocumented workers who would qualify for legal status under a comprehensive immigration bill being debate in the Senate.

With an estimated 1,100 illegal immigrants per day being deported from the United States, the advocates said Obama has a moral obligation to stop breaking up families when lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow most of the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants to apply for legal status.

“The president is not and cannot be a bystander in the process,” said Pablo Alvarado, executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. “This is the moment for him to intervene.”

The advocates have been frustrated with the high levels of deportations during Obama’s presidency — more than 410,000 undocumented workers were deported last year, an all-time high. Obama declined a similar requestto stop deportations in February during a meeting at the White House with Latino, Asian-American, African-American and labor leaders.

At that time, the president emphasized that he is focused on “getting reformed passed, and not easing up on enforcement,” the advocates said. Republicans, and some Democrats, would like raise concerns if the administration were to ease up on deportations during the debate over comprehensive reform, the president told them.

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05.13.2013 – Washington, DC Following the first round of mark-up in the Senate Judiciary Committee of the “Gang of 8” immigration reform proposal, rights groups held a telebriefing to call on the President to immediately suspend deportations of those who could be included in the reform.

The AFL-CIO, MALDEF, United We Dream, and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network announced an organizational sign-on letter of immigrant rights groups, begun today, asking the President to take immediate action to alleviate the suffering caused by on-going record deportations and help build the bi-partisan consensus in the Senate through a suspension of removals of those who would qualify for the bill once it passes.

Lorella Praeli, Director of Advocacy and Policy at United We Dream said, “As DREAMers, who won relief from deportations from the administration, we know firsthand the difference this can make.  We’re pushing for an end to deportations for our parents and the rest of the 11 million, who are working, paying taxes, and raising their families in this country.  They should not be threatened with deportation every day when they would be on the path to citizenship Congress is debating now.  The President has deported more people than any other president and we will not stand by while these out-of-control deportation continue, tearing apart our families and communities.” Read more


Richard Trumka Says #not1more

Statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka 
On Gang of Eight Immigration Bill

April 17, 2013

Richard Trumka Says #not1moreThe bill introduced today is another step toward addressing a real crisis. The United States urgently needs a roadmap to citizenship for more than 11 million aspiring Americans. And while Washington, D.C., is full of legislative unveilings that dissolve into recriminations and unsolved problems, this time actually is different. Our cause is unstoppable. There will be a roadmap to citizenship in 2013. Read more