This week’s immigration blog round-up covers a new report on low-wage Latino workers and some state immigration news.
A new Southern Poverty Law Center report finds that low-wage Latino workers in the South are "are cheated out of wages, subjected to inhumane conditions, subjected to wide-spread racial profiling and are regularly harassed by law enforcement." The report also found that:
-Eighty-eight percent of Georgia respondents believed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials targeted and treated Latinos differently, including immigrants of other backgrounds;
-Forty-one 41 percent of responders reported that they had personally experienced wage theft, meaning they had not been paid for work they completed; and
-Although only 44 percent of survey participants were women, 77 percent of them reported that sexual harassment was a major problem on the job.
More here.
Last weekend in Baltimore, a coalition of organizations and people of African descent come together to form the Black Immigration Network to address immigration and racial equity issues surrounding African Americans and immigrants of African descent. The convening included participants from the Center for New Community and the NAACP.
The Center for New Community has more on their initiative to address race and immigration here. They reject the notion that immigrants and African Americans compete for jobs and argue that proof of citizenship legislation disenfranchises African Americans.
Representative Michael Honda, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, has joined Rep. Luis Gutierrez on the Family Unity tour. Asians make up 12 percent of the undocumented population.
In New Jersey, the leading candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor has come out against the recommendations of the blue ribbon panel on immigration. In New York City, Mayor Bloomberg announced his support for the DREAM Act.
The Latino Coalition is working to ensure that Latino entrepreneurs secure their share of government small business contracts and procurement opportunities. They will be holding an Economic Summit in DC on May 6th.
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