CONTACTS:

Saket Soni, New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice
504-881-6610; saket@nowcrj.org

Adela de la Torre, National Immigration Law Center
213-674-2832; delatorre@nilc.org

Immigrant Workers Hit Sheriff with Federal Suit in Campaign to Win Right to Remain in New Orleans

Community Demands End to Race-Based Deportations Through Orleans Parish Prison

NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 2, 2011—Today, members of the Congress of Day Laborers filed a federal lawsuit as part of a campaign to win the right to remain in New Orleans five years after they arrived as reconstruction workers to rebuild the city. The lawsuit takes Sheriff Marlin Gusman to task for unconstitutionally holding immigrants in his Orleans Parish Prison for months before they are funneled through deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Community members charged that by choosing to submit to “hold requests” from ICE, the sheriff is effectively terrorizing the communities he’s sworn to protect.

“The reconstruction workers who rebuilt New Orleans and made it their home are living in terror because of Sheriff Gusman,” said Jacinta Gonzalez, lead organizer of the Congress of Day Laborers. “The sheriff is running OPP in a way that ensures that even a person with a traffic ticket who comes to his jail will be funneled into deportation on the mere suspicion that person may be a non-citizen.”

Gonzalez spoke at a 24-hour prayer vigil that reconstruction workers and community members launched at the sheriff’s office on Wednesday to demand he reverse his policy of submitting to hold requests from ICE.

As the lawsuit details, Sheriff Gusman’s policy of submitting to hold requests from ICE has led to severe violations of the Constitution, including deprivation of liberty and due process. Plaintiff Antonio Ocampo, a father of a young child, was held unlawfully in OPP for 91 days. He filed five written complaints, all of which were ignored. His co-plaintiff Mario Cacho, another reconstruction worker, was held for more than 160 days. Federal law limits imprisonment on custody holds from ICE to 48 hours.

The workers are represented in the lawsuit by the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice and the National Immigration Law Center.

“I filed this lawsuit today not only for myself, but so that no one else will have to suffer as I did, spending months in jail without charge,” Ocampo said. “Too many people are living in terror because of the way Sheriff Gusman runs his jail.”

At Wednesday’s prayer vigil, survivors of OPP gave witness accounts of Gusman’s policy and practice of funneling Latino immigrants into deportation for minor offenses. Community members spoke about the climate of terror they live in as a result, and demanded that Gusman reverse his current policy of submitting to hold requests from ICE.

“I came to rebuild New Orleans, and New Orleans has become my home,” said Ezequiel Falcon, a member of the Congress of Day Laborers. “Why should I have to be afraid to walk my daughter to school? Why should I have to worry that every day here might be my last? I want what everybody wants, the right to remain in the community I love.”

“Although we know that a federal judge cannot grant the right to remain, we believe we can win it through this campaign,” Falcon said.

Following the end of the prayer vigil on Feb. 3, clergy and community members will march from Gusman’s office to the New Orleans City Council meeting for the 3 pm vote on an ordinance that would limit Gusman’s authority in expansion of Orleans Parish Prison’s jail size.

ABOUT: The Congress of Day Laborers is a project of the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice (nowcrj.org). Plaintiffs are represented in the litigation by the New Orleans Workers’ Center Legal Department and the National Immigration Law Center (nilc.org), a national legal advocacy organization that defends and promotes the rights of low-income immigrants and their family members.

Evacuation can never be effective, humane or legal without prioritizing community community input and decision making in evacuation planning, preparation, and implementation.  This grassroots monitoring report is one step towards building adequate transparency and accountability into Louisiana’s emergency preparedness and response.

The purpose of this report is to provide families of Southeast Louisiana with a comprehensive and honest assessment of Louisiana’s evacuation plan and sheltering readiness prior to a mandatory evacuation.  The information comes from community assessors – 90% were former evacuees in state run shelters during the 2008 mandatory Gustav evacuation.

STAND’s specific priorities were: (1) to determine the readiness of the State of Louisiana’s 2009 Evacuation and Sheltering Plan: (2) to assess the humanitarian standards in place at ‘State-run’ Critical Transportation Needs Shelters (CTNS) and Medical Special Needs Shelters; and (3) to evaluate the state’s shelter management and organization.

To download the full report, click here.

UNDER THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

Immigrant Detainees Report From Basile, Louisiana

IN THE LAST MONTH, OVER 100 IMMIGRANT DETAINEES HAVE ACTED AS HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORS IN THE PRIVATELY-RUN IMMIGRATION DETENTION CENTER IN BASILE, LOUISIANA.   THEY HAVE REPORTED EGREGIOUS VIOLATIONS TO JAIL STAFF, IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS, AND ADVOCATES.

ON THE DAY THAT THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION DECIDED TO REJECT A FEDERAL COURT PETITION CALLING FOR LEGALLY ENFORCEABLE DETENTION STANDARDS, DETAINEES IN BASILE, LOUISIANA DECLARED A HUNGER STRIKE, PROTESTING INHUMANE CONDITIONS.

THIS REPORT COMPILES THE ACCOUNTS OF DETAINEE HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORS, REVEALING THAT THE FACILITY FALLS BELOW ICE’S OWN STANDARDS – AND ALL STANDARDS OF HUMAN DECENCY.

Compiled by the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice

based on the reports of over 100 detainee human rights monitors.

Click here to download full report

STAND with Dignity v. Housing Authority of New Orleans

STAND with Dignity is a grassroots membership organization that monitors and seeks to improve HANO’s administration of the Housing Choice Voucher Program (“HCVP”), also known as Section-8, as an integrated component of a comprehensive plan for affordable housing in New Orleans.

During the summer of 2009, STAND and its members created external accountability mechanisms and documented how HANO’s corruption continues to hamper the long term re-development of New Orleans.  STAND’s goal was to ensure affected low-income residents participate in the development and implementation of a plan to address the housing needs of the community’s low-income families, including the immediate administration of a program resulting in the release of available Section-8 vouchers.

To download the full writ of mandamus, click here.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 marks a historic moment for The Congress of Day Laborers in their campaign to stop wage theft in New Orleans. Member-leaders and organizers of the Congress directed a deeply moving public hearing in City Council chambers and commanded the attention of a wide array of supporters and elected officials. The City Council Public Hearing was a testament to the vast amount of support for the Congress and their efforts to end wage theft. Attendees included over fifty members of the New Orleans Congress of Day Laborers, along with advocates and allies from the African American community and Organized Labor. With a full panel of speakers, including members of the Congress, the hearing was heard by the City Council Special Development Projects and Economic Development Committee.

Ted Quant, Director of Loyola University’s Twomey Center for Peace through Justice, emphasized that wage theft is not an isolated issue, but rather it is an “international problem of human slavery.” One of the purposes of the hearing was to shed light on the ubiquitous nature of exploitation and discrimination against the immigrant day laborer community in New Orleans. Wage theft impacts thousands of workers and their families. In a recent survey of day laborers, 80% reported that they had personally experienced wage theft.

The hearing was also a call to legally criminalize wage theft perpetrators. This would, in effect, hold wrongful employers accountable for their actions under the law. Current remedies are not adequately resolving this widespread problem. At present, there is no specific federal or state statute that addresses this issue. While workers are able to file civil suits against employers, they often have to overcome several obstacles due to their immigrant status. Contractors use workers’ immigration status as weapons against them. With the help of police and immigration enforcement agents, many contractors retaliate against honest workers who attempt to organize or report wage theft to authorities.

While Councilman Fielkow asserted that most New Orleans’ contractors are honest employers and “a small few [are giving] a bad name to the whole group,” Jacinta Gonzalez, organizer for the Congress of Day Laborers, insisted that this is not merely an issue of a few bad apples. One speaker declared: “Wage theft is a disease. It’s contagious.”

Feilkow committed to working with the Congress of Day Laborers to pass a law to criminalize employers that exploit workers, and Councilwoman Willard-Lewis expressed her immense support for the passage of such a policy. In his closing statement Councilman Feilkow that he expects the rest of City Council to support the ordinance which he hopes to be drafted by August.

“We came to rebuild and to help our families. But what we found here are contractors who abuse us. When we stand up for our rights the police arrest us. With the help of the Congress we want the City to make sure this stops. We need the City to pass a law so that when contractors don’t treat us like human beings, they face consequences.”

Workers Protesting Wage Theft Greeted by ICE at DOL Doorsteps
DOL Chief refuses to meet with workers but ICE arrives to conduct surveillance

Over a hundred workers arrived at the steps of the Department of Labor on May 1st to report an egregious case of wage theft.  They expected to be greeted by the new director of the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division, Frank McGriggs. Instead, they were greeted at DOL’s doorstep by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agent William Watson.
Because of the ICE surveillance, several members of the Congress of Day Laborers decided not to speak publicly about their wage theft cases.  Workers were marching to push for a new era of labor law enforcement in New Orleans and are members of the Congress of Day Laborers, a project of the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice.

Counsel for the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice intervened and overheard the ICE agent describing the peaceful May 1st solidarity march including over 100 workers accompanied by a brass band as a “protest against ICE” that looked like it “could turn violent.”

“I rebuilt New Orleans after Katrina – but my employer stole thousands from me,” said one member of the Congress of Day Laborer who asked that his name not be used.  “They tell me there are labor laws in this county that protect me from abuse. But how can I report violations of labor law if ICE blocks the doors to the Department of Labor?”
“ICE sent a clear message to hundreds of workers today,” said Saket Soni, Executive Director of the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice.  “If you face labor exploitation, report it at your own risk. You will be surveilled. You may be deported.”
Workers came to get a public commitment from the DOL that their cases of wage theft would be investigated seriously.  Workers previously reported two egregious cases involving violations of the Davis Bacon Act by contractors receiving federal funds.  Workers were robbed by employers who received federal contracts to build affordable housing in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Newly appointed Wage and Hour Division (WHD) Chief Frank McGriggs refused to come out of the building to communicate publically to workers that they were welcome at DOL.

When he was later confronted about the chilling effect of ICE’s presence in the doorway of the DOL, he continued to insist that the DOL’s doors were always open.
In point of fact, over 100 day laborers consulted after the incident reported that they would not bring wage theft cases to the DOL and would not enter the building given ICE’s presence there.

Workers attempting to enter the building in the past two weeks also found that DOL would not allow workers to enter without photo identification, in effect excluding undocumented workers and homeless and low-income American workers without documentation from the building.

In a conversation with Workers’ Center Counsel, DOL’s regional public affairs director Elizabeth Todd said, “If ICE wants to stand in the doorway of our building, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“We’re disappointed that DOL is allowing ICE to police its house.  We thought the federal laws protected all workers,” said one of the day laborers who asked that his name not be used.  Soni added: “The federal authorities are facing a crisis of confidence in the community.  They need to demonstrate that workers who come forward to report labor exploitation will be protected not punished.  A system where the immigration laws are enforced will ensure that employer retaliation continues and labor standards continued to drop.  This is bad for all workers in the city.”

“Just a day after The Department of Homeland Security issued its new directive to ICE on worksite enforcement, today’s situation in New Orleans exemplifies why the DOL and DHS need to rethink national priorities so that workers facing abuse can come out of the shadows and report abuse,” said Marielena Hincapie, Executive Director of the National Immigration Law Center.

Background: Workers have recently reported federal wage violations on two projects: the Savoy Apartments, formerly the Desire housing project (the contractor is Greystar Development and Construction); and the Walnut Square Apartments Project (contractor Walton Construction).  Workers also face wage theft while working on the Oak Villa Apartments, contracted to Harris Builders, LLC.  Greystar and Walton received Federal and State funding in order to build affordable housing, and then robbed the workers of their salaries – in violation of the Davis Bacon Act and federal labor law.

# # #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday April 20^th, 2009

Contact:

Jacob Horwitz (504) 452.9159

Guestworkers Sue Mississippi Labor Brokers, Expose Captive Worker Racket

Labor Broker Kingpins Defrauded U.S. Government to Run Lease-a-Worker Racketeering Ring

Temporary H-2B guestworkers filed a class action lawsuit today against major Mississippi labor contracting kingpins Brian and David Knight. The lawsuit alleges that Five Star Contractors LLC and Knights Marine & Industrial Services, Inc. fraudulently imported workers from Brazil, Mexico, and the Philippines to a surveilled Mississippi labor camp in order to run a lease-a-worker racket in violation of federal law. The workers, who are welders and pipefitters, have been deadlocked in a fight for their dignity since they were brought to Mississippi in November 2007. The workers are members of the Alliance of Guestworkers for Dignity, a project of the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice.

The workers’ suit exposes companies Five Star and Knights Marine, detailing the way that contractor kingpins Brian and David Knight “manipulated the H-2B guestworker program and defrauded the U.S. government and vulnerable migrant workers to generate a large pool of easily exploitable workers for on-call labor at Gulf Coast shipyards.”

Lured by false promises, workers paid thousands of dollars in illegal recruitment fees to agents of the U.S. companies. They were also pressured to turn over the deeds of their homes to the agents. “I plunged my family into debt to raise $7,000.00 for the visa,” said Miro Saucedo, a class representative. “We were desperate. They promised us American dreams but we arrived into a nightmare.”

The guestworkers’ civil suit vividly recounts the nightmare: “Upon arrival in Mississippi, they were transported to a surveillance labor camp consisting of windowless portable metal buildings while they waited weeks to be leased out. They waited weeks without work as their debts grew and they became increasingly desperate for Five Star and Knights Marine to comply with their contractual promises to workers and the U.S. Government.” Miro Saucedo, a class representative, said: “Five Star and Knights Marine held us hostage to hope of jobs that didn’t exist.”

Stripped of their dignity in the labor camp, workers fought back to demand that the companies comply with their promises to them and the U.S. government, but Five Star and Knights Marine took advantage of the rules of the H-2B guestworker program—which renders guestworkers completely dependent on their sponsoring employer for legal status, employment, and housing—to further coerce and threaten the guestworkers.

When worker Moises Santos submitted a petition on behalf of the workers, he was fired in retaliation for organizing. Santos later filed claims with the National Labor Relations Board. In a watershed victory, Santos won $13,000.00 in back wages.

“Subcontractors like Five Star manipulate the H-2B program year after year, creating a glut of easily exploitable workers who are on-call and desperate for work,” said Jacob Horwitz, an organizer with the Alliance of Guestworkers for Dignity.

The workers seek a declaration that their rights have been violated and an award of damages for Defendants’ unlawful conduct, including violations of the Federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. §201 et seq., as well as for breach of contract, common law fraud, and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing. The guestworkers seek this relief to make them whole for damages they have suffered and to ensure that they and other H-2B guestworkers will not be subjected by the Defendants to such illegal conduct in the future.

“The defendants’ actions are illegal and immoral – but not uncommon,” said Saket Soni, Director of the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice. “The Department of Labor signs off for employers who commit fraud and lease workers out of labor camps with full impunity. We need the Obama Administration to take a lesson in courage from these workers. We need them to crack down on companies no matter how powerful they are. The Obama Administration needs to protect workers, and needs to protect U.S. labor law.”

The workers are represented by lawyers specializing in employment and class actions: Jason J. Thompson and Kevin J. Stoops of Sommers Schwartz PC; Robert A. Alvarez of Jose Sandoval PC; Edward J. Tuddenham, Esq; Matthew L. Turner of Turner & Turner, P.C.; and Brent McBride of McBride Law Firm, PLLC.

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Guestworkers Launch Strike To Expose Tennessee Employer Who Violated Federal Law

Prominent labor broker defrauded US government to import guestworkers and lease them across the South; H2B visa workers were made to work on military bases

NASHVILLE, TN — Guestworkers trapped in Nashville came forward today to expose the racket of prominent labor broker who defrauded the U.S. government to import workers and lease them across the South. Workers launched a strike, charged the employer with illegal retaliation against organizing, and demanded that the Department of Labor investigate the employer for fraud.

Workers are members of the Alliance of Guestworkers for Dignity, a membership organization of guestworkers across industries in the South.

The labor broker, Gary Lang, submitted fraudulent applications to the U.S. government, claiming that workers would be working for his company, Cumberland Environmental Resources, Inc., on site in Brentwood, TN. He swore to the U.S. government that he had these jobs and he could not find U.S. workers to fill them.

Workers from Peru, Bolivia, El Salvador, and Costa Rica paid thousands in recruitment fees to Cumberland’s agents for the jobs. When the workers arrived, they learned that the jobs they had been promised did not exist.

Workers languished for weeks, sometimes months, waiting for the work they were promised.  “We drowned our families in debt to pay thousands of dollars in recruitment fees to Cumberland’s agents,” said Miguel Angel Jovel, one of the workers.   “Cumberland held us hostage to the hope of jobs that didn’t exist.”

Finally, instead of providing the promised jobs, Cumberland leased the workers out to other contractors across the South.  These included contractors working on local, state, and federal government worksites.  Workers were employed on Maxwell Airforce Base in Alabama, Camp Lejuene in North Carolina, Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, Veteran’s Hospital in Nashville, and universities across the South including University of Tennessee, Tennessee Tech, University of Kentucky, David Lipscomb, and others.

Workers filed an Unfair Labor Practice complaint, charging that Cumberland illegally retalited against their efforts to organize.

“Cumberland violated their contract with us — and with their own U.S. government,” said Tomas Arias. “When we asked to see our contracts, Cumberland refused.”

When workers asked for a meeting Cumberland, Cumberland threatened workers with termination and deportation, interrogated workers about their organizing efforts, and attempted to force workers to sign away their right to organize in closed-door meetings.  When workers stood up for their dignity and rights and pressed for a meeting, Cumberland retaliated by firing them.

Workers and advocates called on the Department of Labor to investigate Cumberland’s fraud.

“Companies like Cumberland benefited when the Bush Administration passed its midnight guestworker  regulations days before leaving office. The message to employers was: relax, we just made it easier for you to import and exploit foreign workers,” said Saket Soni, Director of the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice. “The White House and the Department of Labor need to throw the Bush regulations and replace them with real protections for all workers,” said Soni.

The Bush Administration’s H2B regulations, which came into effect just days before President Obama took office, have drawn widespread outrage from workers and advocates.

Clergy, labor, and civil rights leaders endorsed the workers’ strike and their call for justice on Wednesday. Tennessee AFL-CIO president Jerry Lee expressed “shock” at Cumberland’s practices.

“Shame on Cumberland, and shame on our system for letting the employer exploit these workers,” Lee said. “At a time when joblessness is at its highest point worldwide, this employer uses the guestworker program to exploit foreign workers and undermine American workers. And when the workers bravely speak out, the employer attacks the workers for organizing.”

“That’s not America,” Lee said. “Or at least it shouldn’t be.”

Rep. Ellison, rights groups show support for jailed Indian workers

by Dan Gunderson, Minnesota Public Radio
December 17, 2008

Twenty-three men from India jailed in Fargo are getting support from human rights advocates and members of Congress.

St. Paul, Minn. – The workers are charged with having false documents and they say they are victims of human trafficking.

Seven of the men entered guilty pleas Wednesday in federal court in Fargo. They will be turned over to Immigration officials who will decide if they should be deported.

Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison and other supporters started a 24-hour fast this afternoon to show support for the jailed workers.

The men came to the U.S. on worker visas as welders and pipefitters in the wake of hurricane Katrina. The workers say they promised to pay $20,000 each and in turn were told they would get permanent U.S. citizenship.

Saket Soni, with the New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice, said dozens of workers came from India only to discover their visa expired in 10 months.

“It was impossible to recover $20,000 in earnings in 10 months, so these workers essentially were held in forced labor,” Soni said. “They were held in involuntary servitude in the labor camps of Mississippi and Texas.”

Earlier this year, the men walked away from their jobs and filed a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department.

Signal Corporation, the company the workers allege held them against their will, issued a press release calling the claims baseless and unfounded.

The workers asked for something called continued presence. That would keep them from being deported while their claims were investigated.

In October, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement arrested 23 of the Indian workers at an ethanol plant under construction near Fargo.

Their worker visas were expired and ICE said they were using false documents. The Fargo company that hired them is not under investigation.

The jailed workers case has attracted the attention of human rights advocates and members of Congress including Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison.

Ellison joined labor and religious leaders Wednesday in Minneapolis for a 24-hour fast to show support for the jailed workers.

“You know, we should go after the main movers who are the traffickers,” Ellison said.

In this particular case, the U.S. Attorney made the point these workers broke the law.

“Well the trafficker broke the law too,” Ellison said. “And if we don’t deal with the trafficker aren’t we just going to get more trafficked individuals? I think the emphasis may not be in the right place.”

Ellison said Congress passed laws to protect immigrant workers who claim they are victims of trafficking. He questions whether those protections are being adequately honored by the U.S. Justice Department.

The U.S. Attorney’s office and the federal Public Defenders office declined comment on the case.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Tim Counts also declined to comment on the case of the 23 Indian workers jailed in Fargo.

But he did agree to talk about the issue of human trafficking. Counts said last year 156 people were arrested in the U.S. on charges of human trafficking.

He said workers brought to the U.S. on temporary visas are vulnerable. Counts added that sometimes their passports are taken away, they’re forced to work long hours and told their families will be harmed if they don’t stay on the job.

Counts said human trafficking is not just a big city problem.

“One of our most significant cases happened in a small town in South Dakota where a couple had brought people in from the Philippines on temporary visas, but when they got here they were held as virtual slaves,” Counts said.

He also said that investigation can be difficult because workers often don’t understand their rights or don’t know where to go for help.

Soket Soni of the New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice said that’s one reason the case of workers jailed in Fargo is important. He said if the workers are sent to prison or deported, it will have a chilling effect on other human trafficking investigations.

“If this group of workers does not get continued presence then we believe many more workers will never come forward,” Soni said. “Because, what is the basis for trusting that the protections that congress turned into law will actually be enforced?”

Soni says the immigrant workers are only asking for enforcement of those worker protection laws already in place.

Broadcast Dates
* All Things Considered, 12/17/2008, 4:50 p.m.