FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 14, 2015
Contact: Bailey Dick, 419-260-6044, bailey@jwj.org
Washington, D.C. – Today, the Interagency Working Group for the Consistent Enforcement of Federal Labor, Employment, and Immigration Laws commissioned by President Obama in November 2014 (“Interagency Working Group”) released its December 2015 Action Plan Update. In response, Jobs With Justice issued the following statement:
“Simply by establishing the working group last November, President Obama and his administration showed their commitment to making sure immigration enforcement isn’t used to trample the rights of working people. The progress report released today by a number of government agencies is a step in the right direction, but much more work remains to be done before the working group’s member agencies can declare success.
Jobs With Justice sees today’s update by the Interagency Working Group for what it is: Progress toward an unmet goal.
“Over the past year, Jobs With Justice and our partners have provided the working group specific recommendations drawn from the lived experiences of immigrants whose employers retaliated against them for exercising their labor and civil rights. These recommendations, which go further than the guidance the working group has issued to date, come without an expiration date. Our offer to help the working group turn our recommendations into actionable proposals that federal agencies can implement still stands.
“In the meantime, Jobs With Justice will not turn our attention away from helping working people unite together in order to have a say over their jobs and in their communities. Ultimately that is what it will take to repair the country’s broken immigration system and to realize an economy that protects all working Americans.”
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