Immigrant Workers Help Florida Thrive. Anti-Immigrant Policies Threaten That

Immigrant Workers Help Florida Thrive. Anti-Immigrant Policies Threaten That

By Micaela McConnell | Immigration Impact In 2022, more than one in five Florida residents were immigrants. In that same year, immigrants in Florida were over 14% more likely than their U.S.-born neighbors to be of working age, positioning them to actively participate in the labor force and economy. And they did just that—immigrants contributed $12.0 […]

Grantee Reveals Dangers Facing Immigrant Workers at West Virginia Chicken Plant

Grantee Reveals Dangers Facing Immigrant Workers at West Virginia Chicken Plant

By USC Center for Health Journalism The Pilgrim’s Pride chicken factory in Moorefield, West Virginia, has a history of dangerous working conditions, from spinning saw blades to grabby conveyor belts to sharp metal hooks and knives. Those conditions have consistently endangered its immigrant workforce, reports 2023 National Impact Fund grantee Allen Siegler of Mountain State […]

USCIS Re-Issues Temporary Rule to Extend Work Permits for 800,000 Immigrant Workers

USCIS Re-Issues Temporary Rule to Extend Work Permits for 800,000 Immigrant Workers

By Adriel Orozco | Immigration Impact Thousands of immigrant workers with pending work permit renewals, and their employers, breathed a sigh of relief last week. On April 8, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a temporary rule that automatically extends the validity period of their work permits for up to 540 days, or about a year […]

Immigrant Workers Save Aging Economies but Face Financial Struggles in their Own Senior Years

Immigrant Workers Save Aging Economies but Face Financial Struggles in their Own Senior Years

By Leafia Zi Ye | The Conversation Immigrants support the economy of aging societies in many ways. They pay into social pension programs, which finance the lives of retirees. Many of them work in the care industry and directly serve older people, which reduces nursing home needs on a community level. Immigrants themselves also benefit economically from moving […]

“They Had a Dream of a Better Future for Themselves and Their Families”: Communities Mourn and Remember Immigrant Workers Lost Following Baltimore Bridge Collapse

“They Had a Dream of a Better Future for Themselves and Their Families”: Communities Mourn and Remember Immigrant Workers Lost Following Baltimore Bridge Collapse

By Gabe Ortiz | America’s Voice Baltimore construction worker Maynor Suazo Sandoval dreamed of opening a small business in the area. Sandoval, who arrived in the U.S. from Honduras nearly two decades ago, loved all things machinery, his brother said. Miguel Luna, a grandfather and immigrant from El Salvador, worked alongside Sandoval as a valued member […]

Key Bridge Tragedy A Reminder of the Risks Essential Immigrant Workers Take

Key Bridge Tragedy A Reminder of the Risks Essential Immigrant Workers Take

By America’s Voice Washington, DC — The collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore is a tragedy that is once again being twisted by right-wing media and elected officials to scapegoat immigrants. Conspiracy theories about terrorists who cross the allegedly “open” border to do us harm is now a reflexive and utterly false narrative of conservatives on […]

Immigrant Workers Are Informing on Bad Bosses — And Getting Work Permits

Immigrant Workers Are Informing on Bad Bosses — And Getting Work Permits

A group of undocumented construction laborers had their legal work authorization approved as a result of their work cooperating with law enforcement. Jan. 18, 2024. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY By Claude Irizarry Aponte | January 30, 2024 Construction worker José Moncada fractured his wrist while using a jackhammer on a demolition job in Manhattan six years ago […]

The economic benefits of work permits

The economic benefits of work permits

Editorial credit: Mircea Moira / Shutterstock.com By Maribel Hastings The Spanish-language media coverage of the refugee crisis in New York reveals a common denominator among immigrants: they want to work. As people seeking asylum, they wait six months, at a minimum, to be eligible to apply for a work permit. In some cases, the wait […]

Immigrant Workers Who Report Labor Violations Will Be Protected Under This New Policy

Immigrant Workers Who Report Labor Violations Will Be Protected Under This New Policy

By Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Immigration Impact Immigrant workers who are the victims of labor exploitation are often faced with a difficult choice. They can either stay quiet out of fear of deportation or come forward to report coercive conduct. Looming over that choice is the possibility that the employer may retaliate by calling U.S. Immigration and […]