In the wake of the ongoing legal battle that has suspended President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, workers and labor leaders have gathered in Miami over the weekend to build immigrant worker power by mobilizing workers to apply and fight for deferred action. At an event today, workers and labor leaders sent a strong message to local officials and the 2016 presidential election candidates: it is not enough to grant hard working aspiring Americans temporary relief. It’s time to finally fix our broken immigration system.

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“We know the lawsuit is a political stunt—an effort to scare away immigrant workers from applying for DAPA. But our movement is as strong and organized as I can ever remember it. Together, we will fight for DAPA. We will fight for DACA. And we will fight for comprehensive immigration reform,” said Esther López, Executive Vice President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW). López was joined by Héctor E. Sánchez, Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), and María Asunción Bilbao of United Families in calling elected officials to take immediate action to protect immigrant workers from precarious working conditions and to improve living standards for all workers.

“The court’s unnecessary delay in keeping families whole is not holding our movement from preparing our community for deferred action. We hold strong optimism that the court will ultimately rule to move forward with the implementation of DAPA. We are in Miami today to ensure those who will benefit from deferred action are ready to apply on the first day DAPA is implemented,” said Sanchez.

“Unfortunately, our Attorney General, Pam Bondi, supported a lawsuit stopping DAPA,” said Bilbao. “I want to ask all elected officials and presidential candidates to support immigrant families. Support programs like DAPA and DACA so that families like mine can get the protection they need.”

The UFCW has partnered with LCLAA to bring its groundbreaking immigration program to Miami as part of LCLAA’s Regional Conference, which is aimed at advancing Latino and labor issues. From coast to coast, UFCW local unions have hosted workshops to help members determine whether they qualify for deferred action, gather necessary documentation, prescreen their applications, and answer important legal questions. The immigration training and workshop clinic will take place on Sunday, June 14^th at Miami Dade Community College –Wolfson Campus.

Join the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) online at www.ufcw.org.

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The Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) is the leading national organization for Latino(a) workers and their families. LCLAA was born in 1972 out of the need to educate, organize and mobilize Latinos in the labor movement and has expanded its influence to organize Latinos in an effort to impact workers’ rights and their influence in the political process. LCLAA represents the interest of more than 2 million Latino workers in the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), The Change to Win Federation, Independent Unions and all its membership. Visit LCLAA on the web at www.lclaa.org, on Facebook and Twitter.

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Miami skyline photo courtesy of Shutterstock.