New York Teamsters Vote To Become A Sanctuary Union After One Of Their Own Gets Deported

At an August 2016 rally in Phoenix, Arizona, President Trump vowed to “end the sanctuary cities…” which, according to him, “…have resulted in so many needless deaths.”

His threat hasn’t hampered these efforts to organize and protect undocumented immigrants. In addition to sanctuary cities, you’re also finding sanctuary campuses that are being established to protect the rights of undocumented students.

By WClarke (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

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Now Teamsters in New York City and Long Island are coming together to form a sanctuary union after Teamster Ebert Garcia Vasquez was deported back to Guatemala back in August.

Earlier this month, the Teamsters held the first of what will be several training sessions after the union passed the resolution to become a sanctuary union back in September.

 For Ray Borrero, a member and leader in Teamsters Local 813, this training was the perfect way for him to continue some of the work he was already doing to support immigrant workers in his union and industry. Make The Road New York created a “Know Your Rights Manual,” covering assorted issues in immigration law, and Borrero has been distributing it to different shops.

He has been lucky and says he hasn’t run into many issues in his outreach.

“Myself, I’m bilingual…” Borrero says, “Other than that, there really hasn’t been too much of an issue on my part…”

For Borrero, the issue also hits home on a more personal level.

“Being Hispanic, and watching the news where they’re showing all these raids and they’re deporting the Hispanic community as though we’re the only ones that are here illegally,” Borrero replies, when asked what inspired him to take up the fight for the rights of undocumented immigrants.

Borrero also notes that most of these people who have come here take jobs that Americans don’t want.

“They’re not here to cause us any harm,” Borrero says of the undocumented individuals that many are upset about.

This month's training was the first of several sanctuary union training sessions. According to a union press release, the union will provide more trainings and support and specifically mentions know your rights training and legal support as two examples of what specifically will be done.

The training also clarified certain things for attendees.

“If ICE was to come to your house and knock on your door, and you open the door, you’re basically welcoming them in...,” says Ray Borrero, when asked for one key lesson learned at the training that he would want to pass on, “It’s basically like entrapment how they get these undocumented workers with tactics to kind of get themselves caught and deported.”

According to coverage of the training session in The Daily News, the training also addressed how employees could bargain future contracts that “…force employers to follow proper procedures before granting federal authorities access to a work site.” According to Ray Borrero, they didn’t go into “in-depth language” at the training session, but they did say they’d provide a template of language that could be put into those contracts.

“It is my understanding that the Obama administration did not do workplace raids on the scale that the Bush administration had, but many are concerned that it will return under Trump (and it has started to),” writes Alex Moore, Communications Director for Teamsters Joint Council 16, in an email exchange with Queens Free Press, “So we are preparing now for the possibility that our members will be impacted by raids at work. What has been a problem in recent years is either ICE audits or employers independently seeking to fire workers without legal status.”

This month's training really was just the beginning. According to Alex Moore, the union will also be distributing additional materials. Union members will also be connected with lawyers and other types of support structures so they can gather any documents they might need to fight deportation orders, or apply for greater protections.

And of course, there is always strength in numbers.

“If one of our members is detained, we mobilize to get them released,” writes Moore, “When our member was detained last year, Teamsters from all over the country made calls to his ICE officer asking that he be released.”

The Teamsters didn’t just make phone calls. They worked with the detained member’s lawyer to show that their member had public support. They also used their relationships with elected officials to call attention to and get support for the member’s case to stay. They got the story picked up by the media, and held a rally outside the ICE office. After he was deported, they raised $18,000 to help his family with living expenses.

This isn’t just an “in-house” issue for the Teamsters.

“We are also participating in the broader immigrant rights movement to resist harmful immigration policies and supporting reforms to protect immigrants,” writes Moore.

In recent coverage on the Teamsters’ training in The Hill, it says that “The training urges members to honor the principle of union solidarity before immigration laws…”

 This sense of solidarity can be found in everything the Teamsters are being taught as part of their sanctuary union training.

“Unfortunately members have their own opinions on everything that is going on in today’s world,” says Ray Borrero, “Some say it’s not fair for undocumented individuals to work jobs for Americans. We need to set that aside and work together.”

And when asked how he would respond to individuals worried about the risks associated with becoming a sanctuary union, Borrero doesn’t even have to think about his answer.

“Not to worry,” he replies, “We’re here to defend them, support them, and help them.”

 

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