A broken immigration system is pushing undocumented workers into the shadows, leaving workers vulnerable to violations of their workplace rights, forcing them to accept lower pay, and creating guest worker programs in which the employers can have workers deported for speaking out for better conditions. Immigration reform is needed.

a. Immigration policy is pushing workers into the shadows

Fear has gripped America’s undocumented workers. Many are staying home. The impact is being felt not only in immigrants’ homes and communities, but also in the industries that rely on immigrants as a source of willing and inexpensive labor, including residential construction, agriculture, senior care and hospitality. U.S. consumers will soon feel the pain. (Read more)

b. Immigration reform

The Dignity Campaign creates a vision of progressive immigration reform. We are part of a national network of immigrant rights organizations that are building a grassroots movement that is demanding immigration reform that provides full legalization, family reunification, an end to employer sanctions and other workplace enforcement, an end to the militarization of the border, and an end to guest worker programs. (Read more)

c. Agribusiness uses guest worker program to drive down wages for farmworkers

Agribusinesses are currently abusing guest workers with H-2A visas who work on farms. These guest workers have no protection rights and are vulnerable to discrimination and deportation. (Read More)

d. Stopping the Cancellation of Temporary Protected Status

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a program enacted by the U.S. Congress in the 1990s to enable immigrants from countries that are experiencing armed conflict or a natural disaster the right to work and live in the United States. In 2018, the Trump administration moved to cancel TPS for more than 400,000 migrants in the United States. The San Francisco Living Wage Coalition, along with many other organizations, formed the NorCal TPS Coalition to help protect TPS holders. (Read more)

e. Immigration Activist Detained By ICE

On March 25, 2025, Alfredo Juarez Zererino, also known as “LELO,” was detained by immigration and customs enforcement early in the morning when he was dropping his partner off at a tulip bulb company in Mount Vernon, according to The Seattle Times. (Read more)

f. The Future of DACA under the Trump Administration

In his presidential campaign, President Trump has expressed a desire to terminate programs such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Both programs allow immigrants to live and work in the United States without fear of deportation. During Trump’s first term in office, he constantly made threats to end DACA, causing fear among DACA recipients, undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. (Read more)