Day laborers from Pasadena, Pomona, Los Angeles and Hollywood plan to rally in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, July 29 to seek protections for workers who denounce on-the-job abuse and unsafe work conditions.
The laborers are urging Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to support guidance issued by the Department of Labor, which tells them how to seek the department’s support for their requests to Homeland Security for immigration-related prosecutorial discretion.
In order for the Labor Department to carry out the laws its enforces, workers must feel free to participate in its investigations and proceedings without fear of retaliation or consequences related to their immigration status, official said.
Mayorkas issued a workplace enforcement memo on Oct. 12 directing Department of Homeland Security agencies to develop policies to protect workers that denounce workplace abuse, but the laborers say he has yet to issue formal guidance on the issue.
Accompanied by worker advocates, attorneys and community supporters, the day laborers plan to gather at 350 N. Figueroa in Los Angeles and head to Grant Park in front of L.A. City Hall before later taking their message to the Department of Homeland Security federal building, at 300 N. Los Angeles Ave.
