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The Struggle for Economic Justice:
Immigrants in U.S. Society

Political strife in Central America and a debt crisis in the rest of Latin America have accelerated the flow of desperate people crossing U.S. borders. These international migrants come at a time when a 1986 U.S. immigration law - although aimed at fining employers who hired undocumented workers - has in effect denied those entering without proper documentation the right to work. These immigrants have become a "hostage workforce" providing the nation's underground economy of sweatshops with cheap unprotected labor.

These trends in the U.S. reflect similar laws and conditions in the other industrialized nations and their relationships to the migrating populations within their borders. Nevertheless, alternative economic survival projects, like cooperatives, have started to emerge as viable alternatives. The dynamic realities of an interdependent global economy are reproduced in immigrant struggles to attain economic justice through these and many other efforts to create a more humane global community.

Organizer:

• Maria Jimenez, American Friends Service Committee, Immigration Law Enforcement and Monitoring Project (ILEMP), YMCA 3635 W. Dallas St., Houston; Texas 77019.

Other Speakers:

• Nelson Salinas, American Friends Service Committee, Immigration Policy Analyst, 1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19102.

• Mark Zwick, Director Casa Juan Diego, coordinator of several refugee shelters in Texas.

• Byron Javier, representative of Atanasio Tzul Guatemalan Refugee Network, Chicago, IL.

• James Manazanares, labor attorney; currently attorney for the Central American Refugee Center in Houston, TX.

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