CHIRLA Fall 2010 Membership Drive

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles

the Immigrant Legal Resource Center &

the Law Offices of Leticia T.  Moreno, APC

Invite you to the

6-DAY IMMIGRATION PARALEGAL TRAINING!

This intensive six-day training is designed to provide staff working at not-for-profit agencies the foundations of immigration law, to assist with the application  for accreditation from the Board of Immigration Appeals so nonprofit staff may represent clients before the US Citizenship and Immigration Service and immigration judges.

Carlos Lomeli quería "tener un trabajo estable para salir adelante". Por eso decidió hace casi seis años presentar su solicitud de empleo a Terra Universal, una compañía en Fullerton

especializada en manufacturar productos medioambientales, creyendo que tendría oportunidades para crecer profesionalmente.

Lejos de eso, hoy forma parte, junto a varios ex empleados, de una demanda contra la compañía por supuestamente haber violado los derechos de los trabajadores.

"Nos obligaban a trabajar más de ocho horas sin pagarnos ese trabajo como horas extras", dijo Lomeli. "Teníamos que fichar la salida y volver a fichar acto seguido para seguir trabajando. Cuando te pagaban, las horas extras las reflejaban como un trabajo a medio tiempo o como si fuera un segundo trabajo".

LOS ANGELES – A Fullerton manufacturing business targeted earlier this summer by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on suspicion of hiring illegal workers is again under fire -- this time by a civil rights organization alleging the business exploited and discriminated against immigrant workers.

At a 10 a.m. news conference on Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles announced they were launching a federal lawsuit against Terra Universal in Fullerton.

"The company chiseled their wages and stretched their hours," said ACLU staff attorney Jennie Pasquarella at the press conference. "Terra Universal is a multi-million dollar company built on the back of an immigrant workforce."

LOS ANGELES, Calif.  - The ACLU of Southern California will announce a lawsuit in federal district court against Terra Universal, a multi-million dollar federal government contractor that has violated federal labor laws by requiring employees to work long hours without overtime pay. In addition, it discriminated against workers it believed to be undocumented in order to exploit them more.

WHAT:      Announcement of details of the lawsuit, testimonies will be given, and implications of the exploitation and discrimination will also be explored.

WHEN:      Tuesday, August 31, 2010, 10:00 a.m.

WHERE:     ACLU Building, 1313 W. 8th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017

Los Angeles - A grizzly pile of more than seventy Central and South American migrants killed this week was uncovered after a lone survivor alerted Mexican soldiers at a nearby checkpoint in the state of Tamaulipas. Mexico's government has placed the blame on one of the drug cartels, the Zetas. The following is a statement by Angelica Salas, Executive Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), a regional human and immigrant rights not-for-profit community-based organization based in Los Angeles.

CHIRLA is a proud member of CAST, Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking

CHIRLA es miembro activo de la Coalición para Abolir la Esclavitud y Trata Humana

For Immediate Release: August 25, 2010                                                       

Los Angeles–On the first anniversary of Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s passing, immigrant rights advocates recall the senator’s long-held struggle to pass immigration reform.  To date, the Senate and the House have done little to mitigate the suffering of more than 12 million people.  The following is a statement by Angelica Salas, Executive Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), a regional human and immigrant rights not-for-profit community-based organization based in Los Angeles.