Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc
Centro de los Derechos del Migrante (Center for Migrant Rights) is the first transnational workers' rights law center based in Mexico to focus on U.S. workplace rights.
Operating on the ground in Mexico, CDM is an innovative non-profit organization dedicated to improving the working conditions of migrant workers in the United States.
CDM has emerged over the past four years as a powerful agent of change for migrant rights on both sides of the border.
Our Latest News
CDM featured on Public Radio International's The World
The excellent public radio program The World, a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH , aired a feature story on the work of CDM on August 9, 2010. You can listen to the story here. The piece begins:
The Obama Administration wants to tighten security along the Mexican border and offer a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants working in the US. They are currently vulnerable to abuse and have few means to defend themselves. But they do have one American legal organization on their side. Monica Ortiz Uribe visited that group’s headquarters in north central Mexico.
"Picked Apart: The Hidden Struggles of Migrant Worker Women in the Maryland Crab Industry"
CDM and the clinic at American University's Washington College of Law announce the release of "Picked Apart: The Hidden Struggles of Migrant Worker Women in the Maryland Crab Industry". The report examines the experiences of H-2B women guestworkers in the Maryland crab industry and makes recommendations for reforms at the local, state and national levels. The report was released on July 14th at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
Check out coverage of the report and the workers at The Washington Post [news], The Baltimore Sun [editorial], Voice of America [video], and NPR-affiliate WYPR's Maryland Morning program [audio].
CDM's Women Leaders Tour marks International Women's Day and Women's History Month
The women of CDM are celebrating International Women's Day and Women's History Month with a spring season of action. Check out the 2010 Women's Leader Tour and please consider donating in support of both our tour and our ongoing efforts that uplift the struggles and hope of migrant women.
Julia Fox Coburn to Join CDM As A Dr. Aizik Wolf Human Rights Post-Baccalaureate Fellow!
CDM is excited to welcome former CDM volunteer and University of Chicago alum Julia Fox Coburn back to Mexico! Julia was awarded the Dr. Aizik Wolf Human Rights Post-Baccalaureate Fellowship from the University of Chicago to work with CDM for a full year on our Justice in Recruitment Documentation Project.
Kristin Greer Love To Join CDM As A Skadden Fellow!
CDM is delighted that one of its former volunteers; Kristin Greer Love, has been awarded a prestigious two-year fellowship in public interest law to work with CDM in Mexico from the Skadden Fellowship Foundation!
Centro de los Derechos del Migrante provides the following services:
- Outreach and Education. By reaching migrants in their home communities before they leave for the U.S. through outreach, education and leadership development, CDM educates low-wage Mexico-based migrant workers about their legal rights in connection with their employment in the United States.
- Intake, Evaluation and Referral. By performing intake interviews with workers who come forward, often as a result of outreach, requesting assistance in addressing violations of their rights, and evaluation of their claims, CDM puts the workers in contact with services in the United States.
- Providing access to justice for Mexico-based workers through direct representation. By providing litigation and campaign support to other law firms and advocacy groups, and providing direct legal services free of charge to Mexican nationals in employment and civil rights case means that employers can no longer rely on workers who have returned home having little or no access to the U.S. justice system.
- Connecting migrant workers to the policy making community in the U.S. By developing expertise in guestworker issues in particular, and through its work with the The Committee for the Defense of Migrants, CDM is enabling the voice of the migrant to be heard at the policy-making table
Our Activity Blog
In our first four years, CDM has held meetings in over 75 towns in 20 Mexican states reaching well over 2,500 workers. CDM has worked with over a dozen U.S. based organizations to facilitate cases, distribute information about settlement agreements or opportunities to participate in litigation, and coordinate efforts on the ground in Mexico. CDM has also linked several dozen individual workers with groups in the U.S., and in certain instances has worked with private lawyers representing workers. CDM has also trained government officials, other advocates and human rights groups in the U.S. and Mexico.
A CDM Outreach team in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero.
