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.
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 Latest News
Leticia Zavala, CDM's Director of Outreach and Leadership programs, nominated as a finalist for the 2009 Mexicanas Mujeres de Valor!
CDM wants to congratulate Leticia Zavala, our Director of Outreach and Leadership programs, on reaching the finals of the 2009 Mexicanas Mujeres de Valor, an annual competition sponsored by Televisa and broadcast throughout the country which highlights the accomplishments of Mexican women with the goal of promoting the rights, dignity and equality of all women everywhere. Among the thousands of potential candidates a group of 450 were originally chosen to be judged by a prestigious group of celebrity judges. Of these 450 women, a total of 11 were chosen for the final round of contestants. In her characteristically unselfish way, Leticia Zavala was not as interested in the possibility of winning the prize as in using the competition as a platform for the further promotion of the rights of migrant workers. Let’s congratulate Leticia for being nominated as one of the 2009 Mexicanas Mujeres de Valor finalists, and take this opportunity to spread the message of equality, dignity and respect that is due to all migrant workers, both men and 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!
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.
CDM meeting with migrants in Acambaro in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato in February 2009.
--June 16, 2009 - CDM staff travel to Guadalajara
--May 29-June 01, 2009 - CDM staff travel to Tlapacoyan and Xalapa, Veracruz
--May 21-28, 2009 - CDM staff travel to Transcoso, Zacatecas
--May 15-18, 2009 - CDM staff travel to Colima on casework
--May 10-12, 2009 - CDM staff travel to Miami, Florida to attend the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee
--April 21-26, 2009 - CDM staff travel to El Salvador to attend La Red Regional de Organizaciones Civiles para las Migraciones (RROCM)
--April 23, 2009 - CDM is delighted to announce that a former volunteer and University of Chicago alum Julia Fox Coburn, has been 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!
--April 17-22, 2009 - CDM staff travel to the city of Tlapa in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero on casework
--April 12-17, 2009 - CDM staff travel to Tlapacoyan in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz on casework
--April 01, 2009 - CDM staff attend a event hosted at the Embassy of Mexico in Washington, DC and organized by Appleseed entitled "Creating a Pro Bono Culture in Mexico"
--March 25, 2009 - CDM staff meet with faculty from The University of Maryland School of Law
--March 24, 2009 - CDM staff presented at an event entitled "Realizing the American Dream? Contemporary Challenges Facing H-2B Guest Workers and their Advocates" at American University Washington College of Law, in Washington, DC
--March 18-19, 2009 - CDM staff travel to Fresnillo, Guadalupe and Transcoso in the state of central Mexican state of Zacatecas
--March 3-6, 2009 - CDM staff travel to Colima in concert with California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. to find clients
--Jan 30 - Feb 15, 2009 - CDM staff in conjunction with law students from American University, Washington College of Law visited eight towns in four central Mexican states to inform almost 500 migrant workers of their rights in a large class action lawsuit against one of the biggest landscaping companies in the United States
--Dec 17, 2008, - CDM is absolutely delighted to congratulate Kristin Greer Love, a former CDM volunteer and now a newly minted Skadden Fellow! Read more here
--Nov 19-22, 2008 - CDM staff attended and presented at the National Legal Aid & Defender Association Annual Conference in Washington, DC
--Aug 22, 2008 - CDM welcomes Leticia Zavala to our team! In celebration of CDM's three year anniversary, and in conjunction with the two year anniversary of the formation of the Migrant Defense Committee, CDM has created a new position: Director of Outreach and Leadership Programs. The Migrant Defense Committee is the vision of a group of worker leaders - to empower themselves and make positive changes in the workplace by creating "a human chain" linking migrant workers in the US and in Mexico. CDM is thrilled to have Leticia bring her talents and skills to this new position
--July 28-August 5, 2008 - CDM staff travel to Oaxaca and Mexico City on a fact finding trip
--July 21, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to Jerez, Zacatecas to meet with a client
--July 17, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to Calvillo in Aguascalientes for a Know-Your-Rights presentation
--July 14-15, 2008 - CDM Outreach returns to San Luis Potosi
--June 28, 2008 - CDM holds a regional training for the Workers' Committee (the Comité)
--June 19-22, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to Tlapa de Comonfort, Guerrero
--June 14-15, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to San Luis Potosi
--May 22-28, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to Durango once again
--May 22-28, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to Xalapa, Veracruz on casework
--May 22, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to Saltillo
--May 16, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to the northern Mexican state of Durango to meet with clients
--May 16, 2008 - CDM has a wonderful fundraiser in Austin, Texas. Thank you to all who came, and particular thanks to John Donisi, Gina Hinojosa and their son Matteo for their hospitality and kindness in hosting the event!
--April 28-29, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to Irapuato to investigate a case
--April 24, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to Guadalajara for another meeting of the Foro Migraciones
--April 20, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to Irapuato for a Comité training
--April 11-12, 2008 - CDM Staff travel to Monterrey to show support on the first anniversary of the murder of Santiago Rafael Cruz, an organizer for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) who was murdered in Monterrey, Mexico on April 9, 2007
--April 1-2, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to Ciudad del Maiz
--March 23, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to Ciudad Fernandez in San Luis Potosi
--March 22-23, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to Monterrey
--March 19-April 1, 2008 - A CDM Outreach team conducts a long and successful trip to find numerous clients in central and southern Oaxaca.
--March 13-14, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to San Luis Potosi
--March 7-11, 2008 - CDM hosts its first Board Retreat in Zacatecas, Mexico! Many, many thanks to all concerned
--March 7, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to Mexico City for the Enlaces conference
--February 24-26, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to the Foro Migraciones in Celaya
--February 21-23, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels down to San Juan Huexoapa in Guerrero
--February 21-22, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to Ejido Palomas in San Luis Potosi on an ongoing women's discrimination case
--February 16-18, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels down to Cano San Isidro in Guanajuato
--February 15, 2008 - CDM is saddened by the loss of a great champion of justice and CDM supporter, Michael Maggio
--February 4-7, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels down south to Chilpancingo, Atlixtac and Chilapa in Guerrero
--January 14-18, 2008 - CDM Outreach returns to Ciudad del Maiz, Ejido Palomas and Valle de Santiago. And for the first time, CDM visits Pitayo, San Jose del Brazo and Salamanca in Guanajuato
--January 13-15, 2008 - CDM Outreach ventures to Malinalco, and then on to Mexico City
--January 1-3, 2008 - CDM Outreach travels to Queretaro for depositions, and then to Celaya, Juriquilla and Valle de Santiago in Guanajuato
--December 8-9, 2007 - CDM Outreach travels to Ciudad Valles in San Luis Potosi, and Chapulhuacan in Hidalgo
--December 5-8, 2007 - CDM attends the 6th National Low-Income Immigrant Rights Conference in Arlington, Virginia.
--December 1-6, 2007 - CDM staff travel to Ciudad del Maiz and Tamuzuchale in San Luis Potosi, and Celaya and Irapuato in Guanajuato
--November 12-17, 2007 - CDM staff travel to La Sierra Mixtexa and Oaxaca Cuidad
--October 4-8, 2007 - CDM and ProDESC jointly host the first Binational Labor Justice Convening in Mexico City. In total, more than 60 representatives of human rights organizations, unions, and academic institutions from both sides of the border, participated in working groups to develop binational strategies to advance migrant rights
--September 7-17, 2007 - CDM staff return to Guerrero on a 2000 mile task to work on a class action lawsuit
--August 6-12, 2007 - CDM staff return to eastern Guerrero
--June 13-16, 2007 - CDM staff travel to Tlapa, Guerrero to attend the 13th anniversary of the founding of el Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña "Tlachinollan"
--June 12, 2007 - CDM is featured on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle!
--June 10-12, 2007 - CDM outreach travels to the town of Rancho Morelos, in Santa Cruz Itundujia, Oaxaca to find a client
--June 9-18, 2007 - CDM staff travel down to eastern Guerrero on a mammoth (and successful) outreach trip, returning to Rancho Viejo and surrounding mountainous communities for the first time since March 2006
--June 3-4, 2007 - CDM staff travel to the town of Doctor Arroyo in Nuevo León to find a client
--May 8-12, 2007 - CDM staff travel to Morelia, Michoacan to assist in the Cumbre de Migrantes - "The First Hemispheric Summit of Migrant Communities"
--April 19-27, 2007 - CDM staff travel down to Oaxaca on casework
--April 14-16, 2007 - CDM outreach travels to Queretaro, San Jose Iturbide and Celaya on outreach to help build CDM's Workers´ Committee
--March 12-15, 2007 - CDM staff attended the Foro Migraciones meeting in Mexico City. El Foro Migraciones is a network of civil society organizations and individuals who work on migration from different perspectives
--March 10-12, 2007 - CDM spends three days on outreach in Rio Verde in San Luis Potosi
--March 8-9, 2007 - CDM outreach returns to Ocotlan and La Barca in Jalisco
--February 13-17, 2007 - CDM outreach returns to Tamazunchale in San Luis Potosi and to Chapulhuacan in Hidalgo
--February 5-8, 2007 - CDM outreach travels to Ocotlan and La Barca in Jalisco, and to Santiago Tangamandapio in Michoacán
--February 2-5, 2007 - CDM outreach returns to Xichu, Guanajuato
--January 23-26, 2007 - CDM outreach travels to Tamazunchale in San Luis Potosi and to Chapulhuacan in Hidalgo on a migrant women's discrimination case
--January 21-22, 2007 - CDM outreach travels to Ciudad del Maiz in the state of San Luis Potosi
--January 6-7, 2007 - CDM outreach travels to Santiago Tangamandapio and Jiquilpan in Michoacán
--January 4-8, 2007 - CDM outreach travels to Apasea el Alto and Celaya in Guanajuato
--December 16-19, 2006 - CDM outreach travels to Sombrerete in the state of Zacatecas
--December 6, 2006 - CDM outreach travels to Villa Hidalgo and Rancho Yañez in Jalisco
--December 3-4, 2006 - CDM outreach travels to Tlanepantla and Naucalpan in el Estado de Mexico continuing CDM's case facilitation on a collective action against one of the largest landscaping firms in the U.S.
--November 25, 2006 - CDM outreach returns to Sahuayo in Michoacán
--November 17-21, 2006 - CDM outreach travels to Rancho Morelos, Oaxaca
--November 9-13, 2006 - CDM outreach travels to Xichu, Guanajuato and holds a training with over 100 workers - More details here
--October 17-19, 2006 - CDM outreach travels to Sahuayo and Jiquilpan in Michoacán
--September 16-23, 2006 - CDM outreach travels to towns in eastern Oaxaca
CDM celebrates its first anniversary!
--September 1-3, 2006 - During the first weekend in September almost one hundred people crowded into the Case de Cultura in Zacatecas, Mexico to celebrate CDM’s first-year anniversary. During the weekend CDM also hosted the launched the first meeting of its workers' committee. Many more details here!
--August 12, 2006 - In its office in Zacatecas, Mexico, CDM held a day long strategy session on guestworker organizing. More details here
--August 8, 2006 - CDM would like to wish volunteer Chris Benoit nothing but the best after he leaves us to begin his first year at University of Washington Law School
--August 8, 2006 - An article in McClatchy Newspapers (recent purchaser of Knight Ridder) features CDM client Jesus Rojas, mentions Brickman landscaping case, and quotes CDM director
--July 18-20, 2006 - CDM outreach travels to the towns of Rio Verde and El Refugio in northern San Luis Potosi
--July 16, 2006 - CDM outreach travels to Lampotal in Zacatecas
--July 7-9, 2006 - In a major outreach trip to Michoacan, CDM continues its 6-month campaign to inform some 2,500 migrant workers eligible to join a collective action against one of the largest landscaping firms in the U.S. More details here
--June 30, 2006 - CDM outreach travels to Jalpan in the central State of Queretaro
--June 19, 2006 - The Nation, has a piece on migrants in the U.S., and features Leticia Zavala, member of CDM's Board of Advisors, and organizer for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC)
--June 13-18, 2006 - CDM outreach trip to Guanajuato. More details here
--June 2-7, 2006 - CDM staff undertook a major outreach trip to Guerrero and Puebla. CDM participated in "Migrar o Morir", [Migrate or Die] a migrant workers outreach and training workshop hosted by Tlachinollan Center for Human Rights in Guerrero. In Puebla, CDM held an outreach meeting and met with representatives of Yacana, a migrant rights organization. More details here
--May 23, 2006 - Imagen, a local newspaper, mentions CDM
--April 25, 2006 - The Executive Director of CDM, Rachel Micah Jones, gave some views on guest worker programs in both the Christian Science Monitor and USA Today
--On Sunday April 9, 2006, Centro de los Derechos del Migrante took part in a march in Jerez, Zacatecas in support of migrant labor rights in the United States
--The Executive Director of CDM, Rachel Micah Jones, has been named as a winner of a 2006
Peter M. Cicchino Award for Outstanding Advocacy in the Public Interest!
--Download our 2005 Winter newsletter here! (in pdf)
--The Executive Director of CDM, Rachel Micah Jones, has been named as a 2005
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