MEDIA ADVISORY
October 4, 2013
Media Contact:
Moravia de la O
(410) 783-0236, moravia@cdmigrante.org
Internationally Recruited Women Urge Policymakers To Address Pervasive Flaws in Temporary Work Programs and Recruitment Process
WHEN: Monday, October 7, 2013 through Wednesday, October 9, 2013
WHO: Internationally recruited women workers from Mexico, the Philippines, and Ecuador
WHAT: Educational Delegation and March for Immigrant Dignity and Respect
WHERE: Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—A delegation of internationally recruited women from Mexico, the Philippines, and Ecuador will arrive in Washington, D.C. on October 7, 2013. Coming on the heels of the recently introduced immigration reform bill in the House of Representatives, the delegation will speak to policy makers about the unique issues that women face during the recruitment process, in their communities of origin, and as temporary workers in the United States.
Women on temporary work visas are employed in a wide variety of U.S. industries, including chocolate, seafood, agriculture, hospitality, healthcare, and education. Regardless of their visa category, employment sector, race or national origin, women face disturbingly common patterns of abuse in their U.S. workplaces and before they even arrive in the country. The abuses include fraud, discrimination, and, in some cases, debt bondage or other forms of human trafficking.
The delegation, organized by Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc. (CDM), Oxfam, and the Southern Poverty Law Center, will convene at American University Washington College of Law on Monday, October 7, 2013, and will spend several days in Washington, D.C. meeting with policymakers. They will also participate in the March for Immigrant Dignity and Respect on October 8, 2013 in Washington, D.C.
Delegation participants are available for comments and interviews. Additionally, other migrant worker women in Mexico are available to share their stories.
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Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc. (CDM) empowers Mexico-based migrant workers to defend and protect their rights as they move between their home communities in Mexico and their workplaces in the United States. The delegation is part of CDM’s Proyecto de Mujeres Migrantes (Migrant Women’s Project or ProMuMi), which provides women migrants with critical information about their U.S. workplace rights and targeted information about discrimination, sexual harassment, and U.S. agencies that assist women migrants. Read more about CDM at www.cdmigrante.org
The Southern Poverty Law Center, based in Alabama with offices in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, is a nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society. For more information, see www.splcenter.org