On this Labor Day, we’re celebrating CDM’s 16th anniversary. And I’m thrilled to kick off our month-long celebrations with one of the powerful migrant leaders with whom we started our journey: Juan Antonio Maldonado.
While working as a legal services attorney in Florida, I represented migrant workers in employment and civil rights cases. Determined to understand where my clients came from, I visited Zacatecas, Mexico and met with many of them, including Juan Antonio. As I listened to these same workers speak so differently in their home communities than they did in their employer-controlled housing, I saw a need to remove the border as a barrier to justice. That’s how I decided to found CDM.
Juan Antonio’s leadership has been critical to CDM’s impact. In our early days, he helped me build relationships with migrant workers in Zacatecas. Soonafter, he became one of the first members of our Board of Directors and a founding member of CDM’s Migrant Defense Committee (Comité). As an active Comité leader, he continues to advance migrant justice, equipping workers with information about their rights at community workshops along with our organizers and radio appearances. His insights shape CDM’s advocacy priorities and special initiatives like El Portal Migrante.
From the very beginning, and throughout our history, we have been lucky to fight for justice alongside tens of thousands of allies, supporters and workers like Juan Antonio. During September, we’ll be releasing 16 videos featuring 16 of them making a wish for CDM. Check out our first video featuring Juan Antonio here. Please share it widely!
We’re so grateful to have such a strong and committed group of allies. Our wish is that we will keep counting on you to stand with migrant workers in our fight for justice. Will you join the celebrations by becoming an Ally for Migrant Justice? To commemorate our 16th anniversary, you can commit to making monthly donations in multiples of 16!