More than 800 union members, their families, immigration advocates and community leaders rallied in front of the Arizona state Capitol yesterday to reaffirm their support for commonsense immigration reform that protects immigrants and America's workers. In a press conference before the rally, Arizona AFL-CIO Executive Director Rebekah Friend announced that the organization had adopted a resolution that calls on Congress to pass immigration reform, including a practical and inclusive road map to citizenship that reflects core American values such as fairness, equality and family unity.

The resolution acknowledges that “more than 11 million immigrant aspiring citizens contribute to our communities” and argues that our “democracy cannot function unless all men and women, regardless of their skin color or where they were born, can participate meaningfully in the political process with full rights and equal protections.”

Speakers at the rally included national labor and political leaders such as AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker, Communications Workers of America (CWA) President Larry Cohen, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor Executive Secretary–Treasurer Maria Elena Durazo and Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.). Local community leaders who spoke included Petra Falcon of Promise Arizona and Dr. Warren H. Stewart Sr., senior pastor at First Institutional Baptist Church of Phoenix and chairman of the National Immigration Forum Board of Directors. Local DREAM activist Erica Andiola and UNITE HERE Local 631 member Emmanuel Gallardo shared their families’ personal immigration stories and called for immigration reform to be passed this year.

The local union movement’s commitment to equality is why Arizona working families pledged to continue to work with community partners—including civil rights, human rights and immigrant rights organizations—to promote fair and just immigration reform. That effort includes a campaign to communicate their position to Arizona’s congressional delegation, part of a national campaign by America’s unions to support the aspiration of 11 million immigrants to become citizens. 

“Working people are working people, regardless of the color of their skin or where they were born,” said Friend.

In Arizona we recognize that working people are strongest when we work together and our movement is strongest when it welcomes all workers. On a regular basis, the more than 11 million immigrant aspiring citizens who contribute to our communities, country and economy are denied a voice at work and other basic rights. The creation of a road map to citizenship would not only stop employers from continuing to take advantage of our failed immigration policies; it would improve wages and labor standards for all workers by giving immigrant workers a voice on the job.