This Saturday, Oct. 5, a broad and diverse coalition of immigrant, faith, labor, civil rights and family groups will march and rally in more than 80 actions across the nation and call on Congress to pass immigration reform with a road map to citizenship that promotes family unity and protects workers’ rights.

Take the pledge to hit the streets Oct. 5. 

Today, the AFL-CIO reaffirmed its commitment to a comprehensive immigration policy that respects workers' rights, including a road map to citizenship. Delegates at the AFL-CIO Convention called for an immigration policy that protects U.S. workers, reduces exploitation of immigrant workers and reduces employers' incentive to hire undocumented workers rather than U.S. workers. Such a policy, the convention resolution states, will increase shared prosperity, improve productivity and quality, limit wage competition, strengthen labor standards and collective bargaining rights, protect the health and safety of workers and provide a social safety net and quality education and training for working families.

On the heels of nearly 200 labor-led actions that already have been held in support of a comprehensive immigration policy that includes a road map to citizenship, working families will participate in more than 160 Labor Day weekend events around the country. Most of the events will focus on calling on House Republicans to quit holding immigration policy hostage and for them to do the right thing on behalf of aspiring Americans.

Text NOW to 235246 to tell Speaker John Boehner you want a vote on citizenship. Standard data and message rates may apply.

Two guest workers from Mexico filed a lawsuit in a California federal district court last week alleging systematic exploitation. The workers claim that during the seven years they worked for Butler Amusements, the largest carnival company in the western United States, they were “consistently underpaid” for their work “setting up, breaking down, transporting and maintaining machinery and equipment” at numerous fair sites in California, Arizona, Nevada and Idaho, as In These Times labor reporter Michelle Chen writes.

A group of working families advocates, led by labor unions and community and faith groups, visited the office of Rep. Rodney Davis (R) in Champaign, Ill., delivering a letter that asked him to support a comprehensive immigration policy with a road map to citizenship. Davis was not present. While a Davis spokesperson said he has an open mind on immigration, he has repeatedly put forth issue stances on immigration that are punitive and regressive and said that bill that passed the Senate was "dead on arrival."

Early in the morning in the middle of August, in cities across the state of California, alarms went off, coffee was made and bags were packed as families left their homes to travel to Bakersfield for a massive mobilization in support of comprehensive immigration reform and a road map to citizenship.  

Some activists came in vans and some came in cars, motorcycles and even a giant Teamsters bus, but together thousands spoke in one voice to send a clear message to Rep. Kevin McCarthy: We demand a vote on comprehensive immigration reform that contains a pathway to citizenship!

On Thursday, Georgia's working families came together to call for a comprehensive immigration policy that includes a road map to citizenship at the "Bringing Cultures Together for a Better America" celebration. The event was held at the office of Rep. Rob Woodall (R) in Atlanta, and it showcased foods that represent the various cultures that make up Woodall's district.

Neidi Dominguez, a DREAMer activist, recently wrote an op-ed for NBC Latino, saying that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) makes a good point about President Obama being able to act alone if Congress fails to pass commonsense immigration reform.

In Bakersfield, Calif., on Wednesday, thousands rallied outside the office of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R) in support of a comprehensive immigration policy that includes a road map to citizenship. Republican leaders say they will not bring up the bill that was passed by the Senate, but instead will focus on several smaller immigration bills. María Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, said there will be consequences if House Republicans block the Senate bill.

Tomorrow, hundreds of cars from more than 30 California cities will join a caravan to Bakersfield to visit Rep. Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) office to tell him to support an immigration policy with a road map to citizenship. This is the first of many activities in support of a new immigration policy that California's working families are planning. 

The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor sends us this piece on why two members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) are joining the caravan—with the support of their employer.