NDLON

Pablo Alvarado came to the United States from El Salvador in the 1990s and worked for five years as an undocumented laborer. Today he works for the National Day Laborer Organization Network (NDLON) and helps to fight for the rights and dignity of day laborers. I learned of his story when the Taproot Foundation partnered with Pablo and NDLON and recently sat down to capture his inspiring story. The immigration debate in this country has become really ugly in recent years. Yes. Day laborers have become the public face of immigration. They have been demonized. Many people have described the day laborers as unwanted people and criminals. People who are murdering and harassing women. I think we are capable of having a debate in which people are not dehumanized in the process.

Any day now Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will announce a second round of "reforms" to the disgraced "Secure Communities" deportation program, S-Comm. And once again, it appears that ICE is more interested in spin than substance. The timing of the announcement--immediately before the DHS Office of Inspector General Report--seems primarily designed to take the pressure off of ICE rather than an honest attempt to address the fundamental flaws of the program. huffington postpablo alvaradoreforms-commsecure comunities

In America, we desperately need to address the hardships everyday people increasingly face. As Rep. Lamar Smith points out, unemployment rates in the U.S. have reached nearly 10%. Those who do have jobs increasingly face lower wages, longer hours, and less protections at the work site. To address the challenges U.S. workers and the unemployed are facing, Washington has an unprecedented opportunity to invest in job creation, workplace safety, and training opportunities that would usher those excluded from the workforce into meaningful employment. To raise the floor for struggling and working families, we need policies that grow our economy, ensure job security, and offer new opportunities. We don't need more scapegoating. e-verifylamar smithpower act