undocumented workers Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Undocumented Workers, Disproportionately Hit By Pandemic, May Get More Help In Washington

By NWPB News January 28, 2021

Ramón Núñez is currently driving for food delivery services to make money after switching from driving for Uber in order to lessen his exposure to COVID-19. He is photographed in Issaquah on Jan. 27, 2021. He is one of about 60,000 undocumented immigrants to get funds from the state during the pandemic. CREDIT: Dorothy Edwards/Crosscut

If approved next month, the additional $70 million would make Washington state a nationwide leader in help offered to the undocumented community, which has been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, Latino and Black people in particular. Last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced an unprecedented $125 million in aid for undocumented workers. Washington state Read More

Supreme Court Weighs President’s Plan To Cut Undocumented Immigrants From Census Count

By NPR News November 30, 2020

FILE - This May 4, 2020, file photo shows the Supreme Court building in Washington. Controversial Trump administration policies on the census, asylum seekers and the border wall, held illegal by lower courts, are on the Supreme Court's agenda Friday, Oct. 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Justices expressed doubts about a plan to cut undocumented immigrants from a key census count — one that would exclude them for purposes of drawing new congressional districts.Read More

Supreme Court Speeds Up Case On President Trump’s Push To Alter Census For House Seats

By NPR News October 16, 2020

U.S. Census Bureau worker Marisela Gonzales adjusts a sign at a walk-up counting site for the 2020 census in Greenville, Texas, in July. CREDIT: LM Otero/AP

The justices will hear oral arguments Nov. 30, increasing the potential for Trump to try to omit unauthorized immigrants from the census numbers used to reallocate House seats during his current term.Read More

Washington State To Create $40M Fund For Undocumented Workers Hurt By Pandemic

By NWPB News August 11, 2020

Sarbanand Farms farmworkers demonstrate after coworker's death in August 2017.

Undocumented workers who lost income because of the coronavirus pandemic, but were passed over for federal assistance, will finally be getting some help in Washington state, thanks to a new $40 million relief fund.Read More

President Trump Sued For Attempt To Omit Unauthorized Immigrants From A Key Census Count

By NPR News July 24, 2020

Demonstrators rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in April 2019 to protest against the Trump administration's efforts to add the now-blocked citizenship question to the 2020 census. CREDIT: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

The Constitution says the count used to divide up seats in Congress must include every person living in the U.S. President Trump is calling for unauthorized immigrants to be left out. Read More

Washington Limits Federal Agents’ Ability To Arrest Undocumented People In Courthouses

By Enrique Pérez de la Rosa March 18, 2020

The Grant County Courthouse in Ephrata, pictured in November 2019, where federal immigration authorities have been spotted arresting undocumented people going to court since 2017. In front of the courthouse steps, Brenda Rodriguez with the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network takes a phone call while a volunteer hands out “Know Your Rights” pamphlets. CREDIT: Enrique Pérez de la Rosa/NWPB

The Courts Open To All Act effectively bans immigration enforcement agents from carrying out arrests inside courts and within one mile of state courthouses — unless they have a judicial warrant. Read More

‘Approximately’ 300 Arrested In Mississippi Immigration Raids Have Been Released, Officials Say

By NPR News August 9, 2019

Friends, co-workers and family watch as U.S. immigration officials raid the Koch Foods Inc. plant in Morton, Miss., on Aug. 7, 2019. CREDIT: Rogelio V. Solis/AP

In a statement Thursday, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi said detainees were asked whether they had children and were provided with cellphones to arrange for their care.Read More

Tax Form Typo Or Undocumented Employee? Federal Government Again Sends ‘No Match’ Letters

By Esmy Jimenez April 16, 2019

Immigrant farm worker Defelia Hernandez works in the milking parlor at Gervais Family Farm in Bakersfield, Vt., Tuesday, March 9, 2010. The farm was among five dairy farm operations targeted in a federal crackdown on undocumented foreign farm workers where Clement Gervais says he believed two of his workers cited as unemployable had proper documentation. CREDIT: ALDEN PELLETT/AP

For the first time in seven years, the Social Security Administration is sending “no-match” letters. These notices alert employers that something isn't quite right with tax forms that were submitted by their employees.Read More

After The Wildfires: Artist Captures Plight Of Napa’s Undocumented Workers

By NPR News September 12, 2018

Arleene Correa Valencia works on a painting in her latest series: In Times of Crisis, En Tiempo de Crisis. CREDIT: RACHAEL BONGIORNO/NPR

When wildfires ripped through California's Napa Valley in October 2017, local artist Arleene Correa Valencia was shocked to hear that farm workers were continuing to work in the vineyards — even as smoke surrounded the area, and the locals were evacuating.Read More