Two hundred union workers, out of 5,700 who assemble dishwashers, refrigerators, washers, and dryers for GE Appliances–Haier at Appliance Park in Louisville, Kentucky, received notice last month that the Trump administration is revoking their work authorizations.
The immigrant workers from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Venezuela have received a mixed reaction to their imminent deportation — hostility from some coworkers and an outpouring of support from their union and the local labor movement. They’re part of the Communications Workers’ industrial division, IUE-CWA Local 83761.
They’re in the United States on “humanitarian parole,” a program that the government until now has used to provide visas to people fleeing war or political instability in certain countries.
“I worked with a lot of those people — they’re some of the nicest people I’ve ever dealt with,” said Halee Hadfield, who worked at the plant until last year and is now part of the United Auto Workers organizing drive at the nearby electric vehicle battery park BlueOval.
“They come from extreme poverty and neglect, the likes of which most Americans, myself included, couldn’t even fathom. These people deserve better.”
In late March, the Department of Homeland Security ended the humanitarian parole program nationwide for 532,000 immigrants from four Latin American countries. Workers received letters warning them to leave the United States before April 24 or face “adverse immigration consequences.”
The meaning of this cryptic threat became clearer on April 8…
Auteur: Luis Feliz Leon
