UFCW members participated in the first UFCW Immigration
Integration Project training to learn the tools needed to assist UFCW members and families though the process to US citizenship.
Nearly 40 participants from UFCW Locals 2, 293, 400, and 431 participated in the first training of the UFCW Immigration Integration Project in Dodge City, Kan., from May 21-23.
The three-day training, hosted by UFCW Local District 2, provided the participants with the platform to learn from seasoned immigrants’ rights advocates about the critical skills and tools needed to assist eligible UFCW members and their families to go through the naturalization process to become U.S. citizens.
In addition to learning about the naturalization process, the participants were also trained in providing assistance to workers or their family members who qualify for immigration benefits under the Obama Administration’s June 2012 memorandum on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, commonly referred to as DACA.
The training in Dodge City, initiated by the UFCW International Civil Rights Department, was held in coordination with the AFL-CIO and nationally-recognized immigrant rights advocacy groups, including the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) and the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA). Kansas-based local community advocacy groups also participated in the training.
“We have so many members who need help navigating our complex immigration system and I am happy to have this opportunity to learn how to help UFCW members and their families apply for U.S. citizenship and take advantage of other immigration benefits they qualify for,” said Bozi Kiekie, a UFCW Local 431 member who works at the Cargill plant in Beardstown, Ill.
This was the first in a series of trainings that will take place across the country in the upcoming months. If your local union is interested in hosting a training or taking advantage of upcoming immigration training opportunities, please contact Eduardo Peña at epena@ufcw.org. OP