As news swirls today about President Obama’s impending executive action — scheduled to be announced tomorrow — Rep. Luis Gutierrez joined immigrant farm, food, and commercial workers from across the country to remind Americans of the people behind our Thanksgiving meals and to call on Obama to deliver the most inclusive announcement possible. Immigrant workers were represented by various food in the Thanksgiving feast, including a turkey, potatoes, and pumpkin.
The farmworkers, organized by United Farm Worker, also delivered letters from across the country explaining why administrative relief is so important to their communities. Many of the letters included invitations to the President to share a Thanksgiving meal with farmworkers and their families.
Arturo Rodriguez, President of United Farm Workers, met with President Obama following the Thanksgiving “feast”. As he said in a statement afterward:
We were pleased to learn from the President today that at least 250,000 farm workers (and at least 125,000 California farm workers) will be eligible for deportation relief under his executive action.
The President committed to working with UFW to do everything possible to make sure that every farm worker who qualifies for the program gets enrolled, and we are prepared to work with him and Congress to finish the job by passing legislation that fully addresses this issue once and for all.
View some of the photos from today’s event below:
