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Labor Day Reflection: America Should Be The Land of Opportunity, Not Worker Exploitation

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The Center for Urban Economic Development, National Employment Law Project, and UCLA Institutute for Research on Labor and Employment, released a study titled “Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers” that explored the treatment of approximately 4,500 workers in three of America’s biggest cities – New York, LA, and Chicago.

It cites a surprising number of labor and workplace abuses happening right here in the United States.

One of the most glaring findings is that the current dysfunctional immigration system also makes it harder for immigrant workers to assert their rights in the workplace– and that this hurts all American workers.

The New York Times notes:

“Workplace abuses are flourishing in the absence of a working immigration system, where illegal immigrants are vital to the economy but helpless to assert their rights. The report upends the argument that the way to help American workers is to make illegal immigrants ever more frightened and exploitable. Only by protecting all workers will the country begin to rebuild a workplace matching its ideals of decency and fair play.”