N.Y. Teamsters form ‘sanctuary union’ to fight ICE agents from nydailynews.com

By Big Al

Big Al’s opinion: Seems pretty simply to me Larry. Immigration laws do not matter. I, personally, have a choice in that I can get angry and absolutely ruin my day or I can simply do nothing and accept it. I have certain principles, but it is obvious that I can only apply these principles to my own life.

I really have no choice other than to voice my own opinion and respect or not respect folks who believe that there are “good laws and bad laws” It has gotten to the point where enforcing laws are now a matter of opinion.

I have chosen to respect the law and to disrespect those who chose not to do that.

It is simply all that I as a human being can do as I can control no one other than myself.

Let me take this one step further. I have chosen to live a Christian lifestyle. If someone disagrees with me I simply do what Jesus said: “Shake the dust from your sandals and walk away.

Worried about federal immigration policies, a New York labor organization is taking steps to protect its own.Across Long Island and throughout the city, some 120,000 Teamsters are getting prepped to become a “sanctuary union.”

In 27 shops, business agents, supervisors and front-line workers are getting schooled on their rights under U.S. law — and when and how to challenge federal immigration agents who show up to search their work sites.

The training is complex and technical — hinging on specific types of warrants and the definition of a raid.

But in fundamental labor terms, it follows one simple rule: Union solidarity first, immigration status second.

The Teamsters’ decision to openly challenge immigration enforcement under President Trump is rooted in the loss of one of its own members.

On Aug. 24, Teamster Eber Garcia Vasquez, 54, a married father of three U.S.-born children, was detained by immigration agents when he showed up for a routine annual appointment.

Shipped first to a Bergen County jail in New Jersey, then to Louisiana, Garcia was whisked back to his home country of Guatemala roughly 10 days later — despite a clean criminal record and two pending green card applications for him, one from his U.S. citizen wife and another from his son.

Furious Teamsters picketed outside 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan, demanding Garcia be returned home. “We were all appalled at what happened to Eber,” Teamsters Joint Council 16 President George Miranda told the Daily News at a sanctuary training meeting last week.

“Eber is part of our family — we in the Teamsters rely on each other to get through the tough times,” he said.

Many Teamsters are white, blue-collar men — a demographic that in some unions skewed toward Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

But the organization — which covers a variety of fields, including airlines, truckers, dairy farmers and more — also has a sizable share of immigrant workers, roughly a third, 40,000.

After what happened to Garcia — one of many recent forced deportations — worry ran through Teamster shops, Miranda …read more

Source:: The Korelin Economics Report

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