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As temperatures plunged from 94 degrees into the 60s on a recent August evening, Lodi grower Brad Goehring dispatched his crew of Mexican workers into a field to pick Pinot Gris. The grapes were finally sweet enough, and the 2017 wine harvest had begun. Despite President Donald Trump’s pledge to step up deportations of undocumented immigrants, there’s little evidence of field workers being rounded up in California this year. “We haven’t heard of a single ICE raid in California fields,” said Goehring. An estimated 70 percent of California’s roughly 600,000 farm workers are undocumented, according to United Farm Workers Vice...

Men in the U.S. illegally are more likely to work than their native-born counterparts, and they’re willing to take jobs pretty much regardless of how much or little they get paid, new research from Harvard University finds. The study fleshes out the behavior of undocumented workers—a group that by its nature can be difficult to analyze. The challenge of studying the roughly 11.3 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. leaves policy makers guessing on the implications for a wide range of proposals—from offering such workers a path to citizenship to kicking them out of the country. To help fill in...

An amateur cameraman claims he's got video proof that California Sen. Barbara Boxer's supporters enlisted day laborers to hold signs protesting her Republican opponent. Derek Broes, a supporter of GOP Senate nominee Carly Fiorina, has released a video he shot outside a Pasadena debate that showed two Spanish-speaking men holding a slapdash white sign accusing "corporate cash" of loving the Republican candidate. Though the audio is hard to hear, one of the men clearly says he did not make the sign -- another appears to say a "lady" was paying them to hold it.

A federal lawsuit filed in Greenbelt alleges that a Maryland company that paints luxury condominiums in the District defrauded Latino immigrant workers who routinely worked 60 hours or more a week by failing to pay them overtime. The company, SCCP Painting Contractors Inc., also allegedly did not pay the four plaintiffs named in the suit for their final two weeks of work. One of the workers, Ivan Aplicano, 34, of Gaithersburg said in an interview yesterday that he worked 113 hours during his last two weeks with the company. Its refusal to pay him after he was fired in April...

LOS ANGELES The nation's largest federation of unions agreed Wednesday to work with a network of immigrant day laborers to improve wages and working conditions for those who solicit work from street corners across America. The agreement between the AFL-CIO and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, formally adopted in Chicago, is a sign of day laborers' growing role in the U.S. economy. Experts also said it reflects the need for unions to expand to regain clout. The agreement does not clear the way for day laborers to become union members, but both sides said it could be a step...

Wednesday 15th February, 2006 Two unions leave AFL-CIO Big News Network.com Tuesday 14th February, 2006 (UPI) The Laborers' International Union and the International Union of Operating Engineers said Tuesday they were leaving the AFL-CIO. The two unions, two of the largest in the United States and have 1.1 million members between them, will leave the AFL-CIO's Building and Construction Trades Department to form a new organization. Both unions will join several other construction trade unions in founding the National Construction Alliance, which will represent virtually all union basic trades workers in the United States. The NCA will focus on helping...

Count Tom DeLay as one of those upset about Thursday’s roundup of day laborers in League City. But the Republican congressman wasn’t troubled to see that 62 suspected illegal immigrants were rounded up in the sweep. Instead, he was dismayed because almost all were let go. “I am very encouraged we have local law enforcement that wants to go after criminals who happen to be illegal immigrants and that (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) would help,” said DeLay, who has made immigration one of the top issues of his re-election campaign. “On the other hand, I am disheartened that they had...

  For Immediate ReleaseDecember 3, 2005 President's Radio Address      Audio      THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Earlier this week I visited Arizona and Texas to observe firsthand our efforts to protect our southwest border. And I met with customs and border protection agents who are working tirelessly to enforce our laws and keep our borders secure. Illegal immigration and border security are issues that concern Americans. We're a nation built on the rule of law, and those who enter the country illegally break the law. In communities near our border illegal immigration strains the resources of schools, hospitals, and law enforcement....

Chris Core, WMAL Radio to Broadcast Live from Herndon, (VA) Town Council Meeting on Day Laborer (Illegal Alien) Shelter.... ..(Tonight), the Herndon Town Council will vote on public funding for a day laborer shelter that would serve a large number of illegal aliens..... 630 WMAL's Chris Core will be there in person to deliver blow-by-blow coverage of what promises to be a contentious meeting..... The Chris Core Show will broadcast live from Herndon Town Hall beginning at 6:00pm (Eastern Time, 3:00 p.m. Pacific). How do you feel about this issue? Come out and make your opinion known, or call...

Planning Commission Votes Against Day Labor SiteHERNDON, Va. (AP) - A set back for those hoping to build a site in Herndon, Virginia for day laborers. WMAL Radio reports the planning commission voted early this morning against the site. A third public hearing on the matter was held last night. On Monday, hundreds of people signed up to speak at the hearing -- so many the extra session had to be added. Supporters say the site would provide a safe gathering place for people who are willing to do undesirable jobs for low pay. It would also provide them with...

NEWBURGH, N.Y. - Sunday morning in this small Hudson Valley city, more than 1,000 parishioners, most from Mexico, pack Spanish-language Masses at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. Afterward, many families flock to El Azteca for its authentic tacos. If somebody needs a ride home, there are at least a dozen local taxi companies catering to newcomers born in the Mexican states of Puebla and Jalisco. New residents from Mexico have, in the past four years, opened dozens of businesses that have begun to reinvigorate the ailing downtown district; they are the region's fastest growing community. It's the same story elsewhere in...

Mexican remittances head for new record By John Authers Published: August 26 2004 03:00 | Last updated: August 26 2004 03:00 Remittances from Mexican migrant labourers are on course to set another record this year, according to the Bank of Mexico. Total second-quarter remittances reached $4.5bn (€3.7bn, £2.5bn) - an increase of 29.1 per cent over the second quarter 2003, according to a report by the bank. The numbers are likely to intensify competition among US banks for a share of the remittance market, which is seen as the best way to improve their marketing to Hispanics. Total remittances for...

SAN FRANCISCO- Mexican laborers who say they're owed money for working on American farms and railroads more than 50 years ago called for a boycott Thursday of the bank they say transferred their wages. Laborers called for a boycott of Wells Fargo banks a day after their lawsuit against the bank, the U.S. and Mexican governments and three Mexican banks was dismissed. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer concluded Wednesday that the workers weren't entitled to relief in a U.S. court. The bank said Thursday it acted responsibly. "We believe we completely fulfilled our responsibility to transfer the money," Wells Fargo...

<p>Pascual Manalio of Phoenix attends a Mass at Courthouse Park in Merced on Thursday that kicked off the farm workers' 150-mile march to Sacramento.</p> <p>MERCED -- A small band of farm workers and their supporters set out on a 10-day march Thursday from the middle of the San Joaquin Valley to pressure Gov. Gray Davis into a signing a bill they believe is crucial to keeping the labor movement alive in the agricultural belly of California.</p>

<p>Gov. Gray Davis was an eyewitness to one of the most dramatic and historic episodes ever seen in the California Capitol.</p> <p>There had been decades of sometimes violent strife in California's agricultural fields as the United Farm Workers union, under charismatic leader Cesar Chavez, tried to organize low-paid workers. For those involved, the UFW's struggle -- with its picket lines, sit-ins, boycotts and court battles -- reached the mythic status of the Southern civil rights movement.</p>