Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico April 27, 2008
This is an historic moment for Global Workers. Tonight 23 advocates from 13 human rights organizations from southern Mexico and Guatemala are arriving in Tapachula, Mexico for a three-day Training on Defending Transnational Migrant Workers in the United States. After over two years of carefully laying the groundwork traveling through the region to identify potential partners (from priests running migrant shelters to seasoned human rights attorneys), this training will be the official launch of the Global Workers Defender Network.
The purpose of the network is to ensure portable justice for transnational migrant workers. By training trusted advocates in the sending communities of migrants in US employment-related law, they will serve as partners with US organizations defending migrant workers. To address the tremendous challenge of helping workers recover stolen wages or facing their human traffickers when they leave the United States, partners in the migrants’ home countries are essential. Without cross border collaboration workers too often must drop their cases or never learn how to challenge their abusers in the first place. The success of the next three days will determine if this vision is possible.