THE Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles hosted a webinar to shed light on the laws, rules, and regulations affecting foreign migrant workers among the large Filipino community in the United States.
Titled “Alamin ang Inyong Karapatan: A Virtual Panel Discussion on Migrants’ and Workers’ Rights,” the webinar on Thursday, August 19 was a follow-up to the Consul’s pilot episode focused on financial literacy held in May.
Attending the webinar were Consul General Edgar B. Badajos as well as guest speakers Attorney Marlon D. Baldomero from the Philippine American Bar Association (PABA) and Aquilina Soriano-Versoza of Pilipino Workers Center (PWC) of Southern California.
Badajos, in his opening remarks, noted that Southern California, Arizona, and Southern Nevada are home to a combined population of an estimated 1.3 million Filipinos.
According to him, Filipinos now comprise the third biggest migrant community in Southern California after the Mexicans and the Chinese.
“The number of Filipinos in this part of the United States actually is growing and the continued influx of Filipino workers and immigrants to the United States is very much visible here in Southern California, which still holds the highest concentration of Filipino workers and Filipino immigrants in the United States,” added Badajos.
He also highlighted stories about Filipino immigrants finding themselves in difficult situations concerning their immigration status, running into problems with the law, and being short-changed of their legal entitlements under U.S. Labor laws as legal workers or domestic workers.
Badajos attributed all these situations to a lack of knowledge or information about legal procedures and processes.
“The United States has become a place of failed dreams and ambitions, instead of being the land of plenty, as many newly arrived Filipino immigrants of workers have come to believe from countless Hollywood movies they have seen,” he noted.
“In recognition of this problem, the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles decided to organize this webinar in the hopes of giving our viewers some insights on how to better integrate themselves into American society towards realizing their version of the American dream,” the consul general said.
Migrants’ rights
For his part, Baldomero talked about the rights that are protected for everyone present in the U.S. regardless of their status.
“The reason why it’s important to know of these rights is because we need to use them in order to obtain the protection that they provide. Kapag hindi natin ginamit itong mga karapatan na binibigay satin under the U.S. Constitution, mababalewala siya (If we don’t use these rights that are given to us under the U.S. Constitution, it will lose its value),” said Baldomero.
Under the U.S. Constitution, everyone in the U.S. has certain basic rights such as the right to remain silent, the right to privacy, the right to an attorney, and the right to due process.
Baldomero said that in any given scenario where someone is interviewed or questioned by an officer of the law, everyone has the right “to refuse to answer questions” until they have the chance to consult with an attorney.
“Another option is not to speak at all,” he added.
Baldomero also said that individuals can exercise their right to remain silent when they can’t present a green card or an application filed on their behalf.
As for the right to privacy, he said no one has to open their door to any law enforcement agency including the Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) unless a judge has issued a search warrant.
According to Baldomero, the search warrant will only be valid if it includes both the resident’s name and address. The warrant must also be issued by a court and signed by a judge.
In the right to an attorney, immigrants facing removal have the right to an attorney but not at the government’s expense.
Baldomero noted that in immigration proceedings, individuals are not provided with an attorney if they can’t afford one. However, there are organizations around LA and across the U.S. that offer free help like the Legal Aid Foundation of LA Catholic Charities, American Bar Association, Immigrant Defenders Law Center.
Connected to the right to an attorney is the right to due process wherein immigrants have the right to fair court procedures in removal proceedings.
“So hindi ibig sabihin na kapag na-detain tayo, wala ng pag-asa o kinabukasan o shortly thereafter madedeport tayo (So it doesn’t mean that if you were detained, there’s no hope or that tomorrow or shortly thereafter, you’ll be deported),” said Baldomero.
“Isa po sa mga constitutionally protected rights ng mga tao dito sa U.S. is the right to due process (One of the constitutionally protected rights of the people here in the U.s. is the right to due process),” he added.
However, there are exceptions to this right such as if an immigrant has previously been ordered removed from within the U.S. and has not left the country or if an immigrant was previously deported and then reentered the country or is the subject to the expanded expedited removal provisions.
Baldomero also stressed that immigrants seeking legal status are advised to always seek the help of an attorney and not a notary.
According to him, notaries in the U.S. are not authorized to practice law. They also can’t accept money on behalf of an attorney.
Workers’ rights
Meanwhile, Soriano-Versoza focused on people’s rights as an immigrant worker in the U.S.
“We all have rights here, especially in California. Workers are protected by labor laws, and it does not matter where you were born or what your legal status is. Once you are hired, you have rights,” she said.
Some basic rights of workers include rest and meal breaks, safe and healthy jobs, being paid minimum wage and overtime, benefits if injured or unemployed, and taking action without being punished to uphold your rights.
According to Versoza, employers are required to pay workers what they are owed and provide rest and meal breaks. Not doing so is called wage theft.
She also noted the different forms of wage theft such as: if you work at a piece rate or off the books, if you are forced to clock out early and keep working, if you had your tip stolen, and if you don’t receive meal or rest breaks and need to work continuously.
Soriano-Versoza also detailed the employers responsibilities to their workers, one of which was the right to be paid at least the minimum wage.
“Even if you are paid by a piece rate or by the day or week, your wages must still add up to an equal to the minimum wage for all of the hours that you worked,” she stressed.
“Sometimes this can be complicated to figure out. So it may be that you want to reach out to an organization or to the Labor Commissioner’s office to actually work out exactly what your minimum wage should be,” she added.
Further, Versoza said workers should be paid overtime, which is equal to one and a half times the regular rate of pay for working more than eight hours in one day or over 40 hours in one week.
Another right of workers is a paid 10-minute rest break for every four hours of work, as well as a meal break.
“We need to take care of ourselves so that we can stay strong and healthy. So we all need meal breaks. We all need rest breaks as well,” Soriano-Versoza said.
If a worker encounters problems at work, she said that one important thing to do is to document everything. This means keeping track of work hours and pay.
She also stressed that there are statutes of limitations in filing a claim on stolen wages.
“Generally, you have three years to be able to file a claim on stolen wages. So if you can, you can claim for a period of three years back,” Soriano-Versoza said. “You don’t want to wait too long before filing a claim.”
In addition, she also cited the immigration relief related to workers’ rights and workers’ rights violations — the U Visa and the T Visa.
The U Visa is for victims of extortion, fraud in labor contracting, peonage, obstruction of justice, involuntary servitude related to labor cases.
“Fortunately, now with the new federal administration, they’ve made a change where any U visa that has a basic credible application, that applicant is now eligible for working authorization while the application is being processed,” Soriano-Versoza pointed out.
“It usually would take about three or four years into the process before an applicant might be eligible, and the U visas take a very long time to adjudicate. But that’s something that’s changed with the new administration just this year,” she added.
Meanwhile, the T Visa is for victims of labor trafficking, as well as sex trafficking.
“For anyone who thinks that it may be possible that they are a labor trafficking victim, either currently or in the past, we recommend that you get interviewed by an organization like Pilipino Workers Center or an attorney who is also knowledgeable in the field of labor trafficking,” said Soriano-Versoza. n
