September 24, 2007
Chicago, Illinois

Every day, tens of millions of workers in this country - just like the men and women standing with me today - get up each morning, ready and committed to putting in an honest days work.

They expect to work hard.

They expect to work long hours.

They expect to earn their pay.

What they don't expect is to have government agents storm their workplaces in full riot gear with guns drawn.

What they don't expect is to be rounded up, detained, handcuffed and battered on the job.

What they don't expect is to have their constitutional rights trampled on.

What they don't expect is to have their own government deny them contact with their families, with legal representation and to leave their children stranded and afraid.

Not in the United States of America. Not here.

Yet, that is exactly what is happening to U.S. Citizens and legal residents across the country - and it has to stop.

Work is not a crime.

Workers are not criminals.

We do not leave our constitutional rights at the plant gate.

On December 12, 2006, hundreds of heavily armed agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement stormed six meatpacking and processing plants in America's heartland.

At gunpoint, thousands of workers were herded together, and stripped of their rights.

Production was disrupted, workers were effectively robbed of the ability to earn a paycheck, and entire communities were thrown into turmoil and panic.

Workers were denied access to phones, bathrooms, families and legal counsel.

Some were handcuffed and held for hours.

Others were shipped out on buses.

Families were left divided not knowing where or when they might see a missing loved one again.

The justification for this massive disruption of work, family and community was a handful of warrants, involving less than one percent of the workers swept up in the raids.

Think about that for a minute.

Thousands of innocent workers -- citizens and legal residents -- who broke no law, committed no crime -- and who were not even alleged to have broken a law or committed a crime -- were criminalized for simply showing up at work.

These actions were not only unacceptable and unconscionable -- they were downright un-American.

Earlier this month, the UFCW filed a lawsuit to stop the government from illegally rounding up thousands of innocent workers, because of allegations involving a few individuals.

This suit is at the heart of protecting workers rights in this country.

And today we are announcing the formation of a National Commission on ICE Misconduct and Violations of Fourth Amendment Rights.

The commission members, who will be formally named in the coming days, will be leading experts on civil rights, law enforcement, immigration and worker safety.

Their mission will be clear: to expose injustice, to educate the public, and to make clear recommendations as to how the government should treat its citizenry.

Commissions have long been a tool the American people have relied on when their civil and constitutional rights have been violated.

It is our hope that this commission will play an important role in alerting and informing the public, and our politicians, that our rights are under attack -- and that we will not sit by idly while future workplace raids are being planned.

What most Americans think could never happen to them has happened -- and it could happen anywhere in America, at any workplace, at any time.

We ask all workers -- and all Americans -- to join us in this fight to protect our Constitutional rights.

The UFCW -- along with other unions, and civil and immigrant rights advocates -- are holding events around the country,  to ensure that we shine a light on illegal ICE actions.

You will see pledge cards around the room.

I urge you to take one -- and to become part of this national movement to protect workers.

We -- all of us -- must stop this abuse before it spreads to other plants and other industries.

Thank you.