LCLAA Applauds Action Making OSHA a U and T Visa Certifying Agency

Washington, DC - LCLAA applauds Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Assistant Secretary Doug Parker for granting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) the authority to issue U-Visa and T-Visa certifications. 

For far too long immigrant workers have lacked adequate protections, despite being more likely to be exposed to safety and health hazards on the job, and more likely to experience exploitation and retaliation. The actions taken by the Administration this week will not only protect immigrant workers from dangerous workplaces but will also give the Administration an increased ability to hold abusive employers accountable. 

The Department of Labor’s decision comes after years of advocacy by immigrants’ and workers’ rights organizations and after a coalition of over 20 organizations, including LCLAA, urged the Department to make OSHA able to issue these critical and life-changing visas. 

Yanira Merino, National President of the Labor Council for the Latin American Advancement on the signing of the memorandum, “For years if immigrant workers had their health and safety endangered at the workplace, they could not participate in an investigation without risking deportation. It has been this glaring gap in workers’ protections in this country that has had life and death consequences, as we saw at the poultry plant in Georgia that killed six workers. It is a tremendous step forward for our movement that OSHA can now issue these vital certifications.”