Whereas:

• Within the first days of the new administration President Trump, through executive orders and reckless rhetoric, has initiated unprecedented and cruel attacks on immigrants and refugees;
• Some employers already feel emboldened by the new administration to further unleash unlawful and immoral attacks on immigrant workers;
• Women workers have become increasingly vulnerable to sexual harassment in the workplace;
• 26 states have “Right to Work” laws in place with additional states poised to follow suit;
• The nomination of a new labor secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor appears to signal the imminent weakening or dismantling of the Department, including the NLRB, OSHA, and EEOC protections, and the emboldening of similar moves by state legislatures, signaling a renewed and intensified war on working people;
• Our Muslim brothers and sisters have been targeted by the new administration, emboldening hate crimes against them and rumors of a mandatory Muslim registry, all of which greatly impacts Muslim workers, their families and their advocates;
• Our Black sisters and brothers continue to face police brutality and racist enforcement and criminal justice practices and institutions, and inappropriate language and generalized statements from the White House;
• All of the above are a complete contradiction to the spirit and/or the letter of the U.S. Constitution and the basic tenets of all faith traditions.

Whereas:

• Arise Chicago is an organization based in low-wage worker and faith communities, with a membership of individual low-wage workers of color and immigrants, and of congregations from a variety of socio-economic, racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Let it be resolved that Arise Chicago will:

• Educate, protect, and act in support of our individual worker members and congregation members;
• Stand against workplace raids and will deploy all of its resources in support of workers and their families when such raids occur;
• Train immigrant workers on their rights in the workplace, including preparedness for a workplace raid;
• Train women workers on how to avoid, combat, and report sexual harassment in the workplace, and how to create fair and safe workplaces;
• Broaden and deepen its alliance with groups that advocate for the rights of immigrants, Black, and Muslim working people;
• Create Rapid Response Teams to respond to all emergency situations regarding immigrants and Muslim workers;
• Advocate for public policies that offer explicit language regarding protection for immigrant workers and workers of all faith traditions;
• Educate unions, allies, congregations, lawyers, etc. on the lawful protections workers have in the workplace;
• Track and communicate all changes that occur in government that impact immigrant workers, including the Morton Memo that currently protects workers from ICE while in a labor dispute;
• Assist congregations in deepening their  understanding of how their faith traditions and Scriptures call on all of us to stand with the oppressed and persecuted.  

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