Understanding that what benefits some workers in the US should benefit all workers has been a struggle in the pro-migrant community. Finally it seems that there us some movement towards recognizing that scapegoating undocumented workers as the cause for labor and economic woes isn’t helping anyone.

The nation’s two major labor federations have agreed for the first time to join forces to support an overhaul of the immigration system, leaders of both organizations said on Monday. The accord could give President Obama significant support among unions as he revisits the stormy issue in the midst of the recession.

What does pro-labor/pro-migrant immigration reform look like?

The accord endorses legalizing the status of illegal immigrants already in the United States and opposes any large new program for employers to bring in temporary immigrant workers, officials of both federations said.

The guest worker program has been a huge sticking point since the business sector loves guest worker programs and sees them as a “trade-off” for legalizing millions of undocumented.

Nezua of The Unapologetic Mexican and The Sanctuary, or shall I say “Neh-ZOO-uh, from Pomegranate Dot Org (damn those Latino names), liveblogged a SEIU/A.F.L.C.I.O conference call held yesterday. You can read the liveblog here or here. Pero most interesting thing about this new uniting on the issue of immigration reform is of course what is left out of the discussion, namely the ICE raids and detention, an issue that Nezua asked about.

While it seems that no clear answer was given, I really hope that in trying to build a broad based coalition to support immigration reform, families who live in fear and those who live in mourning aren’t left out of the discussion.

Death by Detention (Racial Justice and Immigrant Rights) from Breakthrough on Vimeo.

Via / NYT