By Dylan Borne
On September 21st, over 100 people showed up in a playground in Kenner for a vigil called by Congreso de Jornaleros (Congress of Day Laborers) against wage theft and police discrimination. This protest was a response to a local employer, Santos Silva, refusing to pay his employees $700’s worth of wages. When the workers brought up that they could sue, Kenner police responded by taking the employer’s side and attempting to intimidate the workers. Multiple pastors, community leaders, and activists spoke up in support. Among them were representatives from the teachers’ union Jefferson Federation of Teachers and the construction workers’ union Laborers’ International Union of North America. They called for the unity of all workers, regardless of skin color, gender, or nationality, in the fight against the bosses that exploit us all. Many immigrant workers spoke up about their struggles with Louisiana police departments. Local police forces routinely arrest immigrants and beat detainees, even injured ones (one worker spoke about how he was beaten even though he was on crutches because of his broken pelvis). Kenner police also routinely turns immigrants into Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport them. But, as one worker, María, put it: “I am not afraid, I am angry because of everything that’s been done to us.”