In the early 20th century, labor groups like the AFL-CIO actively opposed immigration and pushed successfully for measures that would limit it, especially when it came to “non-white” immigrants like Eastern Europeans and Chinese. For several decades, when immigration was restricted, unions flourished without having to consider immigration very much.

Today, with millions of illegal immigrants in the country and union membership at an ebb, unions have to confront the issue once again. This time, however, they are taking a completely different approach.

Eddie Acosta is the National Worker Center Coordinator for the AFL-CIO. He works with immigrant worker centers, many organized for day laborers, to ensure that immigrants are informed of their rights and that they are not being exploited. Acosta supports worker centers’ lawsuits, works on immigration legislation, and spreads good will by traveling to the 175 worker centers around the country.

“The role of the AFL-CIO is to assist local unions and local worker centers to form relationships,” Acosta explained. While some union members feel immigrants are taking their jobs, he said, the AFL-CIO feels that working with immigrants and recruiting them into unions when possible helps the entire workforce, legal and illegal, to avoid exploitation. Meanwhile, the AFL-CIO is lobbying against the proposed guest worker program (pdf), because, Acosta said, it would lead to an underclass of exploited workers. It also opposes employer sanctions and supports amnesty for currently undocumented immigrants.

I have talked to people from the labor movement, but what do immigrants themselves think about this? Do unions ever take unfair advantage of immigrants, forcing them to join against their will or without their understanding? Acosta said that unions are supposed to provide information in Spanish, but that they often don’t.

Are there unions that do not admit undocumented workers? Do employers retaliate against undocumented workers who organize? What about other unions and labor groups? To what extent do immigrants play a role in whether unions support a particular candidate?

I’d like to cover this issue in more depth, so please post comments with insights or questions.

Here are some highlights:

Los Angeles:

Only 8,500 people turned out (20,000 had been expected) in Los Angeles, where police officers seemed to be particularly polite following a melee last year in which officers shoved journalists and marchers as they tried to clear the streets. From the Los Angeles Times coverage: “Work-site raids have swelled in recent years, with 4,900 arrests in fiscal 2007, a 45-fold increase over 2001, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. … [T]he L.A. County Economic Development Corp., which released a study showing that tens of thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue could be lost if continued raids force businesses to flee the state.”

New York:

From the New York Times coverage: “Though meager, the crowds were often festive and melded a variety of causes. A rally in Union Square Park in Manhattan drew several hundred people invoking socialism, police violence and Sept. 11 conspiracy theories, in addition to immigrant rights. Lisa Melendez, a community-college librarian from Long Island, said she attended the Union Square rally to advocate legalization for her students, many of whom are Mexican or Ecuadorean. “For young women, it’s especially difficult, because you study so hard to get an engineering degree and then you end up having to baby sit or clean houses,” Ms. Melendez said as she stood by five students who had come with her.”

Milwaukee:

From Milwaukee Journal Sentinel coverage: “Thousands chanting, “Sí, se puede,” (“Yes, we can”) marched through downtown for comprehensive immigration reform and a halt to the workplace raids that have reached record levels. This year’s event drew fewer than the throngs that turned out last year, when Milwaukee had one of the largest May Day immigrant marches in the country. … This year’s march attracted more student and faith-based groups. The march was led off by 100 students wearing “First 100 Days” T-shirts, calling for comprehensive immigration reform within the first l00 days of a new presidential administration.”

Chicago:

Protesters turned out in Chicago at the site of a stature commemorating a labor riot that occurred there 122 years ago, which inspired the world-wide celebration of workers’ right on May 1. Seven of the eight convicted for organizing the riot were immigrants. From Chicago Tribune coverage: “Indeed, the overlap between labor and immigrant issues was clearly on the minds of the Latino community activists, union leaders and a handful of workers at the rally beside the nearly 4-year-old monument on Des Plaines Avenue between Lake and Randolph Streets. For Ramon Becerra, 38, the Chicago-area head of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, which is organized labor’s bridge to the Latino community, unions have come a long way in recognizing that “immigrants workers are workers.”

Houston:

More than 200 supporters and a few dozen counter-protesters turned up in Houston. From Houston Chronicle coverage: “With Thursday’s march, organizers said they were hoping to bring attention to a bill pending in Congress called the SAVE Act, or the Secure America with Verification and Enforcement Act, which would add an estimated 8,000 U.S. Border Patrol agents and require employers to use federal databases to verify the status of all workers. The SAVE Act offers no path toward legalization for illegal immigrants in the U.S.”