Immigrant History, Immigrant Future

"We are composed of all creeds, colors and nationalities, and do not allow anyone to use prejudice in the organization against each other."

William Quesse, founding organizer of the Building Service Employees International Union.

In 1921, immigrant janitors from Eastern Europe, Africa, Turkey, Spain and Ireland came together in Chicago to form the Building Service Employees International Union (BSEIU). Today, the Service Employees International Union has come to represent some 2.2 million workers, over 25 percent of whom identify as immigrants - a constant tribute to the union's roots. From the start, SEIU has embraced its heritage as a union of immigrants and has stood on the frontline of immigrant justice.

In June 2000, thousands of SEIU members joined nearly 20,000 people gathered at the Los Angeles Sports Arenas for one of the largest immigrant rights events ever held. The rally, in many ways, was the capstone to a series of actions that started in the wake of President Reagan's anti-immigration policies and laws in the 1980s. While the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act had been billed as a way to punish employers who knowingly hired undocumented workers, its practical effect was to allow some employers to exploit immigrants and take advantage of their vulnerable legal status.

But SEIU members were intent to repeal the Reagan-era law, and at the 2000 SEIU Convention in Pittsburgh, members overwhelmingly endorsed a resolution to do just that. Actions in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles and elsewhere created a national platform for SEIU members to speak out against the dangerous law, and soon defined the union as a national player in the immigration debate. By 2010, and with 2.2 million members, SEIU represented more immigrant workers than another union in the United States.

In 2009, SEIU members put technology to use and launched an online campaign to stop the deportation of high-achieving immigrant students. The campaign saved several students from deportation to countries they barely knew - they had entered the United States as small children, succeeded in school and yet faced deportation because they had no path to legalized citizenship.

When Arizona legislatures passed a draconian anti-immigrant bill in 2010, SEIU members in Arizona and elsewhere rallied, calling the measure unconstitutional and unacceptable. Across the country, SEIU members joined with allies from the faith, labor and immigrant rights communities calling for a comprehensive solution to our broken immigration system and soundly rejecting dangerous bills like Arizona's.

SEIU Local 32BJ members and immigration reform activists rally against Arizona's draconian anti-immigrant law outside the White House.

"A comprehensive solution would couple enforcement at the border and in the workplace with a path to earned legalization for all hard-working immigrants," explained SEIU International Secretary-Treasurer Eliseo Medina at a 2010 rally. "It will also replace guest worker programs with a system that guarantees immigrant workers full labor and civil rights protections and a path to U.S. citizenship."

Today, SEIU continues to honor our heritage as a union of janitors with an immigrant justice campaign that focuses on political mobilization, legislative action and member education. SEIU members are united around the common belief that Americans are fair, Americans believe in order, and Americans are pragmatic - and we need to bring these values to the table while we develop a comprehensive strategy to fixing our broken immigration system. It's time to replace angry political bickering with real solutions. Immigrants work hard, pay taxes, sacrifice for their families, want to learn English, and believe in the American Dream.

Learn more about our union's history at http://www.seiu.org/anniversary.