Damayan presents Immigrant Rights Workshop to Filipino Community Members

Last week, Damayan Worker Leader Fei and Damayan staff member Mayra, through the support of the NYC Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, presented an Immigrant Rights Workshop to over 30 Filipino community members during 2 events: 1. On Damayan’s May Legal Clinic on Saturday, May 20th at Manhattan, 2. On a Damayan community outreach on Sunday, May 21st at St. Michael’s Church in Flushing, Queens.

Damayan Legal Clinics empowers new and old members with their immigration and labor rights. The day after the legal clinic, Damayan team attended mass at St. Michael’s Church, wherein the Filipino community group welcomed and invited the Damayan team for lunch. Our team then introduced the community members to Damayan, our mission, and provided an important Know-Your-Immigration-Rights training.

Damayan distributed literature about I.C.E, including a Know-Your-Rights card for community members to use as a communication tool—a tool to assert their rights to remain silent and seek legal representation in potential interactions with law enforcement. Many of our community members were never formally presented with their immigrant rights, thus they were thankful to learn about how to engage with law enforcement and assert their rights as New Yorkers, regardless of their immigration status. Damayan is grateful to Ate Divina for allowing us to present to their church members about their immigrant rights. Damayan will continue to outreach to the Filipino and immigrant community in Queens and New York City as we stick true to our mission of empowering workers to fight for their rights!