After leaving Guatemala, René Bautista became a San Franciscan as what I now call a “pre-documented” worker: an immigrant already part of our community, contributing through work who will one day have their documents in order. He and another day laborer traded plumbing jobs for recyclables, collecting them late at night, redeeming them in the early morning then heading to the Day Labor Program in search of more work.
Within two years in the early 1990s, René had saved enough to open El Miramar, a seafood restaurant on 24th and Harrison in the Mission District. His hard work supported his family, sustained other small businesses, contributed tax revenue to city services and preserved a vibrant piece of the Mission’s Latino culture.
René’s story is one of millions. Day laborers and Domestic Workers generate public resources for all of us, create generational wealth for their families and keep our neighborhoods alive. It’s time we recognize their value and return the favor.
More on day laborers
- ICE fears and loss of work hit San Francisco’s day laborers hard
- An immigrant came to San Francisco for work. One injury changed everything
- How immigrants can protect themselves from wage theft in California
Immigrant workers have always been key to the fights for the eight-hour workday, the weekend, family leave and living wages in the United States. These hard-won gains rest on a simple truth: when we share the wealth we have created, everyone benefits.
Today’s pre-documented workforce is building the future just as earlier generations built ours. Yet they face renewed attacks from the Trump administration, raids in our cities and arrests at routine immigration check-ins.
If you benefit from legal residency or citizenship, now is the time to act. Here are six ways to give back:
Protect and accompany: Join Bay Resistance (info@bayresistance) and other groups that accompany people to immigration appointments at 100 Montgomery St. to ensure their safety or help them secure virtual court hearings when in-person attendance poses a risk.
Stand guard at hiring corners: Through the Adopt a Corner program, build relationships with day laborers and be ready to document or block illegal ICE activity. Call Nuevo Sol Day Labor Program at (415) 529-WORK(9675).
Push for a path to citizenship: Support Senator Alex Padilla’s “Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929,” allowing immigrants here for seven years to begin the citizenship process. Contact organizer Renee Saucedo at (707) 273-2974 to get involved.
Hire locally: For home repairs, moving help, gardening or house cleaning, hire day laborers and domestic workers through (415) 529-WORK(9675). Nuevo Sol Day Labor and Domestic Worker Center is a platform where neighbors in need (clean house, moving support, beautiful yard) meet neighbors who provide the service to meet that need, and a fair wage for good service is exchanged, boosting a local economy, a rising tide that lifts all boats.
Support impacted workers: Norbelina Ruíz and her family have been in need of support ever since her husband was taken by ICE as he visited his regular appointment. Now without a head of household they are facing devastating results. Please help.
Show up: On September 1, join the Labor Day march on 24th Street to honor workers and demand protection for our immigrant neighbors. Bring your friends, faith group, union or youth group.
René continues the legacies of Dolores Huerta, César Chávez and countless elders who fought not just for themselves but for future generations to live with dignity and freedom. That torch is now in our hands.
We are not merely witnesses to history. We are shaping it. Let’s do it in a way that honors our ancestors, protects our neighbors and invests in the future we share.
Francisco Herrera is the Co-Executive Director of Nuevo Sol Day Labor & Domestic Worker Center / Caminante Cultural Foundation INC.