A threat to immigrant workers is a threat to all workers, and to the communities that depend on their labor

When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested several immigrant construction workers in South Philadelphia’s Mifflin Square Park, it sent shock waves through our communities.

It was a devastating reminder that fear is shaping daily life for the very people who keep our cities running.

That’s why, a year ago, the organizations we are part of — the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 21 — joined forces to advocate together and to educate both workers and policymakers about the challenges immigrant workers face. We knew then that immigrant workers across our industries were vulnerable.

At first glance, we may look worlds apart: domestic workers, mostly women, caring for children, aging adults, and cleaning inside homes; construction workers, mostly men, building those very homes.

But behind the curtain, the similarities are too stark to ignore. Both industries often operate in the underground economy, where workers are misclassified, wages are stolen, and immigration status is used as a weapon against them.

We know immigration is one of the most charged issues of our time — and it’s no different among our members. Some write off our work in this area, and that is their right. But many others are terrified because the communities they belong to are being targeted.

When home care workers are afraid, families lose care. When childcare workers are threatened, parents lose peace of mind. And when painters, drywall finishers, and glaziers are silenced or exploited, communities are left with unsafe, unfinished infrastructure, and workers get injured and sometimes even killed.

When employers get away with paying below minimum wage, denying overtime, forcing unsafe conditions, or threatening to call ICE, it lowers standards for everyone. A threat to immigrant workers is a threat to all workers, and to the communities that depend on their labor. This is the basis of a bedrock belief in the labor movement: an injury to one is an injury to all.

The history of our organizations reflects this. Many of the founding members of the painters’ union were immigrants from Ireland, Italy, and Eastern Europe. They faced xenophobia, discrimination, and brutal working conditions, yet fought to be treated with decency and fairness.

Today, the workers who keep this country running — those in agriculture, hospitality, construction, and domestic work — are following that same path, leaving behind poverty and violence in search of a better life.

But instead of protection, immigrants face punishment. Laws are increasingly weaponized, fueled by deportation quotas, for-profit detention centers, and politicians eager to scapegoat immigrant communities for systemic failures.

Families fleeing worsening violence and economic crises, often linked to U.S. policy, are met with detention and deportation. Temporary Protected Status, once a lifeline for people fleeing danger, is being slashed. Deferred action, which protected workers who reported wage theft or unsafe conditions from retaliation, is disappearing.

Even Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which once allowed people brought here as children to live and work freely, is unraveling.

What does this mean for nonimmigrant workers or immigrants with legal status?

Immigrant workers are the canary in the coal mine: If their rights fall, all of ours are next.

Some may think nothing, “It’s not our problem.” But if an administration can gut protections for immigrants, it can do the same to worker protections, our unions, and organizations.

For nearly a century, workers have collectively bargained thanks to the National Labor Relations Act. Yet, just weeks ago, a federal appellate court held that the National Labor Relations Board may be unconstitutionally structured.

Already hollowed out and unable to rule on behalf of workers, the NLRB’s very future (and with it, the National Labor Relations Act) is uncertain.

Meanwhile, billionaires seem to run the show, while ordinary working people watch our rights slip away.

Immigrant workers are the canary in the coal mine: If their rights fall, all of ours are next.

That is why domestic workers and painters, women and men, immigrants and citizens, have joined forces to remind this country that when we protect the most vulnerable, we protect everyone.

But we cannot do it alone. Cities like Philadelphia must enforce and expand worker protection laws — especially as lobbyists representing business interests continue gunning to block and weaken the POWER Act.

Unions must work with immigrant justice groups to defend all workers. And immigrant organizations must join the broader labor movement to demand dignity and safety for every worker, no matter their status.

Pat O’Connor is an organizer for Glaziers Local 252, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 21. Aurora Muñoz is the organizing manager at the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Domestic Workers Alliance.