The UC Irvine Labor Center and the Orange Country Labor Federation hosted “From Guanajuato to Orange County” at the Newkirk Alumni Center on Oct. 16. The event gathered labor leaders, academics, policymakers and experts for a discussion exploring migration, immigration and labor across Orange County (OC) and Mexico.
UCI Labor Center Research Director and moderator Iza Camarillo provided a welcome speech to attendees and introduced a brief overview of the center, a research and education hub that advocates for workers power and economic justice in OC.
Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Welfare for the School of Social Ecology Jason Schiffman and Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley discussed the event’s significance and remarked on speakers, elected officials and participating organizations, including the Orange Country Labor Federation.
“You will hear about how they’re going above and beyond to support the immigrant community here in Orange County, and I mean far beyond what any other organization does, quite frankly, and they help union members and non-union members alike,” Camarillo said.
The program then featured a conversation with Congresswoman Yesenia Rojas Cervantes from Guanajuato, Mexico, and U.S Representative of Calif. District 46 Lou Correa. They discussed how immigration has shaped families and communities on both sides of the border and how UCI students can be involved in many student organizations on campus that address these issues.
“I think that the students can get a better understanding of just how deep these issues are, and just maybe see some connections that they hadn’t considered in the past, especially with the workplace and labor,” Camarillo said.
Third-year international studies major Sofia Gomez is one of the many UCI students who are interested in how the university discusses issues that impact Mexican backgrounds. She is currently working on developing her thesis regarding the relationships between the U.S-Mexico borders.
“I’m still formulating my research question, but it’s mostly seeing what is the relationship of the function of post-election U.S.-Mexico borders, and then how … it’s not just immigration and urban wars, but also a reflection of the economic relationship between these countries,” Gomez told New University.
The program also had a moderated panel discussion between three panelists, including Executive Director of the Orange County Labor Federation Gloria Alvarado, Director of Workers Rights and Labor Legal Services at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Yunuen Trujillo and professor and Department Chair of Chicano and Latino studies Glenda M. Flores.
Each panelist had a unique viewpoint on the issues and experiences that Latinos face for attendees to gain a wide range of perspectives on immigration and labor.
Camarillo said that Alvarado has more than 30 years of labor experience and represents over 300,000 union workers in OC. She was also contributing as a partner and supporter of the labor center.
“We work closely with Gloria to identify research priorities and to identify ways that the labor center can be useful to workers in Orange County,” Camarillo said.
Flores focused her work on Latinos in high-skilled occupations, including those in the medical field. She published her second book, “The Weight of the White Coat: Latinos Navigating American Medicine,” where she discussed Latinos who got into medical school and what their pathways were like.
“For the second book on physicians, I wanted to see how did these people get into medicine? What did they do? What did the pathway look like?” Flores told New University.
She found that the most common occupation for Latinas with a bachelor’s degree was K-12 teaching. After interviewing these students, she found that they studied STEM-related subjects, but didn’t pursue those fields. She wanted to discover what got Latinos interested in these occupations.
Trujillo is an immigration attorney, who focuses on immigration and employment law. Her work protects workers from low wages, discrimination and immigration in the workplace.
“I’ve actually known Yunuen for a bit, and she collaborated with me some time ago on a project about the root causes of migration,” Camarillo said.
Camarillo said that she is not trying to convince anyone, but she wants participants to understand the complexities of labor issues through various experiences and voices from Mexico and Orange County.
“My hope is that they see through our work, which focuses on research, education and community engagement. We hope that they understand how to advocate for themselves, how to advocate for their colleagues, understand their rights and most importantly, to walk away with having learned something new,” Camarillo said.
Melody Liao is a Features Staff Writer. She can be reached at liaome@uci.edu.
Edited by Ennes Kahf
Melody Liao is a third-year English and Literary Journalism student with a minor in Management. She was born and raised from Irvine, California. In her free time, she enjoys reading young adult, watching love-triangle romance shows, and going for a swim at the beach.