New York City - Members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, the largest U.S. healthcare union, are celebrating President Obama’s executive action providing relief to millions of aspiring citizens, and are vowing powerful, sustained support for the order through rallies, events, online organizing and speaking out in the media.



“There is a deep connection between civil rights, workers’ rights and immigrant rights,” said 1199SEIU President George Gresham. “Whenever you have a group of workers who are being exploited and taken advantage of, who live in fear and have no rights, that drags down the standards for all working people. Our country’s immigration system is profoundly broken, and has cruelly ripped parents from their children. Right-wing extremists prevented any sort of commonsense fix, so after six whole years of sincere attempts to compromise, our President took a courageous stand. This is not about playing politics, this is about people. This is about keeping sons and daughters together with their mothers and fathers. This is about the long struggle of our nation to live up to our ideals of welcoming hard-working newcomers and expanding full rights to all who strive for the American Dream.”



“Throughout our history, immigrants have always made vital contributions to our economy, schools, small businesses, culture and communities,” said Maria Castaneda, Secretary-Treasurer of 1199SEIU. “President Obama’s order is a major step towards helping workers who want to play by the rules, pay their taxes, and become recognized members of our society.”



The healthcare workers of 1199SEIU are highly politically active, and have vowed to hold elected officials across the country accountable in 2016 for their actions on immigration. The President’s executive order has moved America forward, but until Congress delivers comprehensive immigration reform, our fight continues.



Those who believe they can benefit from the administrative action are encouraged to learn more by visiting iAmerica.org, a new resource to get trusted, up-to-date information and the tools to apply for relief.