Immigrant workers are being hit hard by the combined crises of climate change and racist state policy. Here on the occasion of a reading group meeting, we interviewed two women workers about their experiences.

Workers’ Voice: How long have you lived in this country and why did you decide to come?

A: My name is Alejandra. I am from El Salvador. I’ve been in the U.S. for 12 years, I came in 2013. The reason why I decided to come here was because I suffered a lot of domestic violence from my ex-partner. I suffered a lot of mistreatment, a lot of abuse, and I reached a point where I couldn’t take it anymore. I made the decision to come here by myself in search of help and to be a little bit better with myself.

F: My name is Felicia. I am an Indigenous woman from the state of Guerrero, Mexico, and yes, I made the decision to come here because of discrimination from my family, and that forced me to make the drastic decision to come to a foreign country and leave my family. I’ve been living in California for 25 years.

WV: What has been your work experience in the United States?

A: Regarding my work experience in the United States, I have worked in a little bit of everything. Cleaning houses, cleaning stores, restaurants, taking care of children, cleaning offices, cooking. My first job was in a restaurant; I felt like I was being exploited by a manager. Because from 10 in the morning, when I went to work on Wednesdays, until 11 at night, when the restaurant closed, I had to stay to clean—and she gave me $5 for all that. She also said I couldn’t take any of the tips that the clients gave me, because it was for all the staff. It was a Salvadoran restaurant.

F: Since I entered this country, my experiences have been good, but worse for the many years that I worked cleaning hotels. Just like Alejandra said—discrimination! Sometimes they gave us to clean up to 21 rooms in eight hours. We had to clean everything, and it was unfair because when I could not finish them, I had to go for another two hours. The payment was not enough, and I was never paid the overtime rate I was owed.

WV: Speaking of work, can you tell us how global warming and climate change impact work and family life?

F: The climate, the environment, is lethal because sometimes we have to work in three-digit temperatures. This isn’t right, and there are laws that the ranchers do not respect. As I said, I am a farm worker, and I think that this is unfair because the payments are not enough. Working people can’t survive with the economy the way it is. Prices are sky high.

WV: Tell us a little about the working conditions.

F: Good question. There are many, many crews, more than 30, and 60 people in each crew. The bathrooms, well, they say there are laws that guarantee bathroom access, but the ranchers don’t follow them because if we are assigned to a large work block, we have to walk to get to the bathroom in the other block. I have read that the law is that you have to have a bathroom on one side and another one on the other side (where you are working). We don’t have shade. Right now, in the middle of summer, there is no shade or the necessary things that workers have to have. The water—we have hot water. It should have ice at least to cool us down, but we don’t have that.

A: Heat has a big impact because we are very busy, working fast. For example, in my case, they have increased the work. A building that used to be done by four people is now done by two, so you have to walk faster, and with the heat and thirst you can’t be late because the time is already on you and they only want to give you 10 minutes every two hours, then a half an hour [for lunch], and you have to put up with all that.

WV: A question for Felicia. We know that you are facing deportation proceedings by ICE. Could you tell us a little bit about that difficult situation?

F: Yes, I have an immigration case that I have been fighting since 2017. ICE arrested me leaving a restaurant on a Sunday, with my family, my three children, including minors. It was a traumatizing experience because Immigration arrested me as if I was a criminal. Living here in this country for more than 25 years, I never thought I would go through such a situation, and since 2017 I have been fighting my case. …

Anyway, I am on the priority list for deportation, and that is sad because it is not only my case; there are thousands of cases in which people are going through that difficult situation. This system should not exist. No mother deserves to go through the situation I am going through, but the question I ask myself is, my children were born here. In 2012, Immigration deported the father of my children, so my children are practically traumatized because who is going to take care of them? Is the government going to come and apologize to them for what they have done? And it is difficult, very difficult, but we are still in the struggle.

WV: LGBT immigrants not only face deportation, persecution, incarceration, and discrimination by ICE because they are undocumented, but they suffer other oppression because of their gender status. Can you tell us about what it was like for LGBT people in ICE detention?

F: I have a lot of respect for this community. I have had the opportunity to live with many of these people, because in the organizations we are united, and they are people who also have their value and their rights and must be respected. And just because they are marginalized, they are also fighting to be free. I come from a family where Queer people have sadly been killed for their identity. So they also come like us, looking to be free, because in this country, there is support for Queer people.

WV: Can you tell us a little bit about how you have felt the support you have received and what other things could be done to fight against deportations?

F: We need unity, working as a team, making bigger organizations to make a change in this system.

WV: What message about fighting for the rights of undocumented immigrants can you share with North Americans who are aware of the injustices that are committed against undocumented immigrants?

F: We come here to work and we do no harm to anyone. With that we show people that we are equal and I am very grateful to the people who support us—for example, those who came today to support us—because their support is very powerful for us. We need their support to end this system. It is not easy, but the more we unite the more we can achieve.