An effort in New York state to bring together labor, business, faith and advocacy organizations to help migrant families get established was the focus of a meeting Thursday in Rochester.
It was part of the state’s Ellis Island Initiative, which seeks to, among other things, connect recent migrants and asylum seekers with thousands of open jobs in New York.
Angelica Perez-Delgado, executive director of the Ibero-American Action League, a local advocacy organization that works with Latinos in the Rochester area, has met many of the recent migrants. She said those she has spoken with really want to find a job here.
“To have to travel for three to four months, through several countries, to sleep in the jungle, to cross the border and turn yourself in to be put on a bus to be taken to New York City, to sit idle for eight months, and then come to a community like Rochester; what I have heard from them is (that) this to them is the closest glimpse that they've had to the American dream,” Perez-Delgado said.
Representatives of labor and business groups at the session in Rochester said there are thousands of open positions in both the public and private sectors across the state, including in this region.
Dave Seeley, executive director of the regional workforce development organization Rochester Works, noted how difficult it is for many businesses to find enough qualified workers.
“And if you just asked your business community, that’s not lip service," Seeley said. "They have been forced to confront one of the tightest labor markets in a generation, hundreds of thousands of unfilled jobs throughout our state, good-paying jobs, tens of thousands right here in the Rochester region.”
The meeting, held at the United Way offices in Rochester, also included comments from local Assemblymember Harry Bronson (D-138), who chairs the Assembly’s labor committee.
“We all have inherent dignity,“ he said, adding that the Ellis Island Initiative is “about how we can break down the barriers for them to ultimately seize upon work opportunities.”
