CDM has developed expertise in transnational labor issues, particularly those related to guestworker programs and international labor recruitment. CDM provides policy analysis and recommendations to Mexican and U.S. policymakers, as well as to worker advocacy groups. CDM also attends international conferences on human rights and immigration, comments on U.S. regulations to federal agencies, and strategically advocates for policy reforms. By bringing migrant workers’ voices to key policy forums, CDM provides a transnational worker-centered presence that is often lacking in immigration and labor policy debates.
CDM has also produced investigative reports for a variety of domestic and international policymakers on the recruitment and workplace conditions of migrants. In 2009, CDM and American University Washington College of Law co-authored Picked Apart: The Hidden Struggles of Migrant Worker Women in the Maryland Crab Industry, which details the harrowing stories of H-2B women temporary migrant workers in the crab industry, and makes recommendations for reforms at the local, state, and national levels. The official release of the report featured two former H-2B crab workers, who traveled from Mexico to speak about their experiences in the crab industry in Maryland. The report shed light on the labor abuses that pervade the crab industry and prompted policymakers to consider reforms that will to improve the workplace and recruitment conditions of migrants. CDM has contributed to international policy discussions on migration and labor. CDM Executive Director Rachel Micah-Jones has been a delegate in 2008, 2010, and 2011 to the Global Forum on Migration and Development. CDM has also participated in the International Working Group of the People’s Global Action on Migration, Development, and Human Rights. CDM has also submitted a report on migrant workers’ health and safety in the U.S. workplace to the UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
