Immigrant Worker awarded back pay

The couple’s odyssey began several months earlier at Si Señor Taqueria in downtown San Francisco where Cano, a Yucatan native was employed. Cano contacted Young Workers United to help her file a wage claim after she realized she — along with other workers — was not getting paid the city’s minimum wage. The claim stated that Si Señor “blatantly violated labor laws by paying workers below minimum wage, not paying overtime, and withholding tips.” Days after filing the claim, Cano was fired. “Being nine months pregnant and without any income when Carlos was detained, I counted on the support of my friends, Young Workers United and my legal team,” said Cano. The San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement conducted an audit at Si Señor and found out that minimum wages were not paid and that over $22,000 was owed to 14 workers,” said Donna Levitt, who heads the labor enforcement office. “Several months later, immigration agents arrived at Sonia and Carlos’s door. We’re now investigating a retaliation complaint.” Levitt said that San Francisco and the state of California enforce the labor laws regardless of immigration status. Every worker has that right under the law. “I will say that … if we were to find that an employer retaliated by calling ICE, the City would take that very seriously.” Levitt said.

The retaliation to which Levitt refers is about a letter that was postmarked November 22, 2005 and addressed to the Department of Homeland Security, informing the ICE of the couple’s “illegal” status. The anonymous sender attacked Barrancos’ character and accused the couple of “smuggling people to the U.S.” The sender also listed the couple’s residence and encouraged a quick investigation. ICE later determined the accusations were unfounded.Eneida Favela Coral and Salvador Coral, who are Mexican immigrants, denied that they had anything to do with the “anonymous letter” sent to homeland security. However, according to research done by the YWU, the envelope used to send the letter had a traceable code to a company where the owners’ daughter works, according Marci Seville, of the Golden Gate University Women’s Employment Rights Clinic, in San Francisco. “This goes to show you the difference between employer and employee—it’s a power struggle. It’s a class thing,” said Matt Garron of the YWU in response to the fact that the owners are Mexican immigrants themselves. “However, ultimately, it is about race because if Sonia and Carlos were not Mexican, ICE would not have busted into their home and pointed guns at a pregnant woman!”

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