FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12, 2021

CONTACT
Juan Gastelum, gastelum@nilc-ijf.org, 213-375-3149

WASHINGTON —The NILC Immigrant Justice Fund (NILC IJF) announced today the addition of a new member, Rocio Sáenz, to its board of directors.

“The NILC Immigrant Justice Fund board is instrumental in setting the organization’s strategic direction, and Rocio’s contributions will help propel our ongoing work with immigrant communities to build political leadership that reflects our organization’s values-based approach and makes a real difference for immigrant communities and our country,” said Marielena Hincapié, executive director of NILC IJF. “As we prepare to partner with the Biden-Harris administration and beyond, the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund will be key in our efforts to defend and advance the rights of low-income immigrants and to ensure that our communities can thrive. Given Rocio’s history in organizing with immigrant workers and building worker power, she brings crucial experience advocating for dignified, safe, and fair working conditions and human rights. We are excited for Rocío’s energy and many talents she will bring to our board.”

“The National Immigration Law Center and the Immigrant Justice Fund use expertise, savvy, and the hard-won trust of immigrant communities and allies to protect and defend low-income immigrants and their families,” Sáenz said. “These strengths have made NILC and the Immigrant Justice Fund key partners of SEIU. SEIU was founded by immigrants and today represents hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers who like all workers demand to be respected, protected, and paid fairly. As we move on from the immoral and reckless actions of the Trump Administration, we need policies and politicians that recognize that essential and frontline immigrant workers are keeping us healthier and more prosperous in these dark times. We will be better off when they all have a pathway to citizenship and when they are treated more fairly and humanely.”

Rocio Sáenz is an SEIU international executive vice president after being elected at the September 2013 International executive board meeting and reelected in 2016 for a second term. Prior to becoming an international executive vice president, she headed the property services New England Local in Boston, Mass., which represents 18,000 workers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.

Sáenz has advocated for workers’ rights and community empowerment most of her adult life. She emigrated from Mexico to Los Angeles, where she initially worked low-wage jobs. She became an organizer for SEIU’s Justice for Janitors campaign in 1988, and she was part of a team that led a successful campaign to organize janitors in Los Angeles.

In August 2001, Sáenz moved to Boston to build the Justice for Janitors program there and to move the local union forward. A year later, she led thousands of Boston janitors in a monthlong strike that drew widespread support from the media, clergy, politicians, and community groups. The strike ended with a historic settlement that dramatically improved workers’ wages, benefits, and workplace rights.

In July 2003, Sáenz was elected president of SEIU Local 615 (now SEIU 32BJ District 615), where she continued to win for workers.

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