LATEST NEWS
Need rental or utility assistance during the pandemic?
Somos is working to reach out to Spanish-speaking immigrant communities to access state rental assistance.
Click here to view our application fact sheet in Spanish. Click here to apply for relief.
Action Alert: Urge Congress to create a pathway to citizenship for NM's essential workers
Click here to sign our petition today and join 90 local NM elected officials who have already urged Congress to support a path to citizenship.
Click here to view our press conference or here to view our press release.
Looking for COVID-19 resources?
Click here to learn more about your rights during the pandemic, find resources for impacted families, and more.
MISSION
Because we believe that every person should have the freedom to move in order to pursue a better life, Somos Un Pueblo Unido works to build a community that does not discriminate against people based on their national origin, that institutes humane migration policies, and that protects the human rights of everyone irrespective of where they are born or what documents they carry.
¿Quiénes Somos?
Somos, founded in 1995, is a statewide community-based and immigrant-led organization that promotes worker and racial justice.
With an active membership of 2,500 people in eight counties, Somos :
Offers community education about rights and remedies
Forges leadership opportunities for immigrants and low-wage workers
Provides legal services to wage theft victims and initiates impact litigation to defend worker’s rights
Engages Latinos in the political and electoral process
Leads and supports grassroots campaigns for local and national policies that strengthen our communities
MEMBERSHIP TEAMS:
Comité de Trabajadores Unidos (Santa Fe County)
Familias Unidas por Justicia (San Juan County)
Somos Española (Rio Arriba County)
Somos Cháves
Somos Clovis (Curry County)
Somos Portales (Roosevelt County)
Somos Lea County
Somos Gallup (McKinley County)
"I do as much as I can with Somos Un Pueblo Unido because I think it is a very grounded civil rights organization. What they work on is practical. Our 1999 resolution is an example of this practical approach. It was about treating everyone the same, avoiding racial stereotyping, and ensuring public safety for all residents of the City of Santa Fe."
David Coss, Former Mayor of Santa Fe
HISTORY
1995 New Mexico State Legislative Memorial
A group of immigrants and supporters in Santa Fe campaigns to pass a state legislative memorial condemning California’s passage of Proposition 187. Out of this campaign, Somos Un Pueblo Unido is born.
1999 Santa Fe Anti-discrimination Resolution
Somos works to pass a City Council resolution barring city employees, including police officers, from asking residents about their immigration status. The resolution also leads to the creation of a permanent city committee on immigrant affairs, still active today.
2000 No Immigrant Prison!
Somos rallies the community to stop Santa Fe County from opening a for-profit segregated immigrant prison.
2002 Licencias para Inmigrantes; Seguridad para Todos
Somos spearheads a statewide campaign to pass a law-making undocumented immigrants eligible for drivers’ licenses in New Mexico.
2005 Greenlight New Mexico’s Future
Somos organizes statewide effort to pass one of the most progressive higher education law for undocumented immigrant students in the country, allowing students to access in-state tuition and state financial aid regardless of immigration status.
2007 Raising the Floor in Santa Fe
As part of the Santa Fe Living Wage Network, Somos is instrumental in establishing one of the nation's highest citywide minimum wages with a yearly cost of living increase.
2009 Protecting New Mexico’s Workers
Somos leads a campaign to pass a slate of anti-wage theft law protecting all workers from unscrupulous employers who steal their hard-earned money.
2009 Bias-based Policing Ban
Somos works alongside the NAACP and the Drug Policy Alliance to make New Mexico the 23rd state to ban racial profiling and other forms of bias-based policing.
2012 United Workers Center of New Mexico
Somos opens the state’s first and only worker center to organize and provide support to low-wage workers irrespective of national origin.
2013 Speeding up Wage Recovery
The United Worker Center organizes campaign to pass a state law that expedites wage cases in court, speeding up the time it takes for wage theft victims to recuperate their money.
2014 Fighting Family Detention in Rural New Mexico
Somos organizes a grassroots effort in southeastern New Mexico to protest the incarceration of children and mothers and shut down the family detention center in Artesia.
2010-2017 ICE Out of New Mexico’s Jails
Somos prevents hundreds of deportations by passing leading-edge jail policies in five counties ending collaboration with ICE and prohibiting the use of ICE detainers to violate immigrants’ civil rights.
2017 Strengthening Sanctuary for All
Somos heads a campaign to strengthen Santa Fe’s sanctuary policies, making them the strongest and most progressive in the country.
2011-2018 In Defense of Drivers’ Licenses
Somos leads a statewide coalition to thwart repeated efforts by Governor Martinez to take away licenses from New Mexico’s immigrant families.
2019 A More Efficient Driver’s License System
Somos leads a statewide campaign to ensure all New Mexicans have access to a more just and efficient driver’s license system.
2019 Increasing Opportunities for Working Families
Somos co-leads statewide campaigns to increase the state minimum wage, increase the state budget for additional wage theft investigators, and expand renewable energy portfolio standards while making sure immigrant workers in rural communities are not left behind in the emerging green economy.
2020-2021 Securing Economic Relief for Immigrants
Somos co-leads local and statewide campaigns to secure 10 million dollars in cash assistance for over 22,500 families left out of federal COVID-19 cash relief programs and to make undocumented tax filers eligible for the NM Working Famlies Tax Credit.
CAMPAIGNS
Somos works with a broad set of allies to promote local and national policies that nurture strong communities in which our families can thrive.
THE UNITED WORKER CENTER OF NEW MEXICO
Somos' Worker’s Committee formed in 2005 to provide community education about employment rights and to organize for better conditions in the workplace. In 2012, we founded New Mexico’s first and only worker center for low-wage workers.
At the UWC, workers can:
UWC Highlights:
TO CONTACT THE UNITED WORKER CENTER OF NEW MEXICO CALL 505-983-6247.
"Somos has impacted our community by training people how to stand up for themselves and work collectively to better their lives .... In one way or another, every immigrant in this state has been positively impacted by the work of Somos."
Mabel Arellanes, New Mexico Hispanic Bar Association Board Member
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© 2014 SOMOS UN PUEBLO UNIDO