31 Oct NOWCRJ Calls for Halt to Deportation of Worker Injured in Hard Rock Hotel Collapse & Release to Assist Investigation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Media Contact: Julien Burns, jburns@nowcrj.org, 802-272-4490

NOWCRJ Calls for Halt to Deportation of Worker Injured in Hard Rock Hotel Collapse & Release to Assist Investigation

Worker Files Report with OSHA, Seeks to Share Information Related to Collapse

OCTOBER 26, NEW ORLEANS, LA—The New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice (NOWCRJ) called today for a halt to deportation and for the release of Delmer Joel Ramirez Palma, a worker at the Hard Rock Hotel construction site who was injured in the collapse. After the accident, Mr. Ramirez Palma was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and could be deported any day. Advocates have raised concerns that the move could hamper the investigation into the cause of the collapse by preventing Mr. Ramirez Palma from providing testimony and by discouraging other workers with relevant information from coming forward.

Mr. Delmer Joel Ramirez Palma has reported to OSHA with NOWCRJ’s support and is seeking to share information with the agency to assist their investigation and the investigation of any other agency into the wrongdoing at the Hard Rock Hotel. Following the filing of this report, the NOWCRJ released the following statement:

“There would be many more tragedies like the Hard Rock Hotel collapse if workers hadn’t organized to demand safety regulations, whistleblower protections and the right to unionize. ICE’s arrest of Delmer Joel Ramirez Palma undermines the investigation into the cause of the collapse, sends a chilling signal to workers at dangerous worksites everywhere and puts workers of all immigration statuses in danger. Every agency and elected official charged with keeping New Orleans workers safe must stand up to ICE and ensure that this rogue agency does not target Joel or any other impacted workers. ICE cannot be allowed to deport a key victim-witness to an ongoing investigation into a tragedy of huge significance to this entire City.

If we’re going to secure accountability for those responsible for this man-made disaster and justice for those impacted, we need workers to lead the way. If you or someone you know was working at the Hard Rock site, please have them contact our Facebook page or call (504) 309-5165.”

Me. Ramirez Palma’s wife, Tania, also raised concerns about the case, releasing the following statement:

“My husband has been a construction worker here for 18 years. He knows what a safe worksite looks like and he knows what an unsafe worksite looks like. Even before the building collapse, he told me that he thought the Hard Rock wasn’t safe. But he also said they had to follow the boss’s orders.

My husband’s coworkers are terrified to report anything right now because they see what happened to my husband and they don’t want to be arrested and deported too. We can’t let ICE silence my husband and the other Hard Rock workers. We can’t let them keep covering this up. My husband has already had two buildings collapse on him in the last two years. I don’t want other workers and their families to keep going through that here in New Orleans.”

On Thursday, GEO detention center guards forcibly and violently transferred Mr. Ramirez Palma from La Salle Detention Center to Catahoula Correctional Center injuring him in the process. His legal team is seeking emergency relief from deportation, but his future remains uncertain. With the investigation into the collapse ongoing, the ability of investigators to find answers will depend on Mr. Ramirez Palma and other workers coming together and sharing what they know.

About The New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice

The New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice (NOWCRJ) was founded as a workers’ rights and racial justice response to the man-made disaster that came along with Hurricane Katrina. As politicians and employers attempted to use the storm to pit communities of color against each other, a group of Black and immigrant workers came together from public housing developments, FEMA trailer parks, day labor corners, and labor camps across Louisiana to build a new freedom movement: multi- racial; committed to racial, gender, and immigrant justice; and dedicated to building power at the intersection of race and the economy.

For more than a decade, the members of NOWCRJ have continued to fight for dignity and justice, winning higher wages, better working conditions and pro-worker policies.