2016–17 O’Brien project prompts attention from lawmakers in Florida
One factor that makes the O’Brien Fellowship unusual is its emphasis on solutions-based journalism. O’Brien Fellows don’t just produce stories on interesting topics; their work has the potential to change policies and improve lives. To this end, we’re proud to follow the impact of 2016–17 O’Brien Fellow Maria Perez’s O’Brien Fellowship project.
After the Naples Daily News published Perez’s fellowship project on companies that profit from undocumented workers, some Florida legislators began considering action to address the situation. The project, Florida’s disposable workers, details a law that makes some immigrant workers disposable, allowing employers to benefit from their work without covering for their injuries.
As part of the project, Perez profiled undocumented workers affected by the law, including Abednego de la Cruz, who was fired from his construction job without any medical care after slicing his finger. Now, he’s waiting for a decision on the appeal he filed after he was denied asylum to stay in the U.S.
Perez, along with her Marquette student assistants Elizabeth Baker, Allison Dikanovic and Sandra Videmsky, also compiled an interactive map and comprehensive directory of Florida businesses proven to dispose of immigrant workers after job injuries.
Just a month after these pieces were published, the Naples Daily News published another article. It stated: “A Florida lawmaker said he will file a measure in the session that began Tuesday to require employers and insurers to pay workers’ compensation benefits to undocumented workers injured on the job who now can be denied coverage.”
The proposed law stated that if employers choose to hire immigrants without checking the legality of their documents, then these businesses and their insurers should be required to provide the compensation and medical care as warranted under the state’s workers’ comp law. Florida legislators cited Perez’s story as a call to action to “protect all workers.”
