Tucson, Arizona.– Arizona labor leaders met here Wednesday to discuss the role and weight in the state's economy of immigrant workers, many of whom are in the country without a visa or a Green Card, and to defend the efforts of volunteers who provide food, water and first aid to migrants stranded in the desert.  

"The contributions to the economy of the state of Arizona by immigrants, documented or undocumented, are innumerable," said Esteban Rodriguez, an organizer with Local 5 of the Service Employees International Union.

He said that many studies document immigrants' contributions - as workers and taxpayers - to the state's economy, where it is calculated that three million undocumented foreigners live, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

"The immigrants are an engine not only for the economy of Arizona, but for the entire country," Rodriguez told EFE on Wednesday during the Tucson conference.

The importance of immigrant labor is such that representatives of the hotel industry, construction and agriculture support the creation of a guest worker program that would allow legal U.S. entry for foreign workers.

In keeping with that stance, they have urged the U.S. Congress to approve immigration reform that would facilitate the legalization of undocumented persons already living in the country.

The lack of farmworkers in Yuma, Arizona, threatens the winter harvest of various crops, one third of which could go to waste if insufficient workers are available to bring them in. The losses would amount to millions of dollars, according to farmers in the region.

During the conference, nearly a dozen union and labor organization leaders from southern Arizona joined the campaign recently mounted by the group No More Deaths, the slogan of which is "Humanitarian aid is never a crime." The campaign's aim is to pressure the federal government to drop the charges against two members of the organization who were arrested while transporting three undocumented migrants who allegedly needed urgent medical care.

The incident occurred in July, when Daniel Strauss and Shanti Sellz were arrested by the Border Patrol near the town of Arivaca.

If found guilty, the two volunteers could face up to 15 years in prison.

"(Giving) humanitarian aid should never be a crime," said Robert M. Martinez, the AFL-CIO's representative in Arizona.

He added that one should never let a person die just because he or she lacks the necessary documents to live legally in the United States.

Isabel Garcia, the president of the Arizona Human Rights Coalition, said she was very happy with the AFL-CIO's February decision to include the rights of immigrants within the larger discussion of labor rights in general.

"One should recall that in 1996, the AFL-CIO supported a federal law that imposed economic sanctions on firms who were found to be employing undocumented immigrants," said Garcia.

"I'm happy that one of the largest workers' unions has joined our fight for the rights of immigrants," she added.