On Labor Day, We Must Confront Islamophobia, Anti-Palestinian Bias, and Attacks on Workers
By Basim Elkarra, Executive Director, CAIR Action
Each Labor Day, Americans pause to celebrate the dignity of work and honor the people who sustain our nation—the farmworkers harvesting our food, the nurses caring for the sick, the teachers educating our children, and the countless workers who make daily life possible. Politicians line up to praise these “backbones of America.”
But this year, those tributes ring hollow. How can we truly honor labor while millions of workers —immigrants, Muslims, Arabs, and those who speak out for Palestine—face direct assault?
President Trump’s mass deportation campaign has led to tens of thousands of arrests this summer, including long-time residents with families, businesses, and deep community ties. Children are left behind as parents are taken away. Meanwhile, industries such as agriculture are facing the worst labor shortage in nearly a decade. Crops rot in the fields while the very
people who once harvested them are deported. Deporting workers devastates families, destabilizes industries, and undermines communities. This is not honoring labor; it is exploitation followed by betrayal.
For those who remain, another injustice grows: workplace discrimination fueled by Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian bias. There is a growing wave of retaliation against workers who express solidarity with Palestinians and oppose the ongoing genocide in Gaza. CAIR’s special report Terminated details cases of teachers fired for social media posts, nurses punished for attending peaceful protests, and journalists blacklisted for speaking out. These workers are not being targeted for their output, but for their conscience. They refuse to stay silent in the face of mass suffering.
This convergence of mass deportations on one hand, Islamophobia and retaliation for Palestine advocacy on the other reveals a deeper truth: too many leaders only value labor when workers are silent and invisible. Immigrants are welcome to pick crops or clean hotel rooms, but are deported when they demand stability. Muslims can work quietly, but risk harassment if they pray or wear hijab. And workers of every background may lose their jobs if they speak against the
genocide in Gaza.
Labor Day was created to honor the dignity of work. Yet dignity is stripped away when immigrant workers are criminalized, when Muslims are mocked for their faith, or when advocates for Palestinian rights are punished for their speech.
And this is not just a Muslim or Palestinian issue. It is a threat to every worker. If the government can deport one group at will, all immigrant labor is destabilized. If corporations can fire someone for their religion or political beliefs, every worker’s freedom is at risk. That is why the labor movement’s core principle, “an injury to one is an injury to all”, is so vital today.
As the son of immigrants and the leader of CAIR Action, I believe Labor Day should not be reduced to barbecues or empty rhetoric. It should be a call to recommit to solidarity. That means demanding an end to mass deportation raids that tear families apart and fuel labor shortages. It means holding corporations accountable for Islamophobia in the workplace and for political litmus tests that silence Palestine advocates. And it means standing alongside workers who risk everything simply to live, labor, and speak with dignity.
This year, let us reject hollow tributes. Let us instead honor labor by defending workers too often pushed to the margins or punished for their conscience. Until immigrants are safe from deportation, Muslims can practice their faith freely, and workers can oppose genocide without fear of losing their livelihoods, America’s promise to its workers will remain unfulfilled.
Labor Day is not just about celebrating work. It is about justice. Justice must extend to every worker, immigrant, Muslim, every person punished for defending Palestinian human rights—all whose dignity is under attack.
