ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) 鈥� Almost four dozen Venezuelan workers who had temporary protected status have been put on leave by Disney after the U.S. Supreme Court to strip them of legal protections.
The move was made to make sure that the employees were not in violation of the law, Disney said in a statement Friday.
The 45 workers across the company who were put on leave will continue to get benefits.
鈥淲e are committed to protecting the health, safety, and well-being of all our employees who may be navigating changing immigration policies and how they could impact them or their families,鈥� the statement said.
About two-thirds of the workers were in union jobs. The union contract for Walt Disney World service workers in Florida allows them to be reinstated without loss of seniority or benefits once they provide proper work authorization within a year of losing their jobs, said Julee Jerkovich, secretary-treasurer of the United Food And Commercial Workers International Union's Local 1625.
鈥淚t's very distressing,鈥� Jerkovich said Friday. 鈥淒isney is being made to be the bad guy, but they didn't have any choice.鈥�
Disney would have been criticized if the workers weren't put on leave, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents made raids at Disney World, she said.
The Supreme Court鈥檚 order on Monday put on hold a in San Francisco that kept in place Temporary Protected Status for the Venezuelans that would have otherwise expired last month. The justices provided no rationale, which is common in emergency appeals.
The order potentially exposes as many as 350,000 Venezuelans to deportation. The status allows people already in the United States to live and work legally because their native countries are deemed unsafe for return due to natural disaster or civil strife.
Disney managers had informed the employees verbally before they received an email with details on the leave. This week was their last to work before the 30-day leave, and some employees had been asked to turn in their IDs, said Oscar Tineo, a Venezuelan shop steward at Unite Here Local 737, which represents hotel and restaurant workers at Disney World in Florida.
鈥淭he company is taking this decision to protect them and to protect itself,鈥� said Tineo, who won his asylum case and is a U.S. legal resident.
Anywhere from 15% to 20% of the almost 80,000 employees at Disney World are Venezuelans. Some of them have an asylum process pending or have requested immigration benefits other than Temporary Protected Status. A bigger concern is a larger group of Venezuelan Disney workers whose status could end at a later date but weren't included in the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision, Tineo said.
鈥淲e came here to live in liberty, without fear, looking for peace,鈥� said a 49-year-old Venezuelan woman who works in kitchens at Disney World hotels and asked that she not be identified. 鈥淚t has been difficult, and the fear is very great.鈥�
The woman left Venezuela with her 10-year-old son after receiving death threats for being a political opposition activist. She applied for asylum and temporary protective status, and her work permit is tied to her asylum. For now, she said she can continue working as a kitchen assistant.
鈥淭hey are seeking to comply with the laws,鈥� she said of Disney. 鈥淭hey are obliged to do this.鈥�
The Supreme Court case was the latest in a string of emergency appeals President Donald Trump鈥檚 administration has made to the high court, many of them related to immigration and involving Venezuela. Earlier this month, the government to allow it to end humanitarian parole for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, setting them up for potential deportation as well.
鈥淭hese workers 鈥� our colleagues, friends, and neighbors 鈥� have contributed immensely to the success of the Walt Disney Company and to the vibrant culture of central Florida,鈥� a coalition of unions at Disney World said in a statement. 鈥淣o worker should have to live in fear of losing everything after building a life here.鈥�
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Mike Schneider And Gisela Salomon, The Associated Press
