Jorge Torres

I want you to meet Jorge...

Originally from Ecuador where he began organizing at age 12 with indigenous communities, Jorge immigrated to this country at an early age, and fights for the rights of undocumented and migrant workers. He is the Program Director at EL Centro in Staten Island where he brings access to dignified and well paying jobs to day workers, provides them with leadership development, and assists workers that have been victims of wage theft and accidents.  Sometimes this takes the form of organizing and leading actions like “No Papers No Fear Ride for Justice”  “Not 1 More Deportation”, and, where I met him, bullhorn in hand, leading an action for the "Justice For Delfino" campaign. Delfino Velazquez is a worker who was killed in Staten Island, on the job earlier this year, because of illegal working conditions.  These type of risky working environments are not uncommon for undocumented workers, and what Jorge fights to put an end to. 

#justiceForDelfino

You can see more about Jorge's work here:

http://elcentronyc.org/

http://www.silive.com/northshore/index.ssf/2015/02/protestors_cry_for_justice_dur.html

https://vimeo.com/123046671

Photos of Jorge by Liam Alexander 

Jorge leads an action in Staten Island, in support of Delfino Velazquez, a worker who lost his life because of illegal working conditions            

Liam works on "Jorge" in the studio 

Liam's portrait of Jorge  Hangs in Kimmel Windows until October 16th. 

One way to help Jorge's cause, is to purchase a poster, you can do that here.  50% of the profits will go directly to Jorge, and El Centro.