Sur Legal formed in October 2020 during a global pandemic that laid bare the lack of protections for immigrant workers in the South. There are no workers centers in Georgia, and very few organizations throughout the South with expertise in workplace health and safety. Sur aims to fill this gap by providing workers and organizers with information about their rights in the workplace and by equipping them with tools to hold employers accountable for labor violations. Sur further seeks to empower immigrant workers by identifying other labor abuses such as wage theft and labor trafficking, while also advocating for systemic change to end exploitation of all immigrant and low-wage workers.

Sur Legal’s start in October 2020 coincided with the most deadly incident at a poultry plant in Georgia in generations, a nitrogen leak that claimed the lives of six workers at the Foundation Food Group.

Sur Legal works alongside community groups and directly impacted individuals to advance the movement towards a more humane immigration system and an end to mass incarceration. Our work within this space has primarily focused on mass release efforts at Irwin County Detention Center, the site of medical abuse and non-consensual gynecological surgeries against women. Sur Legal assisted with advocacy for the release of multiple women who had been previously denied release due to their criminal histories through creative legal strategies. Sur Legal further provides support to the movement by leveraging federal policies that promote informed citizenry and government transparency, such as the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Open Records Requests (ORA), through fact investigation.

The U.S. immigration system is complex by design, with numerous policies and regulations, various levels of involvement of federal agencies, and a plethora of visa categories and pathways to residency. Further, this system has historically exercised harsh enforcement that infringes on the rights of all persons within our nation. Sur Legal seeks to demystify this system and empower those entangled in it, while simultaneously exposing the injustices it inflicts. We provide legal education, technical assistance, and direct representation to survivors of labor abuse, especially those belonging to historically marginalized communities. From infographics breaking down legal concepts and pathways to justice, to questionnaires that help identify instances of labor abuse, Sur Legal works to educate and empower marginalized communities with the tools they need to exercise their rights and challenge abuses of power, advancing the movement towards long-term systemic change.