LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Arriba Las Vegas Worker Center has confirmed plans to begin sunsetting or transitioning its programs, citing financial pressures and long-term sustainability concerns — but former employees and supporters say they still have questions about transparency and what happens to the immigrant workers who rely on those services.
Former employees and supporters rallied outside the organization's office Wednesday, raising concerns about the closure of a nonprofit that has served immigrant workers in southern Nevada for nearly a decade.
Gilda Blanco, who says she worked at Arriba Las Vegas for two years, said the nonprofit has helped workers dealing with retaliation, labor abuse and exploitation in the workplace.
"And my big concern right now is our community because they want to terminate or close the door for our community who need support more than ever right now," Blanco said.
"Because this place here, Arriba Las Vegas Workers Center is the home for people," Blanco said.
Former Arriba worker Hilaria Pascual said many immigrant workers still depend on the organization for legal guidance and workplace advocacy.
"She says we don't want the center to close. The center exists because workers exist, because stories exist, because labor abuse exists out there," Pascual said.
Pascual said workers regularly came to the nonprofit reporting wage theft and exploitation from different workplaces across the valley.
"She says many workers came saying, 'Hilaria, they stole my wages, they exploited me, they fired me,'" Pascual said.
Blanco said former employees and supporters are calling for answers from the organization's leadership.
"We are demanding transparency… there is no clarity for us… we need clarification," Blanco said.
Arriba Las Vegas says its legal services will close at the end of the month, but current clients are being offered opportunities to transfer to other attorneys at no cost.
As part of this reporting, Arriba Las Vegas, the Nevada Attorney General's Office, the Nevada Secretary of State's Office and the IRS were contacted to ask whether there are any complaints, investigations or public records connected to concerns being raised publicly by former employees and supporters.
The Nevada Secretary of State's Office responded, saying Arriba Las Vegas Worker Center remains an active nonprofit and is currently in good standing with the state.
For former workers like Blanco, the biggest concern remains the people she says still rely on the organization every day.
"We need support, we need answer, we need clarification… if they want to close the organization we want to know why," Blanco said.
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