OLA in the News

OLA’s Executive Director Minerva Perez with Governor Kathy Hochul. Courtesy Office of the Governor OLA of Eastern Long Island’s Executive...

Women migrants on Long Island are finding employment in cleaning, babysitting, washing hair at beauty parlors, doing nails at salons...

Staff Writer on Jan 30, 2024 Wanda Sánchez Day, general counsel and senior policy counsel of OLA of Eastern Long Island, will be honored...

Long Island's foreign-born population increased slightly between two five-year spans, with naturalized citizens and residents from Latin American countries composing the majority, according to new Census Bureau data. Credit: AP/Paul Sancya Long Island's foreign-born population increased slightly between two five-year spans, with naturalized citizens making up the majority, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Overall, Long Island’s foreign-born popul

“Trust is a key factor” in the efforts to help victims of wage theft, said Erika Padilla, a legal advocate employed by OLA. “A steep rise...

Published December 5, 2023 at 11:11 AM EST OLA (Organización Latino Americana) of Eastern Long Island reported that the number of wage...

Michelle Trauring Across the East End, some teens are living silent stories. In their world, they are stressed about grades, a breakup, a...

Aurora is a resident of Long Island who, like many others, was a victim of wage theft this summer. These are not traditional thieves grabbing money, but rather an increasingly common practice in the region, in which employers refrain from paying their employees for the work performed. Aurora, who does not want to reveal her identity while her case progresses in court, said she started working in June for a house cleaning company, led by a Latinx woman. The job was a blessing

OLA of Eastern Long Island has announced the hiring of Lucía Damerau as director of Immigration Legal Services, Wanda Sánchez Day as...

Returning for its 20th year, Organización Latino Americana of Eastern Long Island’s annual Latino film festival will feature films from Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico and Canada, that focus on adventure, strength and inspiration. This year’s festival also marks the greatest number of films OLA has ever shown, and includes two U.S. premieres and one New York premiere. The tradition provides a welcome reprieve from the challenges the local Latino community faces and the is

Adventure, strength and inspiration form the conceptual and thematic core of four feature-length films and one animated short film from Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico and Canada that OLA (Organización Latino Americana) of Eastern Long Island will screen during its annual Latino Film Festival of the Hamptons, celebrating its 20th anniversary, September 14 to 17. All films are in Spanish with English subtitles. “We are thrilled to host two U.S. premieres and one New York p

“You don’t want to be associated in the Christmas Story with the innkeeper who boxed out the Holy Family and forced them to have the...

Proposed changes to assess English-language skills worry some who have passed By Olivia Winslow Andrés Espinosa's hopes and dreams were...

For more than 20 years, OLA — the Latino-focused advocacy nonprofit that serves eastern Long Island — has been working to support,...

Wanda Sánchez Day, left, and Lucía Damerau, attorneys hired by OLA of Eastern Long Island. Courtesy photos: OLA OLA of Eastern Long...

Southampton Press Editorial Often, great things come from modest beginnings. What started out 20 years ago as a small advisory board to...

By Vera Chinese and Michael Gormley Immigration advocates gathered outside the Suffolk County Legislature Tuesday speaking out against...

By Alek Lewis Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar. File photo: Alek Lewis Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar extended and expanded the...

Riverhead Central School District Board of Education Vice President Laurie Downs resigned Tuesday. Credit: Morgan Campbell   A Riverhead school board member, who faced backlash for saying she feared her district would become like Brentwood because of its large Latino population and gang violence, resigned Tuesday.  Laurie Downs, vice president of the Riverhead school board, said her resignation is effective immediately after her March 18 comments sparked rebuke within the edu

An East Hampton-based Latino advocacy group will use a grant funded by Suffolk's opioids lawsuit settlement with major drug companies to...