There are a lot of reasons why the United Food & Commercial Workers union cares about keeping illegals in the country. Over 18 million of them to be exact.

The union has launched a training program for illegal immigrant members on the eligibility requirements for Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA). Specifically, the union will help immigrants prepare to get legal authorization to work by telling them what documents and procedures are necessary to apply.

The goal is to train 100,000 members, who each pay UFCW a minimum of $15.04 per month, according to the union’s latest LM-2 financial report.

At that rate, keeping illegals in the country means keeping over $18 million in dues flowing to union coffers.

According to Vice President Esther Lopez, after the training, local leaders will “go into plants and stores and answer questions that members may have.”

“The end goal is to train our local unions so they can hold these workshops on their own,” Tim Schlittner, a UFCW staffer, tells In These Times.

“When it moves into the application period, we want to make sure as many locals as possible are prepared to help members get their applications in.”

According to the left-wing news site, Local 75 represents 30,000 workers in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, and in some food processing plants, “85 percent or 90 percent” of them are illegal immigrants.

“There’s a lot of people I know who have problems with papers,” says Guerdie Celas, a Local 1776 steward and one of the trainees. “I see what people are going through.”

In addition to maintaining the membership they have UFCW is using the training to recruit new members.

“It’s an opportunity to introduce ourselves to non-union workers, too,” according to Schlittner. “We’re building real inroads in whole immigrant communities with these trainings.”