Usually incomes low wages and experiencing discrimination, all whereas dealing with the ever-present menace of deportation, undocumented employees within the U.S. don’t get many wins, stated Luz Castro, deputy director of nationwide coverage for Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.
However the announcement by the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety Jan. 13 of a brand new coverage designed to supply labor protections to undocumented employees was “undoubtedly a win,” stated Castro. “With the announcement from DHS they actually conveyed the message that they’ve a transparent dedication to undocumented employees.”
The brand new coverage grants “noncitizen employees who’re victims of, or witnesses to, the violation of labor rights” case-by-case safety from “threats of immigration-related retaliation from the exploitative employers,” DHS stated. Staff will be capable to request deferred motion, that’s, deferral of deportation underneath prosecutorial discretion by first getting a letter of assist from an area, state or federal labor company, then submitting an utility by means of a central consumption level with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Providers.
The brand new coverage gives clear steerage, Castro stated. “Staff have a greater understanding of what the method will seem like.”
Any undocumented employee is at all times taking a danger when submitting a kind to an company, Castro stated, and she or he hopes the brand new steerage “will present extra confidence to employees.”
“Unscrupulous employers who prey on the vulnerability of noncitizen employees hurt all employees and drawback companies who play by the principles,” Secretary of Homeland Safety Alejandro N. Mayorkas stated in a information launch. “We’ll maintain these predatory actors accountable by encouraging all employees to say their rights, report violations they’ve suffered or noticed, and cooperate in labor requirements investigations.”
Raha Wala, vice chairman of strategic partnerships and advocacy for the Nationwide Immigration Regulation Heart, referred to as the coverage “a momentous victory” that “will probably be crucial to supporting collective organizing and making worksites throughout the nation safer and extra equitable for everybody.”
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler in a press release stated the union helps DHS’ efforts to implement labor legal guidelines.
“Staff depend on one another to take motion to assist implement our labor legal guidelines, so we’re all in danger when employers can use immigration threats to scare employees into silence. The commonsense procedures DHS has put in place will present short-term standing protections and work permits to employees who’re exercising their office rights and reporting violations,” Shuler stated.