Shared from our friends at SurLegal Collaborative in Atlanta
For Immediate Release
January 13th, 2023
For Press Inquiries Contact:
Shelly Anand (shelly@surlegal.org)
ATLANTA – Sur Legal Collaborative applauds the long-awaited announcement of a streamlined process for vulnerable undocumented workers experiencing labor abuse to apply for deferred action and work permits. This is a huge victory for immigrant workers who often stay silent in the face of labor abuses like wage theft and unsafe working conditions because they fear that their employer will call Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and put them into deportation proceedings. Immigrant workers can now file labor complaints with local, state, and federal labor agencies without fear that they will end up in deportation proceedings for asserting their rights in the workplace.
On Friday, January 13, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a press release and new guidelines for immigrant workers filing labor complaints to apply for temporary protection, preventing abusive employers from retaliating against them in one of the most harmful ways possible: deportation. In October of 2021, DHS announced its commitment to support vulnerable undocumented workers asserting their rights in the workplace in a memo on worksite enforcement. A year later, in October 2022, Sur Legal joined over 300 advocacy groups urging DHS to publish guidelines for workers combating abusive employers to apply for temporary protection against deportation as well as work authorization.
Today’s announcement is the result of years of organizing by workers and advocates around the country, as well as here in Georgia and across the Deep South. This announcement builds upon an earlier statement and process announcement from the Department of Labor (DOL) in July outlining how to obtain a letter from agencies including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) in support of applications for deferred action. As outlined in that guidance, workers who file labor complaints with those agencies may be eligible to receive a letter of support from DOL. Similarly, in November 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued guidance on how to obtain letters of support for workers who experience violations of the National Labor Relations Act, including engaging in protected concerted activities like talking with co-workers about wages and working conditions without fear of retaliation from employers.
All working people, regardless of immigration status, deserve to work in a safe workplace, with a living wage, and the ability to speak up about labor violations without fear of retaliation. Yet, immigrant workers are often taken advantage of by abusive employers who use threats of deportation to prevent workers from asserting their rights. Immigrant workers experience 300 more workplace fatalities and 61,000 more workplace injuries per year, 37% receive less than minimum wage, and 76% experience wage theft. Immigrant laborers are disproportionately vulnerable to trafficking and workplace sexual assault. Yet, most immigrants remain silent about these abuses due to fear of retaliation from their employers, being blacklisted in the local community, or the risk of deportation.
In Georgia, one in eight workers are immigrants and we have seen the horrific realities of these abuses. In January 2021, our state experienced one of the worst workplace tragedies in recent history when six poultry workers died from a negligent and preventable nitrogen leak at the hands of their employer, Foundation Food Group. Six weeks later workers were exposed to an ammonia leak at the same facility. OSHA was able to issue the highest penalties possible against this company, in part, because so many immigrant workers came forward to cooperate with the investigation. In South Georgia, we recently bore witness to one of the most deplorable instances of labor trafficking, where migrant workers were forced to work at gunpoint. Known as Operation Blooming Onion, federal investigators found that over 24 individuals, including farm labor contractors and at least two farmers, were responsible for trafficking these guest workers into the country and forcing them to work in abhorrent conditions against their will. We know that every day, immigrant workers risk their lives to put food on our tables, clean and build our homes, and so much more. No American should condone or dismiss these grave human rights abuses. We must do everything in our power to ensure that employers who are allowing these abuses to take place and/or are abusing workers are held accountable. This requires that there be set protections for immigrant workers who experience workplace violations.
Many workers who bravely came forward to report dangerous working conditions here in Georgia were among the first workers to apply and receive deferred action for their participation in ongoing labor investigations. With the grant of deferred action and work permits, these workers were empowered to speak out against their employers without fearing deportation and other forms of retaliation. We are pleased to see that DHS’s new process calls for streamlined and simplified applications for deferred action, including centralized processing and the ability to file an application for a work permit simultaneously, among others. We are hopeful that with today’s announcement, more immigrant workers will be empowered to speak out and assert their rights without fear.
We are grateful for leadership at the Department of Homeland Security and their recognition of this critical issue for immigrant workers. Today’s policy announcement is an important step towards empowering immigrant workers to hold abusive employers accountable and improving working conditions for all workers. We look forward to working with our partners across Georgia and the Deep South to educate workers about this new process and to working with the Biden Administration and officials within DHS and DOL to equitably implement this policy to improve protections for all workers in the United States.
Founded in October 2020, Sur Legal Collaborative (“Sur Legal”) is a women of color-led and -run immigrant and worker rights nonprofit legal organization working at the nexus of labor, immigration, and decarceration movements in the Deep South.
