Undocumented immigrants who are working with government agencies investigating labor abuses against their employers now will have double the time — up to four years — to be protected from deportation.
That’s according to Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell who told GBH News that the federal government agreed to the extension after her office helped lead a coalition of 27 state and local labor enforcement agencies seeking change.
The group sent a letter in early July urging the Department of Homeland Security to extend the time period. The change is effective immediately and already posted online.
Campbell called the decision a “victory” for vulnerable workers who will feel more secure in asserting their rights in face of “unjust workplace violations.”
“All workers, regardless of their immigration status, deserve protection from workplace violations and exploitation,” said Campbell. “I applaud the Department of Homeland Security for swiftly responding to our call to action and extending the period of deferred action protection.”
The Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Seeking accountability for labor violations can be a challenge because many workers are afraid of speaking out, especially if they are undocumented. Among forced labor cases in Massachusetts, the attorney general’s office last year won a conviction against a New Bedford man sentenced to five years in state prison after being convicted of labor trafficking in the first known case conviction under the state’s 2012 human trafficking law.
Campbell’s office and labor advocates said the increase in time will ensure immigrant workers aren’t deported while investigations and enforcement are ongoing.
The two-year process for people involved in labor investigations was launched last year by the Department of Homeland Security. Workers who are victims or witnesses of labor rights violations can apply for a “Deferred Action program,” which offers protections to noncitizens.
“The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties has stated that since January 2023, when the program was implemented, to around October 2023, USCIS received over 900 deferred action requests and granted over 400 requests,” said Miki Kawashima Matrician, chair of the New England chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “With this extension, we anticipate an increased number of requests to be filed.”
The process of applying for the program can take anywhere from a couple months to several years, multiple advocates told GBH News.
“When we have an undocumented worker coming to the worker center, and they’re afraid because they think their boss is going to call immigration on them to get deported. … We say, ‘OK, we can apply for deferred action, which is a protection for you,’” said Francisca Sepulveda, director of the Immigrant Worker Center at the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health. “You can participate in this investigation. You can submit a complaint, be protected in case your employer decides to call immigration against you.”
The Immigrant Worker Center conducts trainings to raise awareness about workplace rights, especially involving sexual harassment and wage and hour violations. They connect workers with attorneys and interpret for law enforcement agencies who investigate claims.
In the July letter, Campbell, the attorney general of Illinois, and the Office of Labor Standards in Seattle detailed various enforcement situations that required more than two years to prosecute. In Massachusetts, the attorney general’s office began an inquiry two years ago into wage and hour practices of a large cleaning company, which involves “hundreds of workers,” without whom the investigation couldn’t have happened. The case is still pending.
Audrey Richardson, managing attorney of the Employment Law Unit at Greater Boston Legal Services, said her nonprofit has helped more than 100 immigrant workers apply to deferred action under the program.
Richardson said workers have been “very fearful to come forward if they do not have legal status in the United States and work authorization for fear of retaliation and for fear that the immigration enforcement system could be wielded against them.”
