Immigrants facing workplace abuse can now get temporary deportation protection, with help from the city Labor Department

The undocumented Philadelphia restaurant worker was worried when he decided to file a wage-theft complaint with the city against his old employer.

His former boss had suggested that if the worker spoke up, there would be consequences.

But through a new federal program and with the support of the city’s Office of Worker Protections, the worker was able to get a two-year work authorization so he could help the city’s investigation without fear of retaliation, said Lerae Kroon, his attorney with legal aid organization Justice at Work.

The worker declined to speak with The Inquirer for fear of retaliation.

His successful application, approved last month, was the first time the Office of Worker Protections has helped secure such a protection for a complainant, said director Candace Chewning.

The protection came from a program called Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement, through which the U.S. Department of Homeland Security grants temporary work authorizations to undocumented immigrants participating in labor investigations. While DHS had already been doing so, it formalized the process last year, after immigrant workers in Las Vegas and Georgia successfully advocated for it.

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Workers at a Las Vegas paint factory experienced retaliation after reporting their employer for wage theft. They eventually got a $3.68 million settlement last year through the U.S. Department of Labor.

“They told me to remember that I was undocumented and that I could end up having immigration issues if I didn’t do as I was told,” said Rosario Ortiz, one of the former paint factory workers who fought for deferred action, as reported by the Nevada Current. She was speaking at an event in January where Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su discussed deferred action with Latino workers in Las Vegas.

And in Gainesville, Ga., after six workers were killed in a 2021 poultry plant explosion that a government report called “completely preventable,” workers feared participating in the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation because of fears of deportation. They were among the first to receive deferred action. OSHA ultimately issued $1 million in penalties against the four companies involved.

In order to get deferred action, the labor agency running the investigation must send a “statement of interest” letter to DHS explaining why deferred action is needed. The letter covers all employees at a workplace who might want to participate in an investigation. The agency does so during the investigation, not once it has already determined a violation.

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Deferred action is an important tool for the Office of Worker Protections, said Chewning, its director, because it improves the effectiveness of the city’s labor laws. Her office often encounters workers who are experiencing labor violations but don’t want to engage with her office because of the potential consequences.

“The folks who are speaking with us about this are very, very hesitant to file a complaint, and very few of them end up doing it,” she said.

Last fall, her office held a bilingual information session with the city’s Office of Immigrant Affairs about deferred action that had over 150 registrants.