AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka statement on the Interagency Working Group to Promote Consistent Enforcement of Federal Labor, Employment and Immigration Laws pilot program on immigration enforcement:
The recent announcement by the Interagency Working Group to Promote Consistent Enforcement of Federal Labor, Employment and Immigration Laws contains some important, but still insufficient, steps forward for our nation’s workers.
We are encouraged by the announcement of a pilot program to ensure that immigration enforcement does not interfere with workers’ right to report violations of workplace standards to the EEOC and NLRB. We look forward to the pilot program becoming a permanent aspect of our immigration system. Overall, however, the announcement fails to meet the promises made when the Working Group was created. In particular, the update falls far short in areas in which the Department of Homeland Security has principal authority, including much-needed policy guidance on ICE non-interference in labor disputes and a process through USCIS to grant temporary immigration relief to workers who exercise their protected workplace rights. There is much that remains to be done, and the time to do so is short.
This disappointing announcement is a call to action. Working people will continue to demand basic worker protections in every community and every immigration office in the country.
Contact: Gonzalo Salvador (202) 637-5018