Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell issued the following statement in response to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) extending the Deferred Action Program’s period of protection from deportation for noncitizen victims and witnesses of labor violations from two years to four years. This action comes after AG Campbell co-led a coalition of 27 state and local labor enforcement agencies in sending a letter urging DHS to extend the period.
“All workers, regardless of their immigration status, deserve protection from workplace violations and exploitation. I applaud the Department of Homeland Security for swiftly responding to our call to action and extending the period of deferred action protection. This is a victory for vulnerable workers nationwide, who will now feel more secure and empowered to assert their rights and seek justice in the face of unjust workplace violations,” said AG Campbell.
Noncitizen workers often have no choice but to take the most dangerous and poorly paid jobs out of necessity, and their rights in the workplace are routinely violated by employers who exploit and take advantage of their fear of deportation.
This extension will make it easier for labor enforcement agencies to get the assistance and cooperation of noncitizen workers in investigations of wage law violations that deprive them of their rights, will ensure that those workers are not deported while investigations and enforcement actions are ongoing, and will help ensure that unscrupulous employers are not able to silence such workers by threatening to report them to immigration authorities.
ON BACKGROUND:
- In January 2023, DHS announced an enhanced process to support labor enforcement investigations through the Deferred Action Program, which offers protection from deportation for noncitizens who are victims or witnesses of labor rights violations, or who are otherwise assisting a labor investigation. At the time of its announcement, the program originally offered deferred action protection for an initial period of two years.
- In early July 2024, due to the fact that complex labor investigations often last longer than two years, AG Campbell co-led a coalition of 27 state and municipal labor enforcement agencies in submitting a letter to DHS, urging the agency to extend the protection period of the Deferred Action Program for noncitizen victims and witnesses of labor violations from the initial two years to a minimum of four years.
- In late July 2024, after receiving the letter spearheaded by AG Campbell, DHS announced that it will extend the initial labor-based deferred action periods from two years to four years, as the letter had recommended. Updated information regarding the Deferred Action Program’s protection period may be viewed here.
- Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding the Attorney General’s Office (AGO)’s role in supporting worker requests of deferred action for protection from immigration-related retaliation may be viewed here. The FAQs are also available in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Haitian Creole here.
- The AGO’s Fair Labor Division enforces various state labor laws. Workers in Massachusetts who believe their rights have been violated may call the AGO’s Fair Labor Division at (617) 727-3465 or file a workplace complaint.