Immigrants Reporting Employer Abuses Can Get Deportation Shield

The Department of Homeland Security is developing a new enforcement strategy geared toward protecting undocumented workers from deportation when they assert rights under federal law by reporting employers for labor and employment violations.

In the past, DHS agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have pledged to avoid policing worksites for immigration records while the U.S. Labor Department or other labor-focused agencies investigate an employer, but workers fearful of deportation are frequently unwilling to participate.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, in a memo to agency leaders Tuesday, mapped out a policy change that, if finalized, could create the first ...