Attorney General Maura Healey led a coalition of 17 state attorney generals, and 12 local prosecutors and labor enforcement agencies, from across the nation to write a letter in support of workers’ rights on November 15. This letter was developed in support of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s “plan to change its worksite enforcement practices to support enforcement of wage protections, workplace safety, labor rights, and other employment laws and standards,” according to a press release. In particular, the coalition was concerned about the rights of immigrant workers and was formed for the purpose of writing the letter.

“Each of the lead states are labor enforcers, and we’ve enforced labor laws on behalf of all workers, irrespective of immigration status. But all of us have found that immigrant workers and especially undocumented immigrant workers are more susceptible to workplace abuses – nonpayment of wages, failure to pay minimum wage and overtime – and we frequently seen that workers who complain, if suspected of being undocumented, employers routinely will threaten them with, ‘I’m going to call ICE, I’m going to call immigration, you’ll be picked up. Who do you think they’ll believe? You’re undocumented, so basically, don’t make trouble,’” said Cynthia Mark, chief of the Public Protection and Advocacy Bureau at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. “So the State and the local labor enforcers who submitted the letter are hoping that DHS and their sister agencies will help us protect the workplace rights of all workers, including undocumented workers.”

The letter that the coalition submitted asks DHS to consider several recommendations. These include “[creating] a clear process for prosecutorial discretion, including deferred action, to proactively support workers cooperating with labor law enforcement agencies, [making] it explicit that state and local agencies that enforce workplace laws can certify S, T, and U Visas, and [limiting] enforcement based on potentially retaliatory tips from employers and [informing] the public that DHS’ hotline should not be used for such purposes.” It also calls for taking steps to help immigrant workers to be aware of their rights and to bar immigration enforcement activities at courthouses, or state and local labor departments.

Mark outlined two examples of cases where immigrant workers’ rights were encroached upon. In one example, a company called Bay State Linen used a staffing agency called Country Temp. In the business of doing commercial laundry, they routinely subpaid minimum wages and no overtime, even though workers were working long hours, oftentimes over 40 per week. When AG Healey’s office launched an investigation, workers were told afterwards that if they cooperated with the government, “it’s bad for you. It’s bad for everyone,” according to Mark. Many of the workers, nevertheless, did engage with the government, and workers were granted restitution. In another case, a worker at Tara Construction injured himself on the job, having fallen off a ladder and broken his leg. The worker approached the company about getting workers’ compensation, and the employer said that he should come by the office, and the company would “help [him] out.” The worker went to the office, was given some money, and as he was leaving the parking lot, he was stopped, arrested, and detained by ICE.

Karen Chen, executive director of the Chinese Progressive Association, said that this letter is a step in the right direction, and noted that many Asian American workers experience abuse at work. Undocumented workers, in particular, she said, represent an especially vulnerable population.

“In some places, the workplace conditions could be quite serious, but people wouldn’t say anything,” said Chen. “We also know that [in] some of the franchises or chains, like some of the malls in the suburban areas, people get a whole package. [People] work there, they give you a dorm, but they deduct your money. You have an employer where they control your entire life, pretty much. I’ve seen situations like that. … Over the years, we’ve seen two or three where you’re hired to work there, and they give you a dorm, and then they have a van that takes you to work and brings you back. … It’s almost like a modern day indentured servant type of treatment. It’s not like, ‘Oh, your housing is taken care of.’ … It’s hard, because if you’re like, ‘Okay, I can’t take this anymore. I can’t take this work environment, this kind of treatment again.’ It’s really difficult for the workers to say something or get out of it.”

Executive director of the Brazilian Worker Center, a group that has a partnership with AG Healey’s office, Lenita Reason, described how many workers have come to her organization for help with workplace rights violations. She noted the reluctance that they have expressed about seeking help, because they do not want to risk being deported.

“[There was] a worker that came to complain about their wage, and then afterwards they said, ‘It’s okay. Just leave it alone. I don’t want to deal with this, because my employer said that I might go to sleep in the U.S. and wake up in back in Brazil,’” said Reason. “We’ve even had cases of physical abuse. … We’ve had workers in conditions that were almost like trafficking conditions, because they were working and not getting paid and living at a place that was the employer’s property.” 

Reason expressed that the letter from the coalition has given her hope that workers may be more willing to come forward to report problems.

“I hope that with this letter … the workers will feel more protected, and they will feel like they don’t have to be so afraid to speak up for all the injustices and exploitation that happens at workplaces. We can send a message to the employers, because when one worker doesn’t say anything, you know that there are many others that are in the same situation,” said Reason. “If one comes forward, and they get retaliated [against], it sends a message to the others that they should not speak up. So with this letter, I believe that if they feel comfortable and that they don’t have to be afraid, that there are labor laws that protect them, they will come up … We can’t change or fix everything, but it will make things a little bit easier, and we will protect as many workers as we can.”