One of the United States foremost labor unions, the AFL-CIO has called out the Obama administration to provide illegal immigrants with a reprieve from deportation proceedings. In exchange for such halt, the union seeks to encourage these immigrants to report unsafe working conditions and other violations conducted by employers.
The recommendation was part of immigration policy advisories released by the Union. They say that many illegal immigrants do not report violations of employment standards especially working conditions and unpaid wages for fear of deportation. In order to remedy this, the AFL-CIO has recommended that the Department of Homeland Security issue alternative relief for low priority illegal immigrants from deportation and provide work authorizations in order to encourage them to report exploitative as well illegal employment practices.
The move would prevent these employers from using the 'deportation card' against illegal immigrants, as these employers threaten to report illegal immigrants should complaints be made about poor working and/or living conditions.
In a statement, the AFL-CIO said, "When undocumented individuals complain about workplace or housing violations, (their bosses and landlords) may report false or minor charges to the police, potentially leading to the individuals being placed in removal proceedings even if criminal charges are dropped."
It added, that illegal immigrants should be allowed 'to step piut of the shadows without fear of government or employer retaliation.' The statement continued, "Based on our experience, most workers will not take action to enforce their workplace rights if they know they can be fired or worse, deported if they complain about non-payment of wages, dangerous working conditions, or sexual harassment. The same is true when undocumented tenants face unsafe housing conditions, but fear reporting violations to housing authorities."
Also included in the recommendation to the current White House is the move to revert the power granted to states to immigration laws it sees fit. The AFL-CIO said, "The DHS needs to reassert federal control over immigration enforcement priority decision-making and implementation by ending programs that effectively delegate these responsibilities to state and local law enforcement, many of whom do not share DHS's enforcement priorities."
