title
PROPOSED RESOLUTION
SUPPORTING THE PASSAGE OF DEFERRED ACTION FOR LABOR ENFORCEMENT (DALE)
WHEREAS, the Cook County Board supports the decision made by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that noncitizen workers who are victims of, or witnesses to, the violation of labor rights, can now access a streamlined and expedited deferred action request process.; and
WHEREAS, deferred action protects noncitizen workers from threats of immigration-related retaliation from the exploitive employers; and
WHEREAS, effective immediately, this process will improve DHS's longstanding practice of using its discretionary authority to consider labor and employment agency-related requests for deferred action on a case-by-case basis; and
WHEREAS, workers will be able to visit DHS.gov for additional information in English and Spanish and to submit requests; and
WHEREAS, these improvements advance the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to empowering workers and improving workplace conditions by enabling all workers, including noncitizens, to assert their legal rights; and
WHEREAS, unscrupulous employers who prey on the vulnerability of noncitizen workers harm all workers and disadvantage businesses who play by the rules; and
WHEREAS, these predatory actors will be held accountable by encouraging all workers to assert their rights, report violations they have suffered or observed, and cooperate in labor standards investigations; and
WHEREAS, through these efforts, and with the federal labor agency partners, the American labor market will be effectively protected, along with the conditions of the American worksite, and the dignity of the workers who power our economy; and
WHEREAS, workers are often afraid to report violations of law by exploitative employers or to cooperate in employment and labor standards investigations because they fear removal or other immigration-related retaliation by an abusive employer; and
WHEREAS, agencies tasked with enforc...
Click here for full text