In 2017, José Martin Paz Flores fell from a ladder and broke his leg while installing drywall.
Such injuries are not unusual in the construction industry, where workers have among the highest risk for both fatal and non-fatal work-related injuries. What was unusual was what happened to Flores after the injury.
Flores’s employer did not have active workers’ compensation insurance, which employers are required to hold to cover their workers’ medical expenses and lost wages following an occupational injury. After Flores came to his employer’s office to receive cash meant to cover some of his medical expenses, he was arrested by Boston Police and ICE officials while his 2-year-old son watched.
Fears of similar deportation efforts targeting workers are growing as the Trump administration steps up raids targeting workplaces across the country, a major spark for the recent protests in Los Angeles.
Announcing these new efforts, the so-called “border czar” Tom Homan said, “You’re going to see more work site enforcement than you’ve ever seen in the history of this nation. We’re going to flood the zone.” One of the likely consequences of these efforts to “flood the zone” and target undocumented workers will be making these workers less likely to report dangerous work conditions or labor law violations such as unpaid wages.
Undocumented workers are employed in some of the most dangerous industries in the country. In addition to the over a million undocumented workers like Flores who are employed in construction, it is estimated that there are hundreds of thousands of undocumented workers employed in other high-risk industries, including agriculture, manufacturing and transportation.
Research has shown that immigrant workers have elevated risk across different health threats at work, ranging from injuries to chemical exposures and fatalities. Undocumented workers also face the risk of having their earnings taken away through wage theft.
Despite being employed in these high-risk industries, undocumented workers may be hesitant to make use of workplace protections and rights due to the threat of deportation.
Workers, regardless of their immigration status, are covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s general duty clause, which requires that employers furnish a work environment that is “free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to their employees.” In most jurisdictions, undocumented workers are also eligible for workers’ compensation benefits.
But the threat of retaliation can be used to prevent undocumented workers from utilizing their rights and ensure that they have protections in the workplace. As the fear of deportation grows, these essential workers may be forced further into the shadows, worsening their already elevated work-related health concerns.
One of the most extreme instances of exploitation can be seen in the case of child labor. Child labor law violations have become a growing concern in the U.S. in recent years, partly due to some states weakening child labor protections.
But undocumented children can still be coerced into working under the threat of deportation. Children employed illegally are often working in hazardous industries, including meat processing and auto manufacturing.
The dependence of the U.S. economy on immigrant and often undocumented labor became clear during the COVID-19 pandemic. A report from the Center for American Progress revealed how undocumented workers were employed in essential industries and constituted critical parts of the economy, including food production and healthcare.
This position in the economy meant that undocumented workers were vital for the continued functioning of the economy, and were also employed in industries where workers had a higher risk of contracting the virus.
In the current political environment, the health of all workers, not just undocumented workers, is threatened. Mass layoffs at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the federal body responsible for studying occupational health, mean that we will be less aware of emerging occupational health threats and best practices for protecting workers.
Flores knew his rights and was not intimidated from using them. His injury was reported to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which led to an investigation into the company. In 2022, five years after his injury and arrest, a federal jury ordered a sizable settlement for Flores, finding that his employer retaliated against him because he reported his injury.
The recent increase in workplace immigration raids must not deter other workers from exercising these same rights.
Devan Hawkins is a writer and researcher from Massachusetts. He is the author of “Worthy and Unworthy: How the Media Reports on Friends and Foes.”