Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries warns employers that threats to call ICE are illegal

Para leer esta historia en español, haga clic aquí.

Threatening to call federal immigration authorities on employees after they raised concerns about their working conditions is considered illegal retaliation, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries is warning employers. 

Oregon law prohibits employers from discriminating or retaliating against workers because of their national origin, which includes actions that target workers based on their immigration status, ethnicity, language, ancestry or cultural traits. 

While the federal government is cracking down on immigration enforcement across the country, the state of Oregon has policies protecting people living and working in Oregon regardless of their immigration status. State agencies including the labor bureau and Department of Justice have pledged to take “aggressive action” to enforce the law in these cases. 

The agency did not immediately specify how many complaints it received involving threats to call Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. 

“Intimidating and silencing workers who simply want to be treated fairly by threatening or actually calling immigration officials on them is one of the most egregious forms of retaliation,” agency commissioner Christina Stephenson said in a July 16 statement. 

Stephenson said the bureau will prioritize cases where employees have faced this type of retaliation and use “every enforcement tool” to make sure employers are held accountable. 

Reyna Lopez, the executive director of Oregon’s farmworker union — Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, also known as PCUN — said the organization is grateful to have a state labor industry that stands firm against retaliation. 

“For too long, employers have weaponized the fear of deportation to silence workers speaking out against unsafe, unjust and illegal conditions,” Lopez said. “This conduct has only grown worse under the federal administration’s aggressive deportation policies.”

Although Oregon is a sanctuary state — meaning state and local law enforcement cannot help federal authorities with immigration enforcement — some industries in Oregon are still feeling the impacts of the federal government’s immigration crackdown. In The Dalles, fears of ICE raids led to a 50% drop in available cherry-picking workers, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.  

In late May, Gov. Tina Kotek signed a law prohibiting landlords from asking tenants about their immigration status and prohibiting them from disclosing or threatening to disclose an applicant’s or tenant’s immigration status. The law took effect immediately, and Oregon joined Washington, California and New York in having similar immigration-related tenant protections. 

SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE