IWG Action Plan Progress Report Rollout

Background: On November 20, 2014, the federal government announced the formation of the Interagency Working Group for the Consistent Enforcement of Federal Labor, Employment and Immigration Laws (Interagency Working Group or Group), comprised of the Department of Labor (DOL), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Justice (DOJ), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In April 2015, the Interagency Working Group announced a six-month action plan and identified activities to initiate or complete.

Release Date: On December 3, 2015 the IWG will release a brief update on progress toward achieving its objectives.

Materials: The IWG and/or its Members are making available, committing to making available in the future, or highlighting already available information including those that follow.

• DHS' U and T Visa Law Enforcement Resource Guide, available at http://www.dhs.gov/publication/u-visa-law-enforcement-certification-resource-guide. This document provides guidance to law enforcement officers regarding their role in the process of applying for U nonimmigrant status (for victims of certain crimes) or T nonimmigrant status (for victims of human trafficking).
• Fact Sheet: Retaliation Based on Exercise of Workplace Rights is Unlawful (insert link). DOL, DOJ, EEOC, and the NLRB jointly release this document because they recognize the critical importance of ensuring that all workers can come forward and report potential violations of the law without fear of retaliation.
• ICE Form I-9 Inspection Overview, available at https://www.ice.gov/factsheets/i9-inspection. This document provides an overview of the Employment Verification System and Form I-9 inspection process.
• OSC's Employer Best Practices During Worksite Enforcement Audits, available at http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2011/07/20/worksite_enforcement.pdf. This document contains best practices for employers during worksite enforcement audits.
• ICE and DOL component agencies continue to collaborate pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding. Additionally, ICE, DOL, EEOC, and the NLRB launched a pilot in August 2015 to identify and prevent instances in which ICE and the employment and labor enforcement agencies have enforcement conflicts in order to ensure that individuals who cooperate with investigations can do so without fear of retaliation and that unscrupulous individuals or organizations cannot thwart or manipulate the effective enforcement of the employment, labor, and immigration laws. The parties to the pilot have agreed to evaluate its effectiveness on an ongoing basis, to make changes as necessary in consultation with one another, and to maintain the confidentiality of all information shared to effectuate this pilot. The parties are seeking to formalize the pilot in the near future. The Group members will update internal guidance to implement any new formalized policies and procedures as appropriate.

Media: No proactive press will be conducted. Responses to any incoming inquiries will refer to the underlying cleared document and previously released materials.

Congressional: No proactive Congressional notification will occur. Responses to any incoming inquiries will refer to the documents and previously released materials.

Stakeholders: An email will be sent to stakeholders who have previously participated in engagements with the IWG, using the existing email list. Calls to select stakeholders may be made.

Talking Points

General Talking Points

• The Interagency Working Group's goals are:
  1. To enhance coordination in those cases where federal responsibilities to enforce labor, employment, and immigration laws may overlap,
  2. To ensure that workers who cooperate with labor and employment enforcement may continue to do so without fear of retaliation,
  3. To ensure that unscrupulous parties do not attempt to misuse immigration enforcement or labor laws to thwart or manipulate worker protections or labor and immigration enforcement, and
  4. To ensure the effective enforcement of these laws.
• In April 2015, the Interagency Working Group (IWG) announced a six-month action plan and identified activities to initiate or complete. Over the last six months, members of the Interagency Working Group have worked together to make progress on these objectives. The purpose of today's communication is to provide stakeholders with an update on that work, and to make available documents that may help inform stakeholders.
• Some materials are being issued or highlighted by all IWG members, while others may be the work product of individual agencies, departments or sub-groups of the IWG. (Materials are noted accordingly).

Pilot Talking Points

• The IWG Members previously announced an agreement to identify procedures to ensure the respective civil authorities of the members do not conflict, and to explore the development of potential agreements or other procedures to avoid conflict.
• Over the last six months, the working group has focused on furthering its work in this area.
• Specifically, ICE, DOL, EEOC, and the NLRB launched a pilot in August 2015 to identify and prevent instances in which ICE and the employment and labor enforcement agencies have investigations and enforcement actions come into conflict. This process ensures that individuals who cooperate with labor and employment investigations can do so without fear of retaliation and that unscrupulous individuals or organizations cannot thwart or manipulate the effective enforcement of the employment, labor, and immigration laws.
• The parties are seeking to formalize the pilot in the near future. The Group members will update internal guidance to implement any new formalized policies and procedures as appropriate. The parties to the pilot have agreed to evaluate its effectiveness on an ongoing basis, to make changes as necessary in consultation with one another, and to maintain the confidentiality of all information shared to effectuate this pilot.
• ICE and DOL component agencies continue to collaborate pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding available at https://www.dol.gov/asp/media/reports/DHS-DOL-MOU.pdf.

Retaliation Fact Sheet:

• Federal agencies responsible for enforcing workers' rights seek to protect all workers from exploitation and violations, regardless of immigration status. Retaliation based on the exercise of workplace rights is unlawful; however, many workers are deterred or prevented from asserting workplace rights for fear of retaliation.
• Effective enforcement of labor and employment laws requires that the enforcement process be insulated from inappropriate manipulation by parties who seek to prevent workers from exercising their rights or retaliate against them when they do.
• Therefore, DOL, DOJ, the EEOC and the NLRB jointly developed a retaliation fact sheet to provide clarity that retaliation against workers who assert workplace rights is unlawful, regardless of the workers' immigration status.
• This fact sheet does not contain new policy, but reflects the agencies' commitments to accessibility of documents, and provides the information in a consolidated document. This document will be made available in languages in addition to English in the near future.