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With Donald Trump returning to the White House, there are a lot of questions about what will happen to people who are in the country illegally. Will there be mass deportations? What about the DREAMers? Then there are the thousands of workers here illegally who have been helping the government enforce the law. NPR's Andrea Hsu has their story.
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ANDREA HSU, BYLINE: At the Arriba Las Vegas Worker Center, Karin Martinez is opening envelope after envelope.
KARIN MARTINEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
HSU: She's going through a pile of 100 letters - each a notice from the U.S. government to come in for fingerprinting. The recipients are workers in construction and warehouses and other industries who are here illegally. It's the final step in getting them protection from deportation and authorization to work.
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HSU: Martinez says inside each envelope is a dream.
MARTINEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
HSU: A light at the end of the tunnel.
MARTINEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
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HSU: The Worker Center has helped about 1,000 people without legal status through this process under a policy advanced by the Biden administration. Workers who've been victims of workplace abuse have been getting temporary protection from deportation and Social Security numbers in exchange for speaking out. The aim is to help under-resourced labor agencies go after unscrupulous employers. The program is known as Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement, or DALE. Martinez is a DALE recipient herself.
MARTINEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
HSU: She used to work for a staffing agency whose founder is in jail awaiting sentencing for tax crimes. And one of the earliest to receive DALE protections in Las Vegas was this man.
ROSARIO ORTIZ: (Speaking Spanish).
HSU: Rosario Ortiz came to Las Vegas 21 years ago. He worked in a restaurant and as a handyman. Then seven years ago, he got a job with a painting company called Unforgettable Coatings. He realized there were problems starting with his first paycheck.
ORTIZ: (Speaking Spanish).
HSU: He says he hadn't been paid for two days of work and also wasn't getting overtime, despite working 60-some hours a week. Turns out the company had been cited by the Labor Department five years earlier for illegal pay practices. Ortiz says his coworkers were mad but also fearful. When they complained, he says they were told...
ORTIZ: (Speaking Spanish).
HSU: ...They should be grateful the boss even hired them given they're undocumented. In 2019, a small group of them started talking with labor investigators. A federal court ordered the company to not intimidate employees. And after Biden came into office, the Worker Center asked that the workers be given protection from deportation so they could testify. The company's founder and CEO says there was no wrongdoing, but he agreed to pay more than $3.6 million in back wages and damages to nearly 600 workers across four states. Ortiz says getting protections under DALE has changed everything.
ORTIZ: (Speaking Spanish).
HSU: "Life is much easier," he says. "Employers look at you differently. You feel safe going places."
ORTIZ: (Speaking Spanish).
HSU: He no longer worries he'll be deported and separated from his family. The case has inspired others to report their employers when their paychecks bounce, when safety measures are skipped, when they're threatened for complaining. The Worker Center's director, Bliss Requa-Trautz says DALE is their shield. More and more, she hears workers say...
BLISS REQUA-TRAUTZ: With this in hand, we're going to hold that employer accountable.
HSU: But with Trump's promise of an immigration crackdown, she wonders if that courage will hold. Late last year, the Worker Center stopped filing new DALE applications with the government, given the detailed personal information they contain.
REQUA-TRAUTZ: Predominantly, there's fear of putting people in harm's way if the future of the program is in question.
HSU: Across the country, close to 8,000 workers had received DALE protections as of the end of October, according to the government. Rosario Ortiz is among those whose work authorization will expire under Trump.
ORTIZ: (Speaking Spanish).
HSU: "It's everyone's concern at the moment," he says. He fears what will happen if the new administration discontinues the program.
ORTIZ: (Speaking Spanish).
HSU: "This is when abusive employers will abuse workers the most," he says.
As night falls, Karin Martinez, who's been opening envelopes all day, takes a break for something special. Work authorization cards have come in for a handful of people.
MARTINEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking Spanish).
HSU: Dreams now in hand, these people will have protection for the next four years. For more than 100 others, though, the Worker Center is still waiting, hoping theirs will arrive this week. Andrea Hsu, NPR News, Las Vegas. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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