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New Jersey employers that use their employees’ immigration status as a means to retaliate against them for raising concerns about potential labor law violations will be subject to fines under a new law.
The law, which was signed by the state’s Lt. Governor Tahesha Way on Aug. 8, is intended to make immigrant workers more comfortable coming forward if they believe their employer is violating employment laws, such as paying less than the minimum wage.
“No worker should be forced to turn a blind eye to their employer’s unlawful behavior out of fear of being prosecuted for their immigration status,” Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz said in a statement.
Under the legislation, employers cannot threaten to reveal an employee’s immigration status, or report their immigration status to the authorities, as a means of covering up labor violations present in their own business. Employers who violate the law more than twice can be fined up to $10,000. The law went into effect immediately.
Zoom out. The number of unauthorized US workers grew from 7.4 million in 2019 to 8.3 million in 2022, according to Pew Research data, with unauthorized immigrants representing 7% of New Jersey’s workforce.
New Jersey has enacted several other laws strengthening protections for immigrant residents this year, including one granting domestic workers—one-third of whom are estimated to be immigrants nationally—the right to earn at least the state minimum wage of $15.13 an hour, take paid break times, and enter into written contracts with their employers.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) considers deferred action requests to delay deportation of noncitizen workers who experience or observe employers violating labor law. In January, DHS said more than one thousand workers had been granted protections through this initiative over the past year.
Immigration has become a focal point of the 2024 presidential election, and research suggests Republican nominee Donald Trump’s pledge to deport millions of immigrants in the US illegally could negatively affect wages and employment for US workers.