Feb. 4, 2015 – “They’re human beings and we have laws to protect against rape, sexual abuse, and sexual harassment.” Dennis McBride, a trial attorney with the Milwaukee office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), doesn’t mince words when it comes to protecting all workers, even those who are undocumented, from employer abuse.

McBride presented, “Immigration for Employment Lawyers: Pointers, Practices and Practical Considerations” at the State Bar of Wisconsin PINNACLE 2014 Health, Labor, and Employment Law Institute.

Regardless of a worker’s status, “all the laws apply to them,” says McBride. Over the last 15 years, the EEOC has represented undocumented workers on farms or other agricultural facilities in a substantial number of cases involving sexual abuse.

If a person is undocumented, their immigration status is something that they will eventually have to deal with, says McBride. But if they are the victim of a crime or have been sexually harassed, they are allowed the same protections as any other person in the U.S.

The law “protects those people just as much as any U.S. citizen or documented worker,” he said.

Undocumented Workers Especially Vulnerable to Abuse

Undocumented workers are especially vulnerable when it comes to workplace abuses. They “are less likely to complain or reach out to the federal government or state government or the district attorney’s office because they are afraid of being deported,” says McBride. “So some of these employers are taking advantage of the vulnerability of these people.”

McBride points to his involvement in a landmark case, EEOC v. Austin DeCoster d/b/a DeCoster Farms and Iowa Ag LLC, as an example of just how susceptible undocumented workers can be to abuse. The case was featured in a 2013 PBS Frontline program called, “Rape in the Fields.”

Female workers “often went home and told their husbands that they were being sexually assaulted or raped at work.” In response, “the husbands would sometimes beat them,” suggesting that the women had brought it on themselves. Some of these women finally went to an encounter group with the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence, who reported the stories to the Milwaukee office of the EEOC. McBride got the call.

“We had women who had children and other family members and they were afraid that the children might be taken from them, or that some of the people would be deported and they wouldn’t have the life that had hoped to have in Iowa,” says McBride. “They were afraid of all sorts of ramifications occurring if they reached out to the EEOC.”

In the end, the EEOC filed charges, leading to major fines and the prosecution of company supervisors.

“We ended up getting over a million and a half dollars in penalties paid by two defendants, DeCoster Farms and Iowa Ag LLC.” Most of the money went to the victims identified in the case, while a portion went to the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence so that it could continue its activities.

Visas for Undocumented Workers

While the EEOC seeks to protect workers from workplace violations and related abuse, in some cases they are able to help provide visas to undocumented workers at risk of deportation.

U-visas are specifically designed to provide residency and work permits to non-U.S. citizens who were the subject of violent crime and assist or are willing to assist U.S. authorities with the investigation of such crimes.

“I was actually able to get the first U-visas in the country for the women that I was representing at that point” in the DeCoster case, says McBride. “It allows people to get legal work status and stay in the country while they’re assisting enforcement authorities like the EEOC in carrying out our activities. And it could lead to permanent residency status.

Similarly, non-U.S. citizens may be eligible for a T-visa if the person is or was a victim of severe forms of trafficking. “It’s a similar kind of thing,” says McBride. If you’re a victim of labor or sex trafficking, “you can stay in the country under certain circumstances.”

Both U- and T-visas require a certifying agency, says McBride. “The EEOC is a certifying agency. We can say ‘we believe this person is a victim, has information helpful to us, and we need this person to stay in the country.’”