Immigrant workers in New Jersey who seek to expose their employers for labor violations at their workplace will now get an additional level of protection under a new law signed last week.
The law places new fines for employers that try to cover up labor violations by threatening workers based on their immigration status. The new measure was approved by the acting Gov. Tanesha Way while Gov. Phil Murphy was vacationing in Italy.
Under the law, employers who report or threaten to report workers to immigration authorities to conceal their own violations of state wage, benefit or tax laws now face fines of up to $10,000. It is meant to give workers the protection to blow the whistle on labor violations, according to the Bergen Record.
"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," state Sen. Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz, a Democrat from Newark and sponsor of the Senate version of the bill, said in a statement.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security offers similar protections for those reporting violations of federal law.
The new law, which comes as immigration remains a top issue ahead of the November general election will also "discourage businesses from behaving unethically and will impose penalties for those found to have violated the law," said another sponsor, state Sen. Angela McKnight.
Under the measure, a first offense carries a fine of up to $1,000. A second offense carries a fine of up to $5,000, and additional offenses bring fines of up to $10,000. Fees would go to the state Labor Department for enforcement of laws.
The new practice is set to benefit migrant workers across different sectors in the state. However, those who faced greatest retaliation from their bosses were those immigrants in construction, said Michael Hellstrom, vice president and Eastern regional manager of the Laborers' International Union of North America.
The newly-signed law also coincides with a rise in the number of unauthorized immigrants in New Jersey and the U.S., Gothamist reports.
In 2022, New Jersey was home to 475,000 unauthorized immigrants, one of the largest in the country. That year, 7% of the state's workers were unauthorized migrants, according to a Pew Research Center study.
Immigrants in the Garden State have a strong presence in their local workforce. In fact, immigrant workers reportedly have a higher labor-force participation rate in New Jersey than native-born workers, a June study by Stockton University reports.
New Jersey is also one of the six states where undocumented immigrants paid more than $1 billion in state and local taxes in 2022, according to the Bergen Record.
Upon the measure going into effect immediately, local immigrant advocates celebrated the new protections.
"Immigrant workers participate in New Jersey's labor force at a rate 5.2% higher than native-born workers. They deserve equal protections," Erik Cruz Morales, policy and advocacy manager with New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice said in a statement. "This new law will establish safeguards against coercion and intimidation based on immigrant status."
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