II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3207 

To protect victims of crime or serious labor violations from deportation 

during Department of Homeland Security enforcement actions, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 14, 2010 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mrs. MURRAY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To protect victims of crime or serious labor violations from 

deportation during Department of Homeland Security 

enforcement actions, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect Our Workers 

5 from Exploitation and Retaliation Act’’ or the ‘‘POWER 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. VICTIMS OF SERIOUS LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT 

2 VIOLATIONS OR CRIME. 

3 (a) PROTECTION FOR VICTIMS OF LABOR AND EM4 PLOYMENT VIOLATIONS.—Section 101(a)(15)(U) of the 

5 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

6 1101(a)(15)(U)) is amended— 

7 (1) in clause (i)— 

8 (A) by amending subclause (I) to read as 

9 follows: 

10 ‘‘(I) the alien— 

11 ‘‘(aa) has suffered substantial 

12 abuse or harm as a result of having 

13 been a victim of criminal activity de14 scribed in clause (iii); 

15 ‘‘(bb) has suffered substantial 

16 abuse or harm related to a violation 

17 described in clause (iv); 

18 ‘‘(cc) is a victim of criminal ac19 tivity described in clause (iii) and 

20 would suffer extreme hardship upon 

21 removal; or 

22 ‘‘(dd) has suffered a violation de23 scribed in clause (iv) and would suffer 

24 extreme hardship upon removal;’’; 

25 (B) in subclause (II), by inserting ‘‘, or a 

26 labor or employment violation resulting in a 


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1 workplace claim described in clause (iv)’’ before 

2 the semicolon at the end; 

3 (C) in subclause (III)— 

4 (i) by striking ‘‘or State judge, to the 

5 Service’’ and inserting ‘‘, State, or local 

6 judge, to the Department of Homeland Se7 curity, to the Equal Employment Oppor8 tunity Commission, to the Department of 

9 Labor, to the National Labor Relations 

10 Board’’; and 

11 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, or investigating, 

12 prosecuting, or seeking civil remedies for a 

13 labor or employment violation related to a 

14 workplace claim described in clause (iv)’’ 

15 before the semicolon at the end; and 

16 (D) in subclause (IV)— 

17 (i) by inserting ‘‘(aa)’’ after ‘‘(IV)’’ 

18 and 

19 (ii) by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: ‘‘or 

21 ‘‘(bb) a workplace claim described in 

22 clause (iv) resulted from a labor or employ23 ment violation;’’; 

24 (2) in clause (ii)(II), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

25 end; 


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1 (3) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end 

2 and inserting ‘‘and’’; and 

3 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(iv) in the labor or employment violation 

5 related to a workplace claim, the alien— 

6 ‘‘(I) has filed, is a material witness in, 

7 or is likely to be helpful in the investiga8 tion of, a workplace claim (as defined in 

9 section 274A(e)(10)(C)(iii)(II)); and 

10 ‘‘(II) reasonably fears, has been 

11 threatened with, or has been the victim of, 

12 an action involving force, physical re13 straint, retaliation, or abuse of the immi14 gration or other legal process against the 

15 alien or another person by the employer in 

16 relation to acts underlying the workplace 

17 claim or related to the filing of the work18 place claim; or’’. 

19 (b) TEMPORARY PROTECTION FOR VICTIMS OF

20 CRIME, LABOR, AND EMPLOYMENT VIOLATIONS.—Not21 withstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of 

22 Homeland Security may permit an alien to temporarily re23 main in the United States and grant the alien employment 

24 authorization if the Secretary determines that the alien— 


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1 (1) has filed for relief under section 

2 101(a)(15)(U) of the Immigration and Nationality 

3 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(U)); or 

4 (2)(A) has filed, or is a material witness to, a 

5 bona fide workplace claim (as defined in section 

6 274A(e)(10)(B)(iii)(II) of such Act, as added by sec7 tion 3(b)); and 

8 (B) has been helpful, is being helpful, or is like9 ly to be helpful to— 

10 (i) a Federal, State, or local law enforce11 ment official; 

12 (ii) a Federal, State, or local prosecutor; 

13 (iii) a Federal, State, or local judge; 

14 (iv) the Department of Homeland Security; 

15 (v) the Equal Employment Opportunity 

16 Commission; 

17 (vi) the Department of Labor; 

18 (vii) the National Labor Relations Board; 

19 or 

20 (viii) other Federal, State, or local authori21 ties investigating, prosecuting, or seeking civil 

22 remedies related to the workplace claim. 

23 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 214(p) of 

24 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(p)) 

25 is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or inves2 tigating, prosecuting, or seeking civil remedies for 

3 workplace claims described in section 

4 101(a)(15)(U)(iv)’’ after ‘‘section 

5 101(a)(15)(U)(iii)’’ each place such term appears; 

6 (2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘10,000’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘20,000’’; and 

8 (3) in paragraph (6)— 

9 (A) by inserting ‘‘or workplace claims de10 scribed in section 101(a)(15)(U)(iv)’’ after ‘‘de11 scribed in section 101(a)(15)(U)(iii)’’; and 

12 (B) by inserting ‘‘or workplace claim’’ 

13 after ‘‘prosecution of such criminal activity’’. 

14 (d) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR VICTIMS OF

15 CRIMES.—Section 245(m)(1) of the Immigration and Na16 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1255(m)(1)) is amended by insert17 ing ‘‘or an investigation or prosecution regarding a work18 place claim’’ after ‘‘prosecution’’. 

19 (e) CHANGE OF NONIMMIGRANT CLASSIFICATION.— 

20 Section 384(a)(1) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 

21 Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 

22 1367(a)(1)) is amended— 

23 (1) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘physical 

24 or mental abuse and the criminal activity’’ and inVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:29 Apr 15, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3207.IS S3207

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1 serting ‘‘abuse and the criminal activity or work2 place claim’’; 

3 (2) in subparagraph (F), by adding ‘‘or’’ at the 

4 end; and 

5 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (F) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(G) the alien’s employer,’’. 

8 SEC. 3. LABOR ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS. 

9 (a) REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS.—Section 239(e) of the 

10 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229(e)) is 

11 amended— 

12 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘In cases where’’ and in14 serting ‘‘If’’; and 

15 (B) by inserting ‘‘or as a result of informa16 tion provided to the Department of Homeland 

17 Security in retaliation against individuals for 

18 exercising or attempting to exercise their em19 ployment rights or other legal rights’’ after 

20 ‘‘paragraph (2)’’; and 

21 (2) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(C) At a facility about which a workplace 

24 claim has been filed or is contemporaneously 

25 filed.’’. 


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1 (b) UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT OF ALIENS.—Section 

2 274A(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

3 1324a(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(10) CONDUCT IN ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) ENFORCEMENT ACTION.—If the De6 partment of Homeland Security undertakes an 

7 enforcement action at a facility about which a 

8 workplace claim has been filed or is contem9 poraneously filed, or as a result of information 

10 provided to the Department in retaliation 

11 against employees for exercising their rights re12 lated to a workplace claim, the Department 

13 shall ensure that— 

14 ‘‘(i) any aliens arrested or detained 

15 who are necessary for the investigation or 

16 prosecution of workplace claim violations 

17 or criminal activity (as described in sub18 paragraph (T) or (U) of section 

19 101(a)(15)) are not removed from the 

20 United States until after the Depart21 ment— 

22 ‘‘(I) notifies the appropriate law 

23 enforcement agency with jurisdiction 

24 over such violations or criminal activ25 ity; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) provides such agency with 

2 the opportunity to interview such 

3 aliens; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) no aliens entitled to a stay of re5 moval or abeyance of removal proceedings 

6 under this section are removed. 

7 ‘‘(B) PROTECTIONS FOR VICTIMS OF

8 CRIME, LABOR, AND EMPLOYMENT VIOLA9 TIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) STAY OF REMOVAL OR ABEYANCE

11 OF REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS.—An alien 

12 against whom removal proceedings have 

13 been initiated under chapter 4 of title II, 

14 who has filed a workplace claim, who is a 

15 material witness in any pending or antici16 pated proceeding involving a workplace 

17 claim, or who has filed for relief under sec18 tion 101(a)(15)(U), shall be entitled to a 

19 stay of removal or an abeyance of removal 

20 proceedings and to employment authoriza21 tion until the resolution of the workplace 

22 claim or the denial of relief under section 

23 101(a)(15)(U) after exhaustion of adminis24 trative appeals, whichever is later, unless 

25 the Department establishes, by a preponVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:29 Apr 15, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3207.IS S3207

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1 derance of the evidence in proceedings be2 fore the immigration judge presiding over 

3 that alien’s removal hearing, that— 

4 ‘‘(I) the Department initiated the 

5 alien’s removal proceeding for wholly 

6 independent reasons and not based 

7 on, or as a result of, any information 

8 provided to, or obtained by, the De9 partment— 

10 ‘‘(aa) from the alien’s em11 ployer; 

12 ‘‘(bb) from any outside 

13 source, including any anonymous 

14 source or any individual de15 scribed in subparagraphs (A) 

16 through (G) of section 

17 1384(a)(1) of the Illegal Immi18 gration Reform and Immigrant 

19 Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 

20 U.S.C. 1367(a)(1)); or 

21 ‘‘(cc) during the prosecution 

22 or investigation of the workplace 

23 claim; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) the workplace claim was 

2 filed in a bad faith with the intent to 

3 delay or avoid the alien’s removal. 

4 ‘‘(ii) DURATION.—Any stay of re5 moval or abeyance of removal proceedings 

6 and employment authorization issued pur7 suant to clause (i) shall remain valid until 

8 the resolution of the workplace claim or 

9 the denial of relief under section 

10 101(a)(15)(U) after the exhaustion of ad11 ministrative appeals, and shall be extended 

12 by the Secretary of Homeland Security for 

13 a period of not longer than 3 additional 

14 years upon determining that— 

15 ‘‘(I) such relief would enable the 

16 alien asserting a workplace claim to 

17 pursue the claim to resolution; 

18 ‘‘(II) the deterrent goals of any 

19 statute underlying a workplace claim 

20 would be served; or 

21 ‘‘(III) such extension would oth22 erwise further the interests of justice. 

23 ‘‘(iii) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 ‘‘(I) MATERIAL WITNESS.—Not25 withstanding any other provision of 


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1 law, the term ‘material witness’ means 

2 an individual who presents a declara3 tion from an attorney investigating, 

4 prosecuting, or defending the work5 place claim or from the presiding offi6 cer overseeing the workplace claim at7 testing that, to the best of the declar8 ant’s knowledge and belief, reasonable 

9 cause exists to believe that the testi10 mony of the individual will be relevant 

11 to the outcome of the workplace claim. 

12 ‘‘(II) WORKPLACE CLAIM.—The 

13 term ‘workplace claim’ means any 

14 written or oral claim, charge, com15 plaint, or grievance filed with, commu16 nicated to, or submitted to the em17 ployer, a Federal, State, or local agen18 cy or court, or an employee represent19 ative related to the violation of appli20 cable Federal, State, and local labor 

21 laws, including laws concerning wages 

22 and hours, labor relations, family and 

23 medical leave, occupational health and 

24 safety, or nondiscrimination.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

3 as may be necessary to carry out this Act and the amend4 ments made by this Act. 

Æ 


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