I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4008 
To protect victims of crime or serious labor violations from deportation 
during Department of Homeland Security enforcement actions, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 16, 2015 
Ms. JUDY CHU of California (for herself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. RANGEL, 
Ms. NORTON, Mr. CICILLINE, and Mr. ELLISON) introduced the following 
bill; which was 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect Our Workers 
from Exploitation and Retaliation Act’’ or the ‘‘POWER 
Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. VICTIMS OF SERIOUS LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT 
VIOLATIONS OR CRIME. 
(a) PROTECTION FOR VICTIMS OF LABOR AND EM-
PLOYMENT VIOLATIONS.—Section 101(a)(15)(U) of the 
Immigration 
and 
Nationality 
Act 
(8 
U.S.C. 
1101(a)(15)(U)) is amended— 
(1) in clause (i)— 
(A) by amending subclause (I) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(I) the alien— 
‘‘(aa) has suffered substantial 
abuse or harm as a result of having 
been a victim of criminal activity de-
scribed in clause (iii); 
‘‘(bb) has suffered substantial 
abuse or harm related to a violation 
described in clause (iv); 
‘‘(cc) is a victim of criminal ac-
tivity described in clause (iii) and 
would suffer extreme hardship upon 
removal; or 
‘‘(dd) has suffered a violation de-
scribed in clause (iv) and would suffer 
extreme hardship upon removal;’’; 
(B) in subclause (II), by inserting ‘‘, or a 
labor or employment violation resulting in a 
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(3) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end 
and inserting ‘‘and’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(iv) in the labor or employment violation 
related to a workplace claim, the alien— 
‘‘(I) has filed, is a material witness in, 
or is likely to be helpful in the investiga-
tion of, a bona fide workplace claim (as de-
fined in section 274A(e)(10)(C)(iii)(II)); 
and 
‘‘(II) reasonably fears, has been 
threatened with, or has been the victim of, 
an action involving force, physical re-
straint, retaliation, or abuse of the immi-
gration or other legal process against the 
alien or another person by the employer in 
relation to acts underlying the workplace 
claim or related to the filing of the work-
place claim; or’’. 
(b) TEMPORARY
PROTECTION
FOR
VICTIMS
OF 
CRIME, LABOR, AND EMPLOYMENT VIOLATIONS.—Not-
withstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of 
Homeland Security may permit an alien to temporarily re-
main in the United States and grant the alien employment 
authorization if the Secretary determines that the alien— 
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(1) 
has 
filed 
for 
relief 
under 
section 
101(a)(15)(U) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(U)); or 
(2)(A) has filed, or is a material witness to, a 
bona fide workplace claim (as defined in section 
274A(e)(10)(B)(iii)(II) of such Act, as added by sec-
tion 3(b)); and 
(B) has been helpful, is being helpful, or is like-
ly to be helpful to— 
(i) a Federal, State, or local law enforce-
ment official; 
(ii) a Federal, State, or local prosecutor; 
(iii) a Federal, State, or local judge; 
(iv) the Department of Homeland Security; 
(v) the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission; 
(vi) the Department of Labor; 
(vii) the National Labor Relations Board; 
or 
(viii) other Federal, State, or local authori-
ties investigating, prosecuting, or seeking civil 
remedies related to the workplace claim. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 214(p) of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(p)) 
is amended— 
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(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or inves-
tigating, prosecuting, or seeking civil remedies for 
workplace 
claims 
described 
in 
section 
101(a)(15)(U)(iv)’’ 
after 
‘‘section 
101(a)(15)(U)(iii)’’ each place such term appears; 
(2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘10,000’’ 
and inserting ‘‘30,000’’; and 
(3) in paragraph (6)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘or workplace claims de-
scribed in section 101(a)(15)(U)(iv)’’ after ‘‘de-
scribed in section 101(a)(15)(U)(iii)’’; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘or workplace claim’’ 
after ‘‘prosecution of such criminal activity’’. 
(d) ADJUSTMENT
OF STATUS
FOR VICTIMS
OF 
CRIMES.—Section 245(m)(1) of the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1255(m)(1)) is amended by insert-
ing ‘‘or an investigation or prosecution regarding a work-
place claim’’ after ‘‘prosecution’’. 
(e) CHANGE OF NONIMMIGRANT CLASSIFICATION.— 
Section 384(a)(1) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 
Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 
1367(a)(1)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘physical 
or mental abuse and the criminal activity’’ and in-
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serting ‘‘abuse and the criminal activity or work-
place claim’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (F), by adding ‘‘or’’ at the 
end; and 
(3) by inserting after subparagraph (F) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(G) the alien’s employer,’’. 
SEC. 3. LABOR ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS. 
(a) REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS.—Section 239(e) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229(e)) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘In cases where’’ and in-
serting ‘‘If’’; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘or as a result of informa-
tion provided to the Department of Homeland 
Security in retaliation against individuals for 
exercising or attempting to exercise their em-
ployment rights or other legal rights’’ after 
‘‘paragraph (2)’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(C) At a facility about which a workplace 
claim has been filed or is contemporaneously 
filed.’’. 
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(b) UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT OF ALIENS.—Section 
274A(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1324a(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(10) CONDUCT IN ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.— 
‘‘(A) ENFORCEMENT ACTION.—If the De-
partment of Homeland Security undertakes an 
enforcement action at a facility about which a 
workplace claim has been filed or is contem-
poraneously filed, or as a result of information 
provided to the Department in retaliation 
against employees for exercising their rights re-
lated to a workplace claim, the Department 
shall ensure that— 
‘‘(i) any aliens arrested or detained 
who are necessary for the investigation or 
prosecution of workplace claim violations 
or criminal activity (as described in sub-
paragraph 
(T) 
or 
(U) 
of 
section 
101(a)(15)) are not removed from the 
United States until after the Depart-
ment— 
‘‘(I) notifies the appropriate law 
enforcement agency with jurisdiction 
over such violations or criminal activ-
ity; and 
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‘‘(II) provides such agency with 
the opportunity to interview such 
aliens; and 
‘‘(ii) no aliens entitled to a stay of re-
moval or abeyance of removal proceedings 
under this section are removed. 
‘‘(B) PROTECTIONS
FOR
VICTIMS
OF 
CRIME, 
LABOR, 
AND
EMPLOYMENT
VIOLA-
TIONS.— 
‘‘(i) STAY OF REMOVAL OR ABEYANCE 
OF
REMOVAL
PROCEEDINGS.—An alien 
against whom removal proceedings have 
been initiated under chapter 4 of title II, 
who has filed a workplace claim, who is a 
material witness in any pending or antici-
pated proceeding involving a bona fide 
workplace claim, or who has filed for relief 
under section 101(a)(15)(U), shall be enti-
tled to a stay of removal or an abeyance of 
removal proceedings and to employment 
authorization until the resolution of the 
workplace claim or the denial of relief 
under section 101(a)(15)(U) after exhaus-
tion of administrative appeals, whichever is 
later, unless the Department establishes, 
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by a preponderance of the evidence in pro-
ceedings before the immigration judge pre-
siding over that alien’s removal hearing, 
that— 
‘‘(I) the alien has been convicted 
of a felony; or 
‘‘(II) the workplace claim was 
filed in bad faith with the intent to 
delay or avoid the alien’s removal. 
‘‘(ii) DURATION.—Any stay of re-
moval or abeyance of removal proceedings 
and employment authorization issued pur-
suant to clause (i) shall remain valid until 
the resolution of the workplace claim or 
the 
denial 
of 
relief 
under 
section 
101(a)(15)(U) after the exhaustion of ad-
ministrative appeals, and shall be extended 
by the Secretary of Homeland Security for 
a period of not longer than 3 additional 
years upon determining that— 
‘‘(I) such relief would enable the 
alien asserting a workplace claim to 
pursue the claim to resolution; 
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‘‘(II) the deterrent goals of any 
statute underlying a workplace claim 
would be served; or 
‘‘(III) such extension would oth-
erwise further the interests of justice. 
‘‘(iii) DEFINITIONS.—In this para-
graph: 
‘‘(I) MATERIAL
WITNESS.—Not-
withstanding any other provision of 
law, the term ‘material witness’ means 
an individual who presents a declara-
tion from an attorney investigating, 
prosecuting, or defending the work-
place claim or from the presiding offi-
cer overseeing the workplace claim at-
testing that, to the best of the declar-
ant’s knowledge and belief, reasonable 
cause exists to believe that the testi-
mony of the individual will be relevant 
to the outcome of the workplace claim. 
‘‘(II) WORKPLACE
CLAIM.—The 
term ‘workplace claim’ means any 
written or oral claim, charge, com-
plaint, or grievance filed with, commu-
nicated to, or submitted to the em-
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ployer, a Federal, State, or local agen-
cy or court, or an employee represent-
ative related to the violation of appli-
cable Federal, State, and local labor 
laws, including laws concerning wages 
and hours, labor relations, family and 
medical leave, occupational health and 
safety, civil rights, or nondiscrimina-
tion.’’. 
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 
as may be necessary to carry out this Act and the amend-
ments made by this Act. 
Æ 
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