Our Rights, Our Work, Our Home

A Milestone Win for Workers

The “Our Rights, Our Work, Our Home” campaign fights to empower immigrant workers to safely stand up for their rights on the job without fear of immigration-based retaliation. Far too often, immigrant workers are forced into the precarious position of enduring dangerous working conditions or labor exploitation. Many understandably fear that speaking out will result in retaliation — which in turn, could jeopardize their place in the country they call home.

When any worker is silenced, workplaces become more dangerous for everyone, allowing injustices like wage theft, substandard working conditions, and sexual harassment to go unchecked.

Recognizing this as a critical issue of economic and immigrant justice, NILC spent decades advocating for a policy solution that would empower more workers to report labor violations.

On January 13, 2023, we had a milestone win when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) created a process for immigrant workers to apply for temporary protections so that they could report exploitation without fear of immigration-based retaliation.

This policy marks an important step forward in ensuring that immigrant workers can assert basic rights on the job without fear. Workers who are involved in labor disputes can apply for “deferred action” and receive work authorization for a renewable period.

Our Campaign’s Mission

After securing this win in partnership with many workers’ rights organizations, our team rapidly pivoted to focusing on maximizing its impact and launched the “Our Rights, Our Work, Our Home” campaign.

Working with community-based organizations across the country, we’re connecting workers to the tools and resources they need to navigate the application process. We’re dedicated to educating advocates, attorneys, and impacted workers on how deferred action can make worksites — and communities — safer.

Our goal is to ensure every worker facing unjust or unsafe labor practices is empowered to assert their rights. When more workers can speak out and fight back against employer violations, conditions can improve for all workers.