Excerpts from American Prospect:
With Donald Trump as president, more employers think wage theft is even easier to get away with.
Enrique (whose name has been changed to protect his identity) says that he and his coworkers wonder whether it’s worth it to file a claim with the Department of Labor or the appropriate state agency. “All the workers in the fields that are immigrants experience this fear,” he says. “We don’t really know what we can do.”
Enrique’s plight reflects the growing reality in Trump’s America — that immigrants who are victims of wage theft are increasingly afraid to pursue legal remedies.
“The Trump administration’s rhetoric on immigration and its approach to enforcement have made immigrant communities obviously fearful in a new way,” says Laura Huizar, a staff attorney with the National Employment Law Project. “This is going to prevent a lot people from filing wage complaints that they otherwise would have.”