By Beth Fertig, WNYC (September 23, 2019) — An undocumented worker who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement while giving a deposition against his former employer in upstate New York has been released from detention, and has filed new complaints over the government arrest. The case has alarmed immigrant and labor advocates, because ICE has a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of Labor not to detain workers in the process of suing an employer over workplace violations.
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On August 12th, Zhang was giving a deposition in the office of his former employer’s attorney. He stepped out for lunch with one of his own attorneys and was arrested by ICE as soon as they parked at a local diner.
Zhang was eventually transferred to a detention center near Buffalo and was released on September 6th without bond. When asked why, an ICE spokesman would only say the agency makes decisions on a case by case basis after looking at the circumstances.
One of Zhang’s attorneys, John Troy, who’s based in Flushing, said he’s now filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board for arresting Zhang while his labor case was proceeding. He accuses ICE of violating the National Labor Relations Act by acting on a tip from the restaurant’s former owner about Zhang’s whereabouts.
“You are pursuing employee’s rights, you are protected by anti-retaliation law,” said Troy.
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Elizabeth Jordan, a supervising attorney with the workplace justice legal team of Make the Road New York, said she’s glad Zhang was released by ICE. But she also worries about the damage that’s been done.
Wage theft is “particularly egregious among low wage immigrant workers,” she said. “We see it in the restaurant industry and the construction industry and among domestic workers, health care aides, home aides.”
Although Zhang has been released from detention, his attorney is now asking a federal judge in the Northern District of New York to halt the order of supervision that requires Zhang to check-in with ICE. He’s also seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent Zhang from being deported while he continues to pursue his labor case.
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The article first appeared on the Gothamist at: https://gothamist.com/news/undocumented-restaurant-worker-released-ice-after-arrest-while-suing-his-former-employer#comments