The Vermont Treasurer has formed a Task Force on the Federal Transition to advise the office on the legal and economic implications from changing federal policies. A recent webinar brought experts together to help businesses and non-profits understand their rights if a workplace visit by Immigration and Customs Enforcement occurs.
Registration for the webinar “Immigration & ICE Rights, Responsibilities, & Support for VT Businesses and Non-Profits” reached the maximum of 1,000 allowed on the virtual platform. State Treasurer Michael Pieciak says that shows a high level of interest and concern from businesses across the state.
“This webinar came about because we’d been thinking through what are some of the challenges? What are some of the opportunities? What are things we can get ahead of as fast-moving policy changes occur at the federal level? And pretty early on in those discussions this issue of ICE enforcement for employers rose to the top,” Pieciak explained. “One of our members was expressing their concern about having to focus on this issue instead of focusing on their business. And he was also concerned that he was having to do it in isolation. So we thought that this was a tangible way that we could provide information.”
Vermont Solicitor General Jonathan Rose noted that overall, Trump Administration executive orders related to immigration are focused on greater enforcement and shutting down asylum programs. Rose explained that his office reviews each of the presidential directives to determine which ones the state can do something about legally.
“What are the impacts on employers of the immigration orders? And I think there are two main things that I wanted to mention. The first is that to the extent that these orders create an atmosphere that might embolden those to treat people from different backgrounds inappropriately, our office does enforce our state’s civil rights laws and we will continue to enforce those laws,” Rose said. “But it’s just a time to be particularly vigilant to watch out for instances in which your employees are treating each other disrespectfully or inappropriately or in a discriminatory manner. On the other end, the issue with employer rights with respect to immigration enforcement: the 4th amendment does apply to employers.”
The 4th Amendment of the Constitution protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Vermont Asylum Assistance Project Executive Director and Supervising Attorney Jill Martin Diaz said her office has created a tracker to help determine ICE activity in the state.
“Individuals can anonymously submit first-hand accounts of having observed ICE activity. The good news is there’s been very few actual arrests that we’ve been able to confirm and everyone continues to enjoy constitutional protections,” Diaz said. “So nothing in any executive order has been able to limit what rights you have to privacy; how you and your employees, your staff, your customers can think about navigating the private areas of work spaces and how to plan for the unlikely but potential arrival of Department of Homeland Security officers at your place of work.”
BAL is a Texas-based global immigration law firm. San Francisco partner Kelli Duehning outlined how a business should prepare for an ICE workplace visit.
“Stay calm. Ask to see the officer’s identification and request to see any warrant or subpoena. Don’t interfere. Don’t put yourself in harm’s way. Don’t have your employees in harm’s way. Really just remain calm and be able to move forward. If you are unsure if this is truly an ICE officer, please ask that officer to provide a supervisor’s contact information,” Duehning recommended.
Duehning says there are three ways ICE could come to a workplace: a letter requesting an audit of documents showing that workers are authorized to work in the U.S. A second method is an administrative warrant issued by a federal agency. It does not allow agents into the private spaces of a business. The third method is through a judicial warrant signed by a judge, which does allows officers into private spaces.
