California gave immigrants the opportunity to speak out at work. Trump could end their protection

Immigration lawyers and advocates say that while some applicants are seeking reprieves from active deportation cases, most have been living and working undetected without papers, meaning they are reporting to federal immigration authorities for the first time.

It is not clear how many of these workers are in California. A Homeland Security spokesperson declined to release state-by-state figures, citing “ongoing investigations.”

But California is an enthusiastic participant in the program; Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration says it was the first state to submit a letter in support of worker protections. The state is home to nearly 1.5 million workers who are undocumented immigrants more than 7% of the working population.

Such workers are often the focus of state labor investigations, and labor advocates say undocumented workers routinely fear they will lose their jobs and be reported to immigration authorities for complaining about workplace violations.

“This fear may prevent them from fully cooperating with labor enforcement authorities in reporting and confirming violations of the law,” Daniel Lopez, spokesman for the state Office of Labor Commissioners, said in a statement. “Ultimately, less protection undermines workers and impacts responsible employers.”

Over the past two years, the agency, which investigates wage theft, has sent letters in support of deportation protections in 136 workplace investigations involving potentially hundreds of employees. The Department of Occupational Safety and Health has sent at least twelve letters. The Agricultural Labor Relations Board, which oversees farmworkers’ rights, sent 10, and the Civil Rights Department, which investigates workplace discrimination complaints, sent 60, spokespeople said.

The state has even paid to help immigrants obtain work permits. Newsom announced last year $4.5 million to pay for free legal services to help farmworkers involved in labor investigations, request deferred action. The money, allocated through mid-2026, has helped screen more than 500 employees for eligibility to date and 175 have enrolled in the program.

There are as many as 800,000 seasonal and year-round agricultural workers in California; At least half are believed to be undocumented.

“Farm regions have very limited access to legal immigration services,” said Jason Montiel, spokesman for the Department of Social Services, which administers grants to five legal aid groups statewide. “Providing farmworkers with direct access to immigration legal services when their labor rights are violated makes them more likely to file employment claims and cooperate with employment agencies.”

Newsom’s spokespeople did not respond to a question about what will happen to the state grant program if federal rules change.

Nicole Gorney, a supervising attorney at VIDAS Legal Services, which receives a state grant, said she has 12 farmworkers waiting for deferred action. She had hoped the state would expand the program to workers in other industries.

“There are still a lot of workers who are eligible but don’t really want to come out of the shadows,” she said the morning after the election.

Gamez’s deferred action was granted in connection with retaliation claims he and his colleagues filed against Century Car Wash in 2018. That year, they also filed wage theft claims with the state Office of the Labor Commissioner. According to state records, they told the office that their managers had them show up earlier and leave later than company hours, but that their timesheets did not reflect all the hours they worked. The car wash’s co-owners denied the claims and told the state the time sheets were accurate.

After demanding payment from his managers, Gamez said he was fired and told to leave in front of customers. According to state records, he and his colleagues won wage claims in 2021; a state auditor ruled that Gamez owed more than $20,000. But the state is still investigating claims that the workers were fired and questioned about their immigration status in retaliation for speaking out. Last year, at the request of Gamez’s lawyer, the Labor Commissioner’s Office sent a letter to Homeland Security requesting deportation protection for the workers.

“The ongoing investigation … is being conducted by our Retaliation Complaints Investigation Unit and requires cooperation and testimony from employees,” Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower wrote in the letter.