Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement (DALE) is a crucial but little-known deferred action program announced last year that provides temporary immigration protection and work authorization for workers at companies under investigation by a labor agency. DALE has the potential to be transformative for undocumented workers and help turn the tide on labor abuse. But in the first year of the program there were less than 2,000 applications nationally, in large part because of a lack of immigration legal capacity. To help address this issue, National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) has begun to organize DALE pro se legal clinics to grow access to these important protections.
NDLON is organizing two DALE legal clinics in May: a clinic in NYC May 10-11 with Worker’s Justice Project to respond to an emergent labor abuse campaign at a sweatshop in Brooklyn, and a clinic in NJ May 18 with New Labor, AFSC, Casa Freehold, and ULA NJ to support workers from multiple campaigns in accessing DALE protections, growing their capacity to continue fighting for their labor rights.
We seek volunteers to work with applicants to complete their deferred action applications. Register here for the NYC clinic and here for the NJ clinic! The clinic is a one stop shop to orient, screen, intake, and complete applications for workers, so they leave with their applications ready to mail. All applications will be reviewed by a supervising attorney before being submitted. Volunteers will gain substantive knowledge on an important form of relief for immigrant workers while strengthening skills in direct service provision within an organizing framework. Volunteers must speak Spanish and attend a virtual training prior to the event. Please email Lwilfong@ndlon.org with any questions!