A new state law will help immigrant workers know when the records proving they can legally work in the U.S. are about to come under federal review.
The Immigrant Worker Protection Act requires employers to give their employees a heads-up when a federal agency announces an upcoming inspection of the business’ I-9 forms on file. Employers use the I-9 and related documents to verify employees’ identity and work authorization.
The notice gives workers time to straighten out paperwork, consult an advocate or attorney, talk with their families about possible outcomes — such as detainment or deportation — and otherwise plan ahead for problems.
A provision that has made leaders in Washington agricultural uneasy: Employers that don’t comply could face legal action, either from the state attorney general or from impacted workers.
By law, federal officials — for example, from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or U.S. Department of Labor — must give an establishment notice before an I-9 inspection.
The act compels employers who have received this notice to inform workers of the planned inspection within five business days.
“It’s just about everybody being on the same page,” said Mark Bowers, staff attorney at Columbia Legal Services, an organization that represents marginalized communities.
Employers must distribute the notice among workers and post it where the workers can be expected to see it. Information must be written in both English and in the state’s five most common non-English languages, according to the bill. The state Attorney General’s Office will produce a model notice for employers to follow, the bill says.
Notice to employees must also be sent through the establishment’s usual means of communication, such as text message, snail mail, etc.
After the inspection, the employer must let impacted employees know of the results within five business days.
Bowers said, on the worker-protection front, the act offers a narrow solution to a narrow concern. “Compliance is pretty easy,” he said.
A court that finds an employer failed to fulfill its obligation could order it to pay the state attorney general $500 per violation per impacted worker, the bill says. Workers could also pursue damages up to 40 times the state’s minimum hourly wage, the bill says. In deciding damages, the court would consider whether a violation was intentional and whether it actually hurt anyone, the bill says.
Washington is following Oregon, California and Illinois in passing laws around informing employees of pending federal inspections. State Attorney General Nick Brown proposed the Immigrant Worker Protection Act ahead of the short legislative session and the primary sponsor was Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self.
Gov. Bob Ferguson signed the bill into law on Monday.
Industry concerns
Enrique Gastelum, CEO of the Lacey-based nonprofit Worker and Farmer Labor Association, said that while he supports the spirit of the bill — a move to protect immigrant workers — the threat of expensive litigation worries industry representatives.
He pointed out that, when it comes to farmers’ net earnings, Washington was the worst-performing state in 2024, with farmers spending almost $400 million more than they earned, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics.
“For our industry right now, there is no money to spare,” Gastelum said.
He said that, in order to protect one group, Olympia lawmakers are sacrificing another.
“They’re using employers as a meat shield … with their disagreement with the Trump administration,” Gastelum said, “which I think is poor policy.”
A worker’s I-9 records might raise red flags for any number of reasons.
The worker might have been authorized to work in the U.S. when they were hired, but that authorization might have changed or expired when the employer wasn’t paying attention.
The worker might have changed their immigration status, or they applied to renew their status but face a delay at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, rendering them temporarily without status — a resolvable problem but, during an inspection, a critical one.
And, though it is illegal, some employers hire people they know are undocumented, or an undocumented person might be using fake documents.
Washington lawmakers who support the act said it “levels the playing field” between employers and employees. Bowers said the threat of legal consequences does the same among employers by ensuring everyone is following best practices.
Bowers, who has practiced employment law for about half a dozen years, said he has seen cases where employers have threatened I-9 inspections, or implied that an inspection would happen, as a way to coerce or retaliate against immigrant workers. He said the Immigrant Worker Protection Act will help undermine the power of rumor.
“I think that’s good for Washington and for employers and employees alike,” Bowers said.
Erick Bengel is part of the Washington State Murrow Fellowships, a local news program supported by state funding.