Immigration Article of the Day: The NLRA Rock and the IRCA Hard Place: The NLRB’s Entry into Immigration Issues by Douglas A. Hass and Amy J. Zdravecky

The NLRA Rock and the IRCA Hard Place: The NLRB’s Entry into Immigration Issuesby Douglas A. Hass, Ashford University; Franczek Radelet, and Amy J. Zdravecky, Franczek Radelet PC, Quinnipiac Law Review, Forthcoming

Abstract: Researchers estimate that as of March 2010, there were approximately 8 million undocumented workers employed in the United States. Existing immigration law makes it unlawful to knowingly, or with constructive knowledge, hire such workers. At the same time, the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) recognizes that undocumented workers have the same rights as documented workers to engage in union and other protected activities set forth in the NLRA. Unfortunately neither the NLRA nor immigration law, nor the courts and administrative agencies that have interpreted them, have consistently provided clear guidance to comply with both. Absent immigration reform, both the National Labor Relations Board (the “NLRB” or the “Board”) and employers are increasingly stuck between a rock of the NRLA and hard place of the IRCA in navigating the unbalanced aims of the two laws.This paper explores the intersection between immigration laws and the NLRA, including both laws’ focus on employers’ rights and obligations. It includes a brief summary of the evolution of employment-related immigration law in Part I; a description of the balance, and sometimes conflict, that has existed between immigration law and the NLRA as interpreted by court and administrative decisions in Part II; some of the practical problems that the lack of immigration reform causes the Board and employers when they address situations where both areas of law are implicated along with some practical guidance for addressing those problems in Part III; and a brief summary of the proposed federal immigration legislation that many are hopeful will resolve these conflicts and leave employers and employees with clearer guidance of their rights and obligations under both areas of law in Part IV.

KJ