In June 2025, federal agents from ICE, HSI, the FBI, and the DEA conducted coordinated raids across multiple Los Angeles worksites — including two Home Depot stores in the Westlake area and a major clothing manufacturer in the Fashion District — using armored vehicles and tactical gear. Witnesses reported mass detentions and arrests without fundamental due process. Workplace immigration enforcement activity in California has continued to escalate throughout 2025 and into 2026, and no worker — regardless of their immigration status — should face that situation without knowing their rights.

California law is among the strongest in the country when it comes to protecting workers from both federal immigration enforcement and employer retaliation connected to it. Two overlapping legal frameworks form the core of that protection: the Immigrant Worker Protection Act (Assembly Bill 450), signed into law in 2017 and updated through 2025 guidance, and the Workplace Know Your Rights Act (Senate Bill 294), which took effect February 1, 2026. Together, they give every California worker — documented or not — a set of enforceable legal rights that their employer is required by law to respect.

Your Constitutional Rights on the Job

The United States Constitution applies to everyone on American soil — not just citizens, and not only outside the workplace. The Fourth Amendment protects you from unreasonable searches and seizures wherever you are. The Fifth Amendment gives you the right to remain silent and not incriminate yourself. These rights do not evaporate when you clock in for work.^[1]

California's SB 294 specifically requires employers to inform workers of their Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights when interacting with law enforcement at the workplace, including immigration officers. Workers must receive this notice in writing, in the language their employer uses to communicate with them, by February 1, 2026 for current employees and at the time of hire for new employees going forward.^[2]

In practical terms, these rights mean: if ICE agents enter your workplace and approach you, you have the right to remain silent. You have the right to refuse consent to any search of your person or belongings. You are not required to answer questions about where you were born, how you entered the country, or whether you have immigration documents. You should not run or physically resist — but you may calmly state: "I am exercising my right to remain silent. I do not consent to a search."

What AB 450 Requires Your Employer to Do

The Immigrant Worker Protection Act, codified at Government Code Sections 7285.1 and 7285.2 and Labor Code Section 90.2, imposes clear, mandatory obligations on every California employer — public and private — when immigration enforcement agents come to the worksite.^[3]

Employers cannot voluntarily let ICE in. Under Government Code Section 7285.1, employers shall not provide voluntary consent to an immigration enforcement agent to enter any nonpublic area of a place of labor without a valid judicial warrant. An ICE administrative warrant — sometimes called a "warrant of removal" or "warrant of deportation" — is not a judicial warrant and does not authorize nonconsensual access. Only a warrant signed by a federal judge or magistrate authorizes entry.^[4]

Employers cannot voluntarily give ICE your records. Under Government Code Section 7285.2, employers shall not voluntarily consent to an immigration enforcement agent accessing, reviewing, or obtaining employee records without a valid judicial warrant or subpoena. If ICE demands records with only an administrative warrant, your employer is legally prohibited from complying voluntarily.^[4]

Employers must notify all employees within 72 hours of receiving an I-9 inspection notice. Under Labor Code Section 90.2, once an employer receives a written Notice of Inspection of I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification forms or other employment records from an immigration agency, they must post notice to all current employees within 72 hours. The notice must be in the language the employer normally uses to communicate employment information and must include the name of the immigration agency, the date notice was received, and the date and nature of the inspection.^[5]

Violations of AB 450 carry civil penalties ranging from $2,000 to $10,000 per violation, enforced by the California Attorney General and the Labor Commissioner.^[6]

What Your Employer Cannot Do

California law prohibits employers from taking a wide range of actions that use immigration status as a weapon against workers. The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and Labor Code Section 1019 protect employees from discrimination based on immigration status, national origin, and the exercise of workplace rights.^[7]

Employers cannot threaten to call immigration authorities as a way to silence workers who are exercising their rights. Under California law, if an employer takes adverse action within 90 days of an employee exercising protected rights — such as filing a wage complaint, reporting a safety violation, or organizing with coworkers — there is a legal presumption that the adverse action was retaliatory.^[8] This presumption applies regardless of the worker's immigration status.

Employers also cannot re-verify a current employee's work authorization documents at a time or in a manner not required by federal law. Attempting to do so is itself a violation of AB 450 carrying a penalty of up to $10,000.^[3]

All California employment law protections — FEHA antidiscrimination rights, minimum wage, overtime, meal and rest breaks, workers compensation, the right to organize — apply to every worker in California regardless of citizenship or immigration status. An employer cannot use your immigration status to deny you wages you have earned, retaliate against you for reporting a safety violation, or prevent you from filing a workplace complaint.^[9]

The Bottom Line

California law is unequivocal: workplace immigration enforcement does not suspend your constitutional rights or your employment law protections. You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to refuse consent to a search. Your employer cannot open the door to ICE without a judicial warrant. They must notify you within 72 hours of receiving an I-9 inspection notice. And if they retaliate against you for exercising any of these rights, they have broken California law and may owe you significant damages.

At Smith Reback Law, we represent California workers who have faced employer retaliation connected to immigration status, workers whose employers violated AB 450 or SB 294, and workers who were denied wages, benefits, or protections based on their immigration status. Every worker in California deserves to know their rights — and every employer who violates those rights should be held accountable. Your consultation is completely confidential and costs nothing.