Every employer should have a law enforcement response plan, experts said Friday at the American Bar Association’s annual labor and employment law conference.
This is generally a best practice, said John Mazzeo, former assistant chief counsel at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as there’s always the possibility that state or local law enforcement could visit a worksite, seeking to arrest an employee for any number of reasons. But proactive response plans may be particularly crucial as the Trump administration leans on workplace raids to meet immigration policy goals, speakers noted.
To that end, Mazzeo and his co-panelists offered attendees six tips for preparing a response plan.
An employer should identify the person most likely to be the first point of contact for law enforcement — the person who sits at the front desk, perhaps — and train them on what to say, how to say it and who to call, said Mazzeo, now senior director, associate general counsel at Vertical Screen, Inc.
They also should be trained to “treat ICE like a vampire,” recommended Jonathan Grode, U.S. practice director and managing partner for law firm Green and Spiegel. In other words, “don’t invite them in,” he said. “If you do, they have all their rights and powers. If you restrict where they can go, you can mute their power a little bit.”