Boston Police Officer Reassigned Over WC Retaliation-Deportation Allegations

Tuesday, October 29, 2019 | 0

It started out as a workers' compensation claim, but it escalated into a federal case against a Boston contractor for alleged retaliation. Now, a Boston police officer has been reassigned after reportedly violating city law and steering U.S. Immigration authorities to the injured worker.

Boston news outlets reported Monday that police Detective Gregory Gallagher had been removed from his role as liaison with federal immigration enforcement. Documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union show that Gallagher had worked with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, officers to notify them of possible illegal immigrants, in violation of a Boston city ordinance that was designed to prevent police involvement in civil immigration matters.

Emails sent to and from the officer show that in some of the cases, the suspects were, in fact, involved in criminal activity. But the detective also stepped into deportation cases, according to the news reports.

That's what may have happened in 2017, authorities said. Pedro Pirez, owner of Tara Construction Co., had let his workers' compensation insurance lapse, and worker Jose Martin Paz Flores, who is from Honduras, fell from a ladder on the job and filed a claim.

Pirez then asked a Boston police officer he knew to look into Paz's legal status as an immigrant. The U.S. Department of Labor filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the contractor, alleging retaliation. Documents obtained in the lawsuit have shown that the police officer was Gallagher, who may have participated in similar actions for others in the city, the news reports noted.

The lawsuit by DOL raised questions in an age of anti-immigrant fervor and rhetoric from President Trump and other federal officials. But the department has said it files about one such whistleblower suit per month around the country, to encourage workers to report safety, wage and benefit violations by employers.

In this case, the contractor, Pirez, himself is an immigrant, but because he came from Cuba, U.S. policy granted him legal status. Paz Flores was not so lucky, and was arrested, allegedly after Gallagher tipped immigration authorities to his status. Gallagher was deputized as an ICE officer, which may have also violated Boston police regulations, the reports said.

Boston police “officials have repeatedly assured the public and the City Council that they are not interested in acting as ICE agents,” said Laura Rótolo, staff counsel and community advocate for the ACLU of Massachusetts. “Yet, for at least a decade, they have had an officer embedded with ICE, working hand-in-hand to deport Bostonians.”

A lawyer for Paz Flores, who fled Honduras 18 years ago, pointed out that the worker had never been charged with a crime. Paz Flores had been wanted by ICE for deportation because he missed an immigration hearing in 2002, his lawyer said.

In an answer to the federal lawsuit, Pirez this month denied that he retaliated against Paz Flores, and denied other allegations. He said Tara Construction had its comp policy canceled because it missed a payment, but has since paid $380,474 in workers' comp premiums, the answer notes.