The Trump administration’s immigration enforcement sweeps have occurred at churches, schools, hospitals, courthouses, and transit stops, but the number of workplace immigration arrests in California dwarfs that of all other locations. Immigrants are vulnerable en masse at predictable locations and predictable times: at work. Fortunately, California has developed a unique and highly effective outreach model that has allowed it to fight back: the California Worker Outreach Project, or CWOP.
CWOP is a trusted messenger outreach model in which the state partners with community-based organizations (CBOs) to reach vulnerable workers that the state cannot. Established during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, CWOP was designed to reach those most impacted by the crisis. What began as an emergency response has since grown into the largest worker rights public education effort in California’s history. CWOP offers building infrastructure for worksite responses to pandemics, climate crises, immigration enforcement sweeps, and more.
This fiscal year marked the fifth iteration of CWOP and distributed $28 million across 89 organizations throughout the state from July 2025 to June 2026, including $1.1 million directly for a pilot Rural Strategic Engagement Program. “CWOP 5.0” launched at a pivotal moment for California workers, as heightened federal immigration enforcement, mass layoffs of federal workers, and defunding of federal infrastructure programs intensified challenges for workers and communities across California.
This report documents the experiences of CWOP partner organizations as they conduct worker outreach through acute adversity, as well as those of workers themselves who received CWOP support. It uses interviews with CWOP grantees as well as data from the Division of Industrial Relations’ grantee portal for the reporting period between July, 2025 and April, 2026.
