JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PUBLISHES BROCHURE ON
FEDERAL PROTECTIONS AGAINST NATIONAL ORIGIN DISCRIMINATION
IN TEN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGES

WASHINGTON, D.C. - - The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice today announced the publication of the Federal Protections Against National Origin Discrimination brochure in an additional ten languages. The National Origin Working Group of the Civil Rights Division created the brochure to assist individuals in identifying discrimination covered by the laws enforced by the Division. The brochure also gives examples of illegal discrimination based on national origin and provides information where discrimination complaints may be filed.

The brochure is now available in English, Arabic, Khmer (Cambodian), Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Laotian, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. It will be produced in more languages in the near future.

National origin discrimination includes discrimination based upon an individual's nationality, country of birth or country of origin, or the country of origin of an individual's family or spouse. It also includes discrimination based upon characteristics that are identified with a particular country or national origin, such as dress, accent, language, religion, or racial attributes.

"The Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is committed to defending the civil rights of all people in this country," said Ralph F. Boyd, Jr., Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "We are mindful that many people, especially recent immigrants, may not be familiar with their rights. We hope this brochure will educate the public about behavior that may constitute illegal discrimination and the offices and agencies which victims or witnesses of discrimination-should contact for more information or to file a complaint."

Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, incidents of bias, including hate crimes, assaults and vandalism against individuals perceived to be of Middle Eastern origin, have been on the rise. These incidents have been targeted primarily at Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, Sikh Americans and South Asian Americans.

The Working Group seeks to combat discrimination by: (1) receiving reports of violations based on national origin, citizenship status and religion, including those related to hate crimes, housing, education, employment, public accommodations, lending, access to government services, voting, and law enforcement, and referring them to the appropriate federal authorities; (2) conducting outreach to vulnerable communities to provide them with information about Department of Justice services and connect them with other government agencies that can assist them; (3) providing training opportunities regarding issues and obstacles that Department of Justice and other federal agency staff may face when working with national origin minority communities; and (4) working with other Department of Justice components and other governmental agencies to ensure accurate referral, effective outreach and provision of services to victims of civil rights violations.

The brochures can be downloaded from the Civil Rights Division's website at http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/spectop.html#origindiscrim. In addition, printed copies of the brochure can be requested by contacting the Civil Rights Division at (202) 616-9966.

This press release is also available in Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Please contact the Office of Public Affairs at (202) 616-2777 for copies in any of these languages.

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