FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2003
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
|
CRT
(202) 514-2008
TDD (202) 514-1888
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ANNOUNCES GRANTS FOR TRAINING
ON PREVENTION OF IMMIGRATION-RELATED JOB DISCRIMINATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice today announced the award
of nearly $675,000 in grants to eleven nonprofit groups serving communities
throughout the country, to conduct public education programs for workers and
employers about immigration-related job discrimination.
The grants, which range from $40,000 to $85,000, are being awarded by the
Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices
(OSC) of the Civil Rights Division. Recipients will assist discrimination
victims; conduct seminars for workers, employers and immigration service
providers; distribute educational materials in various languages; and place
advertisements in local communities through both mainstream and ethnic media.
“Awarding grants to professional and community-based organizations, as well as
to local governments, enables us to educate workers and employers about their
rights and responsibilities under the immigration laws,” said J. Michael
Wiggins, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. “Our grant
recipients, who are well known and respected in their communities, will work
with us to assist employers in preventing discrimination and to protect
workers’ rights.”
The mission of OSC is to educate both legally authorized workers and their
employers about the anti-discrimination provisions of the Immigration and
Nationality Act, enforce legal protections against citizenship and
national-origin discrimination, and document abuse in hiring and firing.
OSC grant recipients are:
- New York City Commission on Human Rights (based in New York), in conjunction
with the New York Immigration Coalition, will provide education in all five
boroughs of New York City. These workshops will focus on employers, service
providers and immigrant workers from Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, Haiti
and India. Additional workshops will be conducted in Westchester County,
Rockland County and the city of Buffalo, to reach immigrant populations
outside New York City;
- Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California (based in Los
Angeles, California), in partnership with the Asian Law Caucus of San
Francisco, will educate workers and employers in Los Angeles and San
Francisco, cities with two of the nation’s largest Asian Pacific-American
communities;
- International Rescue Committee (based in San Diego, California) will provide
anti-discrimination education to refugees, asylees, and other immigrant
workers;
- Catholic Charities of Dallas (based in Dallas, Texas) will serve workers and
employers in northern Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma;
- Catholic Charities of Houston (based in Houston, Texas) will educate
employers, as well as Hispanic and Asian workers in southwestern Texas,
including key communities along the Mexican border;
- Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (based in Atlanta, Georgia) will provide
education services to employers and Hispanic workers throughout Georgia;
- Illinois Department of Human Rights (based in Chicago, Illinois) will focus on
employers, immigration service providers, and workers in its statewide
education program;
- Catholic Charities of St. Petersburg (based in St. Petersburg, Florida) will
provide educational workshops to workers and small businesses through its
network of service providers. Special emphasis will be placed in two counties
that have a high concentration of Croatian, Serbian, Haitian, and Cuban
immigrants;
- Legal Aid Services of Oregon (based in Hillsboro, Oregon) will educate
agricultural workers with a statewide media campaign and group presentations;
- Hogar Hispano/Catholic Charities of Arlington (based in Arlington, Virginia)
will educate employers, as well as Asian Pacific, Arab, African and Hispanic
workers in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. area; and,
- National Immigration Law Center (based in Los Angeles, California) will
conduct a national program to educate immigration service providers and pro
bono attorneys through a series of workshops and conference presentations
around the country, as well as regional seminars in Phoenix, Arizona; Miami,
Florida; and Orange County, California.
For more information about protections against job discrimination under the
immigration laws, call 800-255-7688, 202-616-5594 or write to:
Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices
U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20530
Email: osc.crt@usdoj.gov
Website: www.usdoj.gov/crt/osc <http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/osc>
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