DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FUNDS PARTNERSHIPS TO PROMOTE FAIR HIRING

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice today announced the award of nearly $900,000 in grants to 15 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 $100,000, 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 Juan Carlos Benítez, Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC). "Our grant recipients are well known and respected in their communities. They 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.

Immigration-related job discrimination may occur when employers ask some, but not all, employees for verification of work eligibility, or when employees are unfairly treated because of their appearance, language or accent.

OSC grant recipients are:

§Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center (APALCR), based in Washington, D.C., will provide education for the large Asian Pacific American community residing in the greater Washington metropolitan area;

§Catholic Charities of Dallas will serve workers, employers and immigration service providers in northern Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma;

§Catholic Charities of Galveston/Houston will educate employers as well as Hispanic and Asian workers in southwestern Texas, including key communities along the Mexican border;

§City of New York, Commission on Human Rights will provide education in all five New York City boroughs to employers, service providers and immigrant workers from Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, Haiti and India;

§City of Seattle, Office for Civil Rights will target employers, immigration service providers as well as Asian, African, Hispanic, Eastern European and Middle Eastern workers;

§Coalition of Florida Farmworker Organizations will conduct anti-discrimination education for farmworkers, and their employers, throughout south Florida;

§Employers Association of New Jersey will carry out educational seminars for employers throughout New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania;

§Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, based in Atlanta, will provide education services for employers and Hispanic workers statewide;

§Hogar Hispano/Catholic Charities, based in Arlington, Virginia, will educate Asian and Hispanic workers, and Northern Virginia employers;

§International Rescue Committee, based in San Diego, California, will provide anti-discrimination education to refugees, asylees and other immigrant workers in this crucial border area;

§Legal Services of Eastern Michigan, located in Flint, will conduct a multi?language program for Hispanic, Arabic, Asian and other workers, as well as employers from 14 counties;

§Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota will educate employers and workers in the Bosnian, Somali, Russian, Vietnamese, Sudanese, Liberian, Hmong, Cuban and Haitian communities within a 100-mile radius of Minneapolis;

§National Immigration Law Center (NILC), based in Los Angeles, will carry out a national program to educate immigration service providers and pro bono attorneys through local workshops and a series of four regional seminars in the West, Southwest, Northwest and Midwest;

§North Carolina Justice & Community Development Center, headquartered in Raleigh, will educate employers, immigration service providers and Hispanic workers statewide.

§University of Nevada/Small Business Development Center will conduct a statewide campaign to educate employers through chambers of commerce, curriculum programs at the University of Nevada, and print and electronic media.

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

###

02-498