FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CR
WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2001
(202) 616-2777
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
TDD (202) 514-1888
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FUNDS PARTNERSHIPS
TO PROMOTE FAIR HIRING
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice today announced
the award of $700, 000 in grants to eleven nonprofit groups serving 15
states to conduct public education programs for workers and employers
about immigration-related job discrimination.
Recipients of the grants, ranging from $50,000 to $90,000, will assist
discrimination victims; conduct seminars for workers, employers and immigration
service providers; distribute educational materials in various languages
and publicize information in local communities and media.
"Grants to faith- and community-based organizations enable us to educate
workers and employers about their rights and responsibilities under the
immigration laws," said John Trasviña, Special Counsel for the
Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices
(OSC). "Our grantees are known and respected in their communities and
will work with OSC to provide assistance to employers to prevent discrimination
and to workers to protect them against discrimination."
OSC is the only office in the Federal government whose sole mission
is to educate both workers and employers about the antidiscrimination
provisions of the Immigration and Naturalization Act and 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 treat
workers differently because of appearance, language or accent.
OSC grant recipients are:
- Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern
California (APALC), based in Los Angeles, and in partnership
with Asian Law Caucus (ALC) of San Francisco, will educate workers and
employers in two of the nation's largest Asian American communities;
- Catholic Charities of Dallas will serve
workers and employers in northern Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma;
- Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA)
will provide services to employers and immigrant communities in Southern
California;
- Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, based in Atlanta, will provide
education services to employers and Hispanic workers throughout the
state;
- 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 a series of five regional seminars in
the Northeast, Upper Midwest, Southeast and West;
- Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest, based in
Lincoln, will work through the Iowa-Nebraska Immigrant Rights Network
and will educate Hispanic, Asian, Eastern European and African workers,
as well as immigration service providers in both states;
- New York Association for New Americans (NYANA), will provide multilingual
services to immigrants and refugees and asylees from French-and Spanish-speaking
countries as well as from Russia, Haiti, China, Vietnam and Korea in
New York City and surrounding boroughs and will also train employers;
- Northern California Coalition for Immigrant Rights will educate Hispanic
workers and employers and Chinese immigrants in the San Francisco Bay
Area;.
- United Farm Workers of America (UFW), will educate farm workers and
Hispanic business owners throughout California's San Joaquin Valley;
- Washington Alliance for Immigrant and Refugee Justice, based in Seattle,
will provide educational services to Hispanic, Asian and East African
workers in central and western Washington.
For more information about protections against job discrimination
under the immigration laws, call toll-free 1-800-255-7688, or 202-616-5594
or write to:
U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division
Office of Special Counsel for
Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530
Email: osccrt@usdoj.gov
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/osc
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