DOJ Fights Immigration-Related Discrimination
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department has announced that it has awarded $720,321 in grants to 13 organizations throughout the country to conduct public education programs for workers and employers about federal protections against immigration-related job discrimination.
The grants, which range from $43,664 to $88,000, are being awarded by the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) of the department’s 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 to educate workers and employers about their rights. OSC enforces the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which protects U.S. and authorized immigrant workers against citizenship and national origin discrimination. As part of its mission, OSC also educates workers and their employers about the anti-discrimination provision. “Awarding grants to professional and community-based organizations better enables us to educate workers and employers about their rights and responsibilities under federal immigration law,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “Our grant recipients, who are well known and respected in their communities, will collaborate with us to prevent immigration-related discrimination in the workplace.” The OSC grant recipients are:
