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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FUNDS PARTNERSHIPS

WASHINGTON, D.C.---Thirteen nonprofit organizations in eight states will receive nearly $750,000 to conduct public education programs for workers and employers about immigration-related employment discrimination, the Justice Department announced today.

The grants, awarded annually by the Civil Rights Division's Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC), will assist organizations serving both employers and workers in California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina and Texas. "Grants to community-based and professional organizations enable us to better educate workers and employers about their rights and responsibilities under our immigration laws," said John Trasviña, Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices. "Immigrant civil rights issues are no longer limited to border states. These grants will respond to the needs of emerging immigrant communities."

Immigration related employment 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.

The grants, ranging from $38,000 to $90,000, will enable grantees to: conduct seminars for workers, employers and immigration service providers; distribute antidiscrimination materials in various languages; and publicize information in local electronic and print media.

"Our grantees are known and respected in their communities, provide excellent information and assistance to victims of discrimination and are a strong link between the community and OSC's services," added Trasviña.

This year's grant recipients are:

Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California based in Los Angeles, in partnership with the Asian Law Caucus of San Francisco;

Catholic Charities of Dallas, serving northern Texas, Little Rock, Arkansas, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma;

Catholic Charities of Houston, serving southeastern Texas;

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), which provides services in Southern California;

Erie Neighborhood House, Chicago, working with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the Chinese American Service League, the Instituto del Progreso Latino and Centro Romero;

Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, which serves employers throughout Florida;

Korean American Coalition of Los Angeles, which will focus on Southern California with selected outreach through its chapters in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.;

Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), based in Boston, which will focus educational efforts throughout the state;

National Immigration Law Center, based in Los Angeles, which will carry out a national program to educate immigration service providers;

Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest of Lincoln, serving Nebraska and western Iowa;

North Carolina Justice and Community Development Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, which will target five regions in North Carolina;

UNITE, New York City, serving workers in Chinese communities throughout the greater metropolitan area; and,

Victim Services of New York, which will educate workers in the five boroughs of New York City.

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:

Office of Special Counsel for Immigration

Related Unfair Employment Practices

Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice

P.O. Box 27728

Washington, D.C. 20038-7728

Email: osc.crt@usdoj.gov www.usdoj.gov/crt/osc

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