To
educate employers and workers about their rights and responsibilities
under the Immigration and Nationality Act in order to prevent employment
discrimination based on citizenship status or national origin.
TYPES
OF ASSISTANCE:
Project Grants. Place Cursor Here for Definition
Provision of Specialized Services. Place Cursor Here for Definition
Investigation of Complaints. Place Cursor Here for Definition
USES
AND USE RESTRICTIONS:
The
antidiscrimination provisions of the INA prohibit employment discrimination
on the basis of national origin and citizenship status against U.S.
citizens and other legally authorized workers. The Office of Special
Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC)
was established to ensure that these individuals are not discriminated
against with respect to hiring, firing or recruiting or referral
for a fee based on their citizenship status or national origin.
INA's prohibition against citizenship status discrimination covers:
(1) U.S. citizens and nationals; (2) legal permanent residents;
(3) temporary residents under IRCA's legalization program, Special
Agricultural Worker program (SAW) or Replenishment Agricultural
Worker program (RAW); (4) refugees and (5) asylees. INA also makes
it illegal for employers with four to 14 employees to discriminate,
with respect to hiring, firing, recruitment or referral for a fee,
against any individual on the basis of his or her national origin.
Employers with 15 or more employees are covered under Title VII
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Please note that for national origin
charges, OSC has jurisdiction over employers with between four and
14 employees. National origin charges against employers with 15
or more employees come under the jurisdiction of the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which enforces Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964. There may be exceptions to this general rule,
so charges incorrectly filed with OSC are automatically referred
to the EEOC and vice versa. All charges of citizenship status discrimination
against employers with four or more employees should be filed with
OSC. In addition, under the document abuse provision of the law,
employers must accept all forms of work authorization and proof
of identity allowed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service
(INS) for completion of the Employment Eligibility Verification
(I-9) Form and that on their face appear genuine. Employers may
not prefer or require one form of documentation over another for
hiring purposes. Employers may not, with the intent to discriminate,
require more or different documents than required. The goal of the
grant program is to educate workers and employers about the antidiscrimination
provisions outlined above in order to reduce the incidents of employment
discrimination through nonprofit, private groups and state and local
governments and, if applicable, their sub-grantees.
ELIGIBILITY
REQUIREMENTS:
Applicant
Eligibility: Private, nonprofit institutions/
organizations, State and local government entities, local, regional
or national ethnic and immigrants' rights organizations, trade associations,
industry groups, professional organizations or other nonprofit entities
providing information and/or services to potential victims of discrimination
and/or employers.
Beneficiary
Eligibility: Small businesses, agricultural
producers, immigrant assistance groups--the largest communities
of which are Latino and Asian Pacific American--contractors, industries,
workers and employers.
Pre-application
Coordination: None. This program is excluded
from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Application
Procedure: In addition to a narrative outlining
the proposed project and strategies and a detailed budget and
budget narrative, the applicant must submit the following forms:
Application for Federal Assistance (SF 424); Certification Regarding
Lobbying, Debarment, Suspension and Other Responsibility Matters,
and Drug-Free Workplace Requirements (DOJ/OJP Form 4061/6); Disclosure
Form to Report Lobbying (SF LLL) and Assurances (DOJ/OJP Form
4000/3).
Award
Procedure: Federal officials will review and
rate grant applications according to standards published in the
Federal Register announcement of availability of funds. Final
award decisions are made by the Special Counsel for Immigration
Related Unfair Employment Practices.
Deadlines:
Contact the Office of Special Counsel listed below.
Range
of Approval/Disapproval Time: 4 to 5 months.
Appeals:
None.
Renewals:
Not applicable.
ASSISTANCE
CONSIDERATIONS:
Formula
and Matching Requirements: This program has
no statutory formula or matching requirement.
Length
and Time Phasing of Assistance: 12 months.
Funds are released quarterly.
POST
ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Reports:
Quarterly Financial and Categorical Assistance Project Reports are
required.
Audits:
In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133, (Revised,
June 24, 1997), ("Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit
Organizations,") nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance
of $300,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a
program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities
that expend less than $300,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt
from Federal audit requirements for the year, except as noted
in Circular No. A-133. In accordance with the provisions of OMB
Circular No.A-133, (Revised, June 24, 1997), "Audits of States,
Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations," nonfederal entities
that expend financial assistance of $300,000 or more in Federal
awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted
for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $300,000
a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements
for the year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133.
Records:
Any documents related to the items of expenses under the grant.
FINANCIAL
INFORMATION:
Account
Identification: 15-0128-0-1-752.
Obligations:
(Grants) FY 01 $701,000; FY 02 est $700,000; and FY 03 est $700,000.
(Salaries and Expenses) FY 01 $5,672,000; FY 02 est $6,073,000;
and FY 03 est $6,285,000.
Range
and Average of Financial Assistance: $40,000 to $100,000.
In fiscal year 2001, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) continued
to conduct outreach activities, including providing grants to community-based
and nonprofit organizations and government entities to educate employers,
employees, immigrant service providers and the general public about
employer and immigrant rights and responsibilities under the statute.
OSC also sends attorneys to numerous educational presentations across
the country, including state fair employment agencies and bar associations.
In addition to obtaining relief on behalf of individual victims
of discrimination, OSC has taken an aggressive stance in prosecuting
pattern or practice discrimination cases throughout the country.
For example, in United States v. Adamar of New Jersey, Inc. d/b/a
Tropicana Casino and Resort, OSC alleged that the casino engaged
in a pattern or practice of citizenship status discrimination and
unfair documentary practices. This case involved 978 victims subjected
to multiple forms of discrimination. OSC settled the case on very
favorable terms, including $75,000 in civil penalties. OSC is currently
prosecuting United States v. Swift & Company, which alleges a pattern
or practice of citizenship status discrimination and unfair documentary
practices during the hiring and reverification process. This case
involves potentially thousands of victims, and many thousand pages
of documents. OSC has increased its involvement in various immigration-related
issues that involve immigrant civil rights and are closely tied
to OSC's mission. OSC has played a substantial role on projects
related to the Division's Worker Exploitation and Human Trafficking
Task Force and the Division's National Origin Working Group. Other
policy work includes inter-agency projects with the Immigration
and Naturalization Service, the Social Security Administration,
and the Department of Health and Human Services. OSC's policy work
requires OSC staff to monitor implementation of various immigration
initiatives across the country (i.e., Operation Vanguard in Nebraska,
where OSC worked to ensure that work-authorized individuals would
not be erroneously discharged from employment, and INS Quick Response
Teams, where OSC worked with INS to protect the civil rights of
immigrant and minority communities), to conduct training throughout
the country, to work with other government agencies to ensure that
assistance is available to victims of unfair treatment, including
mechanisms for enforcement and the provision of appropriate remedies,
and to monitor and evaluate compliance with immigrant civil rights.
REGULATIONS,
GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE:
8 U.S.C. 1324(b).
INFORMATION
CONTACTS:
Regional
or Local Office: None.
Headquarters
Office: Department of Justice, Civil Rights
Division, Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair
Employment Practices, Washington, DC 20530. Telephone: (voice)
(202) 616-5594, (TDD) (202) 616-5525; toll-free: (voice) 1-800-255-7688,
(TDD) 1-800- 237-2515.
Web
Site Address: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/osc/index.html
EXAMPLES
OF FUNDED PROJECTS:
Asian Human Services; Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern
California; Catholic Charities of Dallas; Coalition for Humane Immigrant
Rights of Los Angeles; Erie Neighborhood House; Mexican American
Grocers Association; National Immigration Law Center; New York Association
for New Americans; Northwest Immigrant Rights Project; United Farm
Workers of America and United Food & Commercial Workers International
Union.
CRITERIA
FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS:
In addition to the standards published in the Federal Register (see
Award Procedure), geographic location and demonstrated ability to
reach potential victims of discrimination and/or employers are considered.
