Employment Discrimination and Immigration: What to Know

Florida has a broad population of immigrants, including people who have recently come to this country as well as residents born in the United States to immigrant parents or with immigrant grandparents. Yet anti-immigrant sentiments are rampant in Florida, as the ACLU underscores, despite the fact that nearly 20 percent of the state’s population is made up of residents who are immigrants themselves or have a family history of immigration. Accordingly, many Floridians worry about how their ethnicity, race, national origin, or immigration status might impact them when they are applying for a job, or when an employer learns about their personal history (or merely makes assumptions about it).

It is critical to know that it is unlawful under federal and state law to discriminate on the basis of national origin, race, and ethnicity, and federal law also protects job applicants and employees from discrimination on the basis of citizenship status. Our Palm Beach Gardens employment discrimination attorneys can tell you more.

Unlawful Discrimination on the Basis of Citizenship Status

The federal Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of citizenship status. What this means is that an employer cannot refuse to “recruit, refer, or hire someone,” or make the decision to terminate an employee, “because of the person’s citizenship or immigration status.” If there is a legal justification for limiting jobs to only US citizens, the employer may not be in violation of the law, but without legal justification, an employer cannot decide to only offer employment or hire US citizens, or to discriminate against asylees or refugees.

Not all people may be protected by the INA, however. In general, this law applies to US citizens, US nationals, lawful permanent residents, asylees, and refugees.

Protections Against Discrimination on the Basis of Race, Ethnicity, and National Origin

Sometimes anti-immigrant sentiment takes the form of discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin especially. It is critical for job applicants and employees in South Florida to know that the Florida Civil Rights Act (FCRA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibit these forms of discrimination.

Not only do prohibitions against national origin discrimination prevent people from being treated unfavorably because they have come from a specific country or area of the world, but it also prohibits related discrimination on the basis of a person’s ethnicity or accent, and even on the basis of a person’s seeming ethnic background (even if they are not actually of that background). Protections also extend to discrimination against a job applicant or employee because they have a spouse or partner who is of a certain or perceived national origin.

Contact a Palm Beach Gardens Employment Discrimination Attorney

If you experienced any kind of discrimination connected to anti-immigrant sentiment in an employment context, it is important to seek legal help. Whether you faced discrimination in applying for a job or while employed by your employer, it may be possible to file a claim. One of the experienced Palm Beach Gardens employment discrimination lawyers at Sconzo Law Office can speak with you today to learn more about your situation and to assist you with an employment discrimination claim.

Sources:

justice.gov/crt/media/961626/dl?inline=#:~:text=Under%20federal%20law%2C%20employers%20generally,on%20a%20worker’s%20citizenship%20status

eeoc.gov/national-origin-discrimination

flsenate.gov/laws/statutes/2011/760.01#:~:text=(2)%20The%20general%20purposes%20of,to%20make%20available%20to%20the

aclufl.org/en/news/floridas-increasingly-anti-immigrant-policies-hurt-all-us