In 1986, Congress enacted the Immigration Reform
and Control Act (IRCA). IRCA made it unlawful for an employer in the
United States to knowingly hire a worker who is not authorized to
work in the U.S. The 1986 law established a procedure that employers
must follow to verify that employees are authorized to work in the
U.S. The federal government created Form I-9, the
employment
eligibility verification form, which employers must complete for all
new employees.
Because of concerns that the I-9 employment
eligibility verification process could result in discrimination
against workers, Congress also included antidiscrimination
provisions within IRCA. Under IRCA, individuals who are authorized
to work in the U.S. are protected from discrimination based on
citizenship/immigration status, national origin, as well as certain
practices called "document abuse." Document abuse occurs when an
employer requires a worker to present specific documents to verify
his/her employment eligibility (rather than allowing the worker to
choose which of the acceptable documents he or she will present, as
long as s/he fulfills the documentation requirement) or more
documents than are legally required by the I-9 process.
To enforce these antidiscrimination protections, Congress created
the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair
Employment Practices (OSC). A part of the U.S. Department of
Justice's Civil Rights Division, the OSC has multilingual staff and
attorneys ready to assist workers, their unions, or other advocates
for employees, along with employers and the general public on
matters involving employment discrimination. The OSC is not part of
the Department of Homeland Security.
For
information or assistance in filing a charge of discrimination,
workers may contact OSC 's toll-free hotline at (800) 255-7688 or
(800) 237-2515 (TDD for hearing impaired).
There is also
an automated hotline for employers at (800) 255-8155 or (800)
362-2735 (TDD).
For more
information, please visit the OSC's website:
www.usdoj.gov/crt/osc.
