Discrimination against employees based on citizenship or immigration status, or national origin during the Form I-9 and E-Verify processes is prohibited by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
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Citizenship or Immigration Status:
Whether the individuals are US citizens or non-citizens, or refugees, asylees or have any type of immigration status or citizenship type, they are protected from any type of discrimination by the employer. The employer cannot discriminate while hiring, firing or recruiting based on the mentioned criteria.
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National Origin:
An individual’s place of birth, country of origin, ancestry and native language, accent or perception of being “foreign” cannot be a basis for them to be discriminated against by employers when hiring, firing or recruiting.
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Unfair Document Practices:
An individual’s citizenship, immigration status or national origin cannot form a basis for an employer to:
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- Request more or different documents than are required to verify employment authorization and identity.
- Reject documents that reasonably appear to be genuine or relate to the employee
- Or specify certain documents to be presented by the individual
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Retaliation or Coercion or Intimidation:
An individual cannot be intimidated, threatened, coerced or retaliated against by an employer because:
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- That individual files a charge with the Office of Immigrant and Employee Rights (IER) or participates in an IER investigation or prosecution of a discrimination complaint.
- That individual contests action that may constitute discrimination under the law that IER enforces or asserts their rights or of another individual under the law.
