Know Your Rights Immigrant Rights Handbook

Transcription

1 Know Your Rights Immigrant Rights Handbook

2 The Equal Rights Center (ERC) is a comprehensive non-profit civil rights organization dedicated to identifying, challenging, and eliminating discrimination. With more than 25 years of protecting civil rights, today, the ERC and our hundreds of members address issues of discrimination in six areas: fair housing, fair employment, disability rights, access to public accommodations, access to government services, and immigrant rights through education and outreach, research, testing, counseling, enforcement, and advocacy. The Equal Rights Center 11 Dupont Circle NW, Suite 450 Washington, DC (202) (Voice) (202) (TTY) (202) (Fax) Equal Rights Center All Rights Reserved 1

3 What are Civil Rights Protections? The United States has instituted a number of laws which protect the civil rights of its residents. By qualifying a certain group, or class, of people as protected, the government prohibits discrimination against that specific class in housing, employment, and public and government services. Today there are seven federally protected classes: race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (whether one has children), and mental or physical disability. State and local laws often enhance protections by adding additional protected classes. These vary by region but can include: age, sexual orientation, marital status, status as a survivor of domestic violence, or source of income (for instance, if a person relies on government assistance to help pay his or her rent). While state and local entities can add to the list of protected classes, they cannot take away or ignore the seven federal classes. How do Civil Rights Protections Apply to Immigrants? THE DC HUMAN RIGHTS ACT In 1977, Washington D.C. passed the Human Rights Act to combat discrimination in the city. The act, today, has one of the most comprehensive lists of protected classes, adding 12 more to the federally protected seven: Age Family Responsibilities Gender Identity or Expression Genetic Information Marital Status Matriculation Personal Appearance Place of Residence or Business Political Affiliation Sexual Orientation Source of Income Status as a Victim of Intrafamily Offense Additionally, the DC Office of Human Rights was established in 1977 to investigate discrimination complaints and to serve as an enforcement body for the law. Civil rights laws protect ALL people from illegal discrimination, regardless of their immigration status. Each individual has the right to pursue and exercise his or her civil rights by making complaints despite what his or her immigration status may be 1. 1 U.S. citizenship or permanent residency status is not required to file federal civil rights claims. However, since some states do require citizenship or permanent residence to file a case in their courts, it is important to become familiarized with the laws of your particular state. 2

4 The D.C. metropolitan area, in particular, has one of the largest immigrant populations in the United States, with about 20 percent of its residents being foreign born, compared to 12.5 percent nationwide 2. Yet because of language differences, cultural unfamiliarity, distrust and fear of government, apprehensions about filing complaints, lack of knowledge of civil rights, and lack of documentation, immigrants are particularly vulnerable to civil rights violations. In addition to these typical difficulties faced by immigrants upon their arrival in the United States, today immigrants also face increasingly widespread anti-immigrant legislation encouraged by the often hostile national debate on illegal immigration. These barriers prevent immigrants from fully exercising their civil rights. Of the seven federally protected classes, immigrants most often find protection under one of four classes: Examples include, but are not limited to: National Origin refers to the country in which a person was born, or from which the person's ancestors came. Hispanic: All people and descendants of people of Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central or South America, or other Spanish cultures; Middle Eastern: All people and descendants of people who have origins in Western Asia and parts of North Africa; or Asian or Pacific Islander: All people and descendants of people from the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian Sub-Continent, or the Pacific Islands. Race is a social construct which refers to certain physical attributes associated with certain geographical regions, and often certain cultural characteristics or stereotypes. Examples include, but are not limited to: White: People associated with the descendents of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East; 3 2 Carol J. De Vita & Alicia Lee. Community Based Nonprofits Serving Ethnic Populations in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area. (Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, May, 22, 2008).

5 Black: People associated with the descendents of Africa; or American Indian or Alaskan Native: People associated with the descendents of North America. Color refers to people with different skin tones, even within the same racial group. Familial Status refers to families with one child or more under age 18. Federal law prohibits denials of housing, different terms and conditions, and unreasonable restrictions to families with minor children. In this handbook we will discuss the rights to which immigrants are entitled, under these protected classes, as they pertain to fair housing, fair employment, equal access to public accommodations and services, and equal access to government accommodations and services. Fair Housing The Fair Housing Act (FHA), Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended, prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (including children under the age of 18 living with parents of legal custodians, pregnant women, and people securing custody of children under the age of 18), and physical or mental disability. The following acts violate the FHA, if they are motivated by prohibited discrimination: Refusing to sell or rent housing; Refusing to negotiate for housing; Making housing unavailable, or denying that housing is available; S e t t i n g d i f f e r e n t t e r m s, conditions, or privileges for the sale or rental of housing; Advertising that housing is available only to certain persons, STEERING Home buyers who are immigrants or appear to be foreign born are often subject to steering. Steering occurs when a broker, landlord or agent does not provide all housing choices to a client in order to preserve and encourage patterns of segregation in available housing. This happens by steering members of racial and ethnic groups to buildings occupied primarily by members of the same racial and ethnic group and away from buildings and neighborhoods inhabited primarily by members of other races or groups. 4

6 or not available to certain other persons; Persuading owners to sell or rent by telling them that minority groups are moving into the neighborhood (blockbusting); Denying or making different terms and conditions for a mortgage, home loan, insurance, or other real estate related transaction; Threatening, coercing, intimidating, or harassing anyone exercising their fair housing rights or assisting others in exercising those rights; Engaging in any other conduct relating to the provision of housing which otherwise makes unavailable or denies housing; Providing unequal housing services, particularly maintenance; Restricting unreasonably the number of occupants in an apartment; Implementing illegal eviction procedures; or Utilizing targeted marketing that has the effect of steering persons toward or away from certain housing opportunities. In many instances, mistreatment of immigrants in the housing context may appear to be only a landlord/tenant issue. For instance, there are situations in which a bad landlord refuses or neglects to provide services or make repairs to all people, regardless of their race, color or national origin. However, all too often, landlords take advantage of vulnerable groups and shirk their responsibilities as housing providers EXAMPLES OF HOUSING DISCRIMINATION CASES IN THE D.C. METRO AREA In 2004, 11 Latino tenants came to the ERC with complaints of national origin discrimination on the part of their manager and landlord. The tenants of the building were routinely harassed, subjected to discriminatory comments, intimidated and threatened. For example, the tenants were issued false notices that the Immigration and Naturalization Services would be conducting interviews in the building. Additionally, the tenants requests for services and repairs went ignored, again because of their national origin. The ERC filed complaints with the DC Office of Human Rights on behalf of the tenants, and the 11 tenants received a settlement. In 2006, a Latina woman requested assistance from the ERC after her landlord sexually harassed her. The landlord was requesting sexual favors from the tenant in exchange for rent. When the tenant refused his advances, the landlord evicted her without notice by changing the locks and placing her belongings on the front yard while she was picking up her children from school. The ERC filed a complaint on her behalf with the DC Office of Human Rights and through mediation was able to secure a settlement for her. 5

7 UNREASONABLE OCCUPANCY RESTRICTIONS In 2005, the City of Manassas, VA, redefined family in its occupancy ordinances to limit its scope to family members to two degrees of consanguinity. This meant that in a single-family home, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and other extended family members would not be considered family and thus not allowed to live in the home. The legislation was perceived by many civil rights advocates to be a direct attack on the Latino community of the City of Manassas. Only after the ERC, the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote letters to the City was the ordinance appealed in Writing for the majority, Justice Powell stated, "Ours is by no means a tradition limited to respect for the bonds uniting the members of the nuclear family. The tradition of uncles, aunts, cousins, and especially grandparents sharing a household along with parents and children has roots equally venerable and equally deserving of constitutional recognition." to only protected classes. A careful examination of patterns of behavior - a service provided by the ERC - can show whether or not a landlord is in violation of the FHA or other civil rights laws by discriminating on the basis or race, color or national origin. It is for this reason that it is so important for complaints to be filed and constant communication between the ERC and the community to be maintained. Fair Employment Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended, makes it illegal for an employer to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any qualified individual, or to otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to his or her compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of his or her race, color, religion, sex (includes pregnancy discrimination and sexual harassment), or national origin. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) protects qualified individuals who have a disability from illegal employment discrimination, as does the Rehabilitation Act of

8 WAGE AND HOUR Discrimination is illegal in: The ERC has seen a steady increase in complaints by immigrants because of unfair labor practices. A common complaint the ERC receives is that employees are fired without an explanation and are not paid for the time they already worked prior to the t e r m i n a t i o n o f t h e i r employment. Employment laws also make it illegal to: Recruitment; Job advertisements; Hiring and firing; Compensation (including any benefits), assignment, or classification; Transfer, promotion, layoff, or recall; Training and apprenticeship programs; Use of company facilities; or Any other terms and conditions of employment. Harass any employee on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or age; Retaliate against any individual for filing a charge of discrimination, participating in an investigation, or opposing discriminatory practices; Make any employment decisions based on stereotypes or assumptions about the abilities, traits, or performance of individuals of a certain sex, race, age, religion, or ethnic group, or individuals with disabilities; and Deny employment opportunities to a person because of marriage to, or association with, an individual of a particular race, religion, national origin, or an individual with a disability. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) Anti-discrimination provisions of the INA prohibit employment discrimination based upon national origin and citizenship status against U.S. citizens and other legally authorized workers with respect to hiring, firing, and recruitment or referral for a fee, and unfair documentary practices during verification of employment eligibility. The INA also prohibits retaliation for the purpose of interfering with any right or privilege secured by the anti-discrimination provisions, or because an individual has participated in a proceeding to enforce those provisions. 7

9 Access to Public Accommodations and Services Federal law prohibits privately owned facilities that offer services to the public from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin, sex, familial status, and disability. Businesses subject to these civil rights laws include, but are not limited to: Restaurants; Retail Stores; Hotels; Movie Theaters; Private Schools; Convention Centers; Doctors Offices; Homeless Shelters; Transportation Depots; Zoos; Funeral Homes; Day Care Centers; Recreation Facilities: sports stadiums, fitness clubs, etc.; Transportation Services; and Places where courses and examinations are provided. PREDATORY LENDING New immigrants, particularly those with low incomes or poor or no credit histories are a targeted group for predatory lending. Predatory loans may include unusually high interest rates, prepayment penalties, balloon payments, product steering, negative amortization, exorbitantly high closing costs and loan flipping. To avoid becoming a victim of loan fraud it is important to compare the prices of houses within a neighborhood to avoid paying too much, and to compare loans offered by several lenders. Don t make any false statements on your loan application or allow anyone to encourage you to do so. Never borrow more than you can afford, and never sign a document containing blanks. Federal laws that protect people from predatory lending include the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and the Community Reinvestment Act. Also, in Washington, D.C., the Home Loan Protection Act of 2002 was enacted to prohibit certain predatory lending practices and abuses that injure District residents with respect to residential mortgage loans. 8

10 Access to Government Services Public facilities such as courthouses, jails, hospitals, parks, and other places owned and operated by state and local government entities cannot discriminate in their services because of race, sex, familial status, color, religion, national origin, or disability. During the past few years, numerous cities across the United States have enacted legislation allegedly aimed at reducing the number of illegal immigrants in their cities. Among these are Hazleton, PA, Escondido, CA, Valley Park, MO, Cherokee County, GA, Farmers Branch, TX, and Riverside, NJ. The legislation being passed typically proposes to train local law enforcement to inquire into individual s residency status and to detain them where applicable, to require landlords to verify legal residency of their tenants, to declare English the official language, and to implement severe penalties for employers that hire illegal immigrants. Although these ordinances claim to target illegal immigrants, their enforcement relies heavily on profiling, resulting in discriminatory and unjust targeting and harassment of minorities and immigrants whether legally here or not. Several civil rights organizations are challenging these ordinances in court and consider them to be unconstitutional. WASHINGTON D.C. s LANGUAGE ACCESS ACT In 2004, Washington D.C. enacted the Language Access Act to ensure that non-english speakers in the District have equal access to government services. The act requires government agencies in the District to have translators and provide official materials in Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Amharic. In 2007, the ERC investigated the extent to which five major departments of the Washington D.C. government were in compliance with the D.C. Language Access Act. The ERC conducted a total of 78 tests. Of the on-site tests, D.C. government entities failed to comply 86.9 percent of the time. The government failure rate for phone tests was 33 percent. As a result of these outcomes, the ERC is now collaborating with the D.C. Language Access Coalition calling upon the D.C. government to improve its procedures. 9

11 How Can the ERC Help Me? If you believe that you have been discriminated against because of your membership in a protected class or because of your immigrant status, you have multiple options for action. The ERC has a history of advocating on behalf of, defending, and gaining rights for victims of national origin and race discrimination. With a strong Immigrant Rights Program, we will investigate your complaint and determine whether a violation of civil rights law has occurred. If appropriate, the ERC will assist you in pursuing administrative and legal remedies. All ERC services are provided free of charge and are fully confidential. To contact the ERC you may: Call the ERC directly at (202) ; Mail or fax a copy of the ERC Initial Complaint Form located on the back on this handbook, along with copies of supporting documents, to the information below; or Complete the ERC Complaint Form online at If mailing or faxing the complaint form, please allow approximately two weeks for an ERC staff member to contact you after submitting your complaint. The Equal Rights Center 11 Dupont Circle NW, Suite 450 Washington, DC (202) (Voice) (202) (TTY) (202) (Fax) Alternatively, you may contact the nearest U.S. Attorney s Office, or contact the local government human rights agency in your area to file a complaint and gain advice on your best next course of action. FOR OFFICE USE ONLY Date Received: Received By: Program: Assigned To: 10

12 11 ERC Initial Complaint Form Name (or Anonymous) Address City State Zip Home Phone Cell Summary of Your Complaint: (Please describe events and facts in chronological order. Include dates and names of persons. You may add additional pages.) Please read before signing: I certify that the above information is true. I understand that The Equal Rights Center (ERC) is a private, not-for-profit organization that works to reduce discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations, and government services by providing confidential and free-of-charge counseling, advocacy, and investigative services. The ERC does not provide legal services or legal advice. If the ERC determines that my complaint has merit, it may take independent action against a party, or refer me to counsel. Name Date