SAN FRANCISCO: Since the Passage of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) which prohibits employers from hiring undocumented workers there has been widespread discrimination against citizens and immigrants because they look or sound “foreign.” Though IRCA prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of immigration status or national origin Asian American workers continue to suffer from the effects of the employer sanctions provision of the law. In its March 1990 report the General Accounting Office found that 19% of United States employers were discriminating because of IRCA. The GAO Report also noted that rules of discrimination were higher in areas with higher Asian populations.
In an effort to inform workers that discrimination on the basis of citizenship status or national origin is illegal and can be remedied the Asian Law Caucus. The San Francisco Lawyers’ Committee for Urban Affairs and the Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights & Services are offering a free training for social services agencies. Information on how to file complaints legal referrals and Asian language outreach materials will be provided An advocate’s guide will be available to non-profit agencies for five dollars.
Representatives from agencies serving Asian clients are encouraged to attend one of the trainings. The first training will be held on Friday April 261991 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m at the Asian Resource Center 310 8th Street Suite 309 Oakland. The San Francisco training will be held on Friday May 31991 from 9:00 a.m to 1:00 p.m. 995 Market Street (corer of the 6th Street) 11 th floor conference room San Francisco. Please call Cheri al 243-8215 to confirm attendance.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 26, 1991
