U.S. Department of Justice

Civil Rights Division

Federal Protections

Against

National Origin

Discrimination

Issued April 2001
INTRODUCTION 

Federal laws prohibit discrimination based on a

person’s national origin, race, color, religion, disability,

sex, and familial status. Laws prohibiting national

origin discrimination make it illegal to discriminate

because of a person's birthplace, ancestry, culture or

language. This means people cannot be denied equal

opportunity because they or their family are from

another country, because they have a name or accent

associated with a national origin group, because they

participate in certain customs associated with a national

origin group, or because they are married to or associate

with people of a certain national origin. 

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division is

concerned that national origin discrimination may go

unreported in the United States because victims of

discrimination do not know their legal rights, or may be

afraid to complain to the government. To address this

problem, the Civil Rights Division has established a

National Origin Working Group to help citizens and

immigrants better understand and exercise their legal

rights. If you think you, or someone you know, has

been discriminated against because of national origin

and want to learn more about exercising your legal

rights, you should read this brochure.

This brochure explains the laws prohibiting national

origin discrimination and provides some examples. You

may find additional information about the Civil Rights

Division and its Sections on the internet at

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt. You may contact the

Division to report complaints of discrimination as

explained below.

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KNOWING YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS

The Civil Rights Division of the Department of

Justice enforces federal laws that prohibit

discrimination in:

Education

Employment

Housing

Lending

Public Accommodations

Law Enforcement / Police Misconduct 

Voting

The Division also enforces laws that prohibit

discrimination on the basis of disability, protects the

civil rights of persons who are institutionalized in

certain state or local facilities, and prosecutes crimes

that are motivated by a crime victim’s race, color, or

national origin.

In some cases, the Division may only become

involved if there is a "pattern or practice" of

discrimination. A "pattern or practice" generally means

that there is more than a single incident of

discrimination, and that there is a policy or repeated

conduct that is discriminatory.

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CRIMINAL VIOLATIONS 

OF CIVIL RIGHTS

* A young man of South Asian descent is assaulted as

he leaves a concert at a nightclub. The assailant, a

member of a skinhead group, yells racial epithets as he

beats the victim unconscious in the club’s parking lot

with fists and a pipe.

* At Ku Klux Klan meetings, a Klansman tells other

members that Mexicans and Puerto Ricans should go

“back where they came from.” They burn a cross in the

front yard of a young Hispanic couple in order to

frighten them and force them to leave the neighborhood.

Before burning the cross, the defendant displays a gun

and gives one of his friends another gun in case the

victims try to stop them.

* An American company recruits workers in a small

Mexican town, promising them good work at high pay.

The company smuggles the Mexicans to the United

States in an empty tanker truck. When they finally

arrive in the U.S., the workers are threatened, told that

if they attempt to leave their factory they will be killed. 

The Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division

prosecutes people who are accused of using force or

violence to interfere with a person’s federally protected

rights because of that person’s national origin. These

rights include areas such as housing, employment,

education, or use of public facilities. You can reach the

Criminal Section at (202) 514-3204 or write to:

Criminal Section, P.O. Box 66018, Washington, D.C.

20035-6018.

3
DISABILITY RIGHTS

* An HMO that enrolls Medicaid patients tells a

Mexican American woman with cerebral palsy to come

back another day for an appointment while it provides

immediate assistance to others.

This example may be a violation of federal laws that

prohibit discrimination because of disability as well as

laws that prohibit discrimination because of national

origin. If you believe you have been discriminated

against because you have a disability you may contact

the Disability Rights Section at (800) 514-0301 (voice)

or 800-514-0383 (TTY). You may also write to:

Disability Rights Section, P.O. Box 66738, Washington,

D.C. 20035-6738.

EDUCATION

* A child has difficulty speaking English, but her

school does not provide her with the necessary

assistance to help her learn English and other subjects.

* A majority Haitian school does not offer honors

classes. Other schools in the district that do not have

many Haitian students offer both honors and advanced

placement courses. 

These examples may be violations of federal law,

which prohibits discrimination in education because of

a person's national origin. The Division’s Educational

Opportunities Section enforces these laws in elementary

and secondary schools as well as public colleges and

universities. The Education Section’s work addresses

discrimination in all aspects of education, including

assignment of students to schools and classes,

transportation of students, hiring and placement of

faculty and administrators, distribution of school

4
resources, and provision of educational programs that

assist limited English speaking students in learning

English.

To file a complaint or for more information, contact

the Education Section at (202) 514-4092, or write to:

Educational Opportunities Section, P.O. Box 65958,

Washington, D.C. 20035-5958.

EMPLOYMENT

* A transit worker's supervisor makes frequent racial

epithets against the worker because his family is from

Iran. Last week, the boss put up a fake sign on the

bulletin board telling everyone not to trust the worker

because he is a terrorist.

* A woman who immigrated from Russia applies for a

job as an accountant. The employer turns her down

because she speaks with an accent even though she is

able to perform the job requirements.

* A food processing company requires applicants who

appear or sound foreign to show work authorization

documents before allowing them to complete an

employment application while native born Caucasian

applicants are not required to show any documents

before completing employment applications. Moreover,

the documents of the ethnic employees are more closely

scrutinized and more often rejected than the same types

of documents shown by native born Caucasian

employees.

These examples may be violations of the law that

prohibits discrimination against an employee or job

applicant because of his or her national origin. This

means an employer cannot discipline, harass, fire,

refuse to hire or promote a person because of his or her

national origin.

5
If you believe an employer, labor organization or

employment agency has discriminated against you

because of your national origin, contact: 

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

(800) 669-4000

(Employers with 15 or more employees)

Office of Special Counsel

(800) 255-7688

P.O. Box 27728

Washington, D.C. 20038-7728.

(Employers with 4 to 14 employees)

Employment Litigation Section

(202) 514-3831

P.O. Box 65968

Washington, D.C. 20035-5968

(State or local government employer with a

pattern or practice of illegal discrimination)

In addition, an employer may violate federal law by

requiring specific work authorization documents, such

as a green card, or rejecting such documents only from

applicants of certain national origins. For more

information or to file a charge, contact the Division’s

Office of Special Counsel at the above address or tollfree number.

HOUSING

* A Native Hawaiian family is looking for an

apartment. They are told by the rental agent that no

apartments are available, even though apartments are

available and are shown to white applicants. 

* A realtor shows a Latino family houses only in

Latino neighborhoods and refuses to show the family

houses in white neighborhoods. 

6
These examples may be violations of the federal

Fair Housing Act. That law prohibits discrimination

because of national origin, race, color, sex, religion,

disability, or familial status (presence of children under

18) in housing. Individual complaints of discrimination

may be reported to the Department of Housing and

Urban Development (HUD) at (800) 669-9777. If you

believe there is a pattern or practice of discrimination,

contact the Division's Housing and Civil Enforcement

Section at (202) 514-4713.

LENDING

* A Latina woman is charged a higher interest rate and

fees than white male customers who have similar

financial histories and apply for the same type of loan. 

This example may be a violation of federal laws that

prohibit discrimination in lending because of national

origin, race, color, sex, religion, disability and marital

status or because any of a person's income comes from

public assistance. If you believe you have been denied

a loan because of your national origin or other protected

reason, you may ask the lender for an explanation in

writing of why your application was denied. 

If the loan is for a home mortgage, home

improvement, or other housing-related reasons, you

may file a complaint with the Department of Housing

and Urban Development at (800) 669-9777. If your

experience was part of a pattern or practice of

discrimination you may also call the Housing and Civil

Enforcement Section at (202) 514-4713, to obtain more

information about your rights or to file a complaint. If

the loan is for purposes other than housing (such as a

car loan), you may file a complaint either with the

Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section or

with the lender’s regulatory agency.

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PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS

* In a restaurant, a group of Asian Americans waits for

over an hour to be served, while white and Latino

customers receive prompt service. 

* Haitian American visitors to a hotel are told they

must pay in cash rather than by credit card, are

charged higher rates than other customers, and are not

provided with the same amenities, such as towels and

soap.

These examples may be violations of federal laws

that prohibit discrimination because of national origin,

race, color, or religion in places of public

accommodation. Public accommodations include

hotels, restaurants, and places of entertainment. If you

believe you have been denied access to or equal

enjoyment of a public accommodation where there is a

pattern or practice of discrimination, contact the

Housing and Civil Enforcement Section at (202) 514-

4713. You may also write to: Housing and Civil

Enforcement Section, P.O. Box 65998, Washington,

D.C. 20035-5998.

POLICE MISCONDUCT

* Police officers constantly pull over cars driven by

Latinos, for certain traffic violations, but rarely pull

over white drivers for the same violations.

* A police officer questioning a man of Vietnamese

origin on the street gets angry when the man is unable

to answer his questions because he does not speak

English. The Officer arrests the man for disorderly

conduct.

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These examples may be violations of the Equal

Protection Clause of the United States Constitution.

They may also be violations of the Omnibus Crime

Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. That law

prohibits discrimination because of national origin,

race, color, religion, or sex by a police department that

gets federal funds through the U.S. Department of

Justice. They may also violate Title VI of the Civil

Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination by

law enforcement agencies that receive any federal

financial assistance, including asset forfeiture property.

Complaints of individual discrimination can be filed

with the Coordination and Review Section at P.O. Box

66560, Washington, D.C. 20035-6560, or contact the

Coordination and Review Section at 1-888-848-5306. 

Complaints of individual discrimination may also be

filed with the Office of Justice Programs at Office for

Civil Rights, Office of Justice Programs, U.S.

Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20531, or

contact Office of Justice Programs at (202) 307 0690. 

The Special Litigation Section investigates and

litigates complaints that a police department has a

pattern or practice of discriminating on the basis of

national origin. To file a complaint, contact the Special

Litigation Section at (202) 514-6255 or write to:

Special Litigation Section, P.O. Box 66400,

Washington, D.C. 20035-6400. 

9
CIVIL RIGHTS OF

INSTITUTIONALIZED PERSONS

* A jail will not translate disciplinary hearings for

detainees who do not speak English.

* A state’s psychiatric hospital has no means of

providing treatment for people who do not speak

English.

These examples may be violations of the Equal

Protection Clause of the United States Constitution.

The Special Litigation Section enforces the

constitutional rights of people held in state or local

government institutions, such as prisons, jails, juvenile

correctional facilities, mental health facilities,

developmental disability or mental retardation facilities,

and nursing homes. If you are a resident of any such

facility and you believe there is a pattern or practice of

discrimination based on your national origin, contact

the Special Litigation Section at (202) 514-6255. You

may also write to: Special Litigation Section, P.O. Box

66400, Washington, DC 20035-6400. 

FEDERALLY ASSISTED PROGRAMS

* A local social services agency does not provide

information or job training in Korean even though one

quarter of local residents speak only Korean.

* A hospital near the Texas/Mexico border dresses its

security officers in clothes that look like INS uniforms

to scare Latinos away from the emergency room.

Latino patients are told to bring their own translators

before they can see a doctor.

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These examples may be violations of federal laws

that prohibit discrimination because of national origin,

race or color by recipients of federal funds. If you

believe you have been discriminated against by a state

or local government agency or an organization that

receives funds from the federal government, you may

file a complaint with the Division's Coordination and

Review Section at (888) 848-5306. You may also

write to: Coordination and Review Section, P.O. Box

66560, Washington, D.C. 20035-6560. The

Coordination and Review Section will refer the

complaint to the federal funding agency that is

primarily responsible for enforcing nondiscrimination

prohibitions applicable to its recipients.

VOTING

* Despite requests from voters in a large Spanishspeaking community, election officials refuse to provide

election materials, including registration forms and

sample ballots, in Spanish or to allow Spanish speakers

to bring translators into the voting booth.

* A polling official requires a dark-skinned voter, who

has an unfamiliar last name, to provide proof of

American citizenship, but does not require proof of

citizenship from white voters.

The election officials’ conduct may violate the

federal laws prohibiting voting discrimination. The

Voting Rights Acts do not specifically prohibit national

origin discrimination. However, provisions of the Acts

make it illegal to limit or deny the right to vote of any

citizen not only because of race or color, but also

because of membership in a language minority group.

In addition, the Acts also require in certain jurisdictions

that election materials and assistance be provided in

languages other than English. 

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Additionally, Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act,

allows voters, who need help because of blindness,

disability or because they cannot read or write, to bring

someone (other than an employer or union

representative) to help. This means that a voter who

needs help reading the ballot in English can bring a

friend or family member to translate. In some places,

election officials must provide information, such as

voter registration and the ballot, in certain language(s)

other than English. This can include interpreters to help

voters vote.

If you believe that you have been discriminated

against in voting or denied assistance in casting your

ballot, you may contact the Division's Voting Section at

(800) 253-3931. You may also write to: Voting

Section, P.O. Box 66128, Washington, DC 20035-6128. 

Note: 

When you call any of the offices listed in this brochure,

the phone will be answered in English. If you need a

translator, tell the operator what language you speak.

The operator will put you on hold while a translator is

found. Please do not hang up. 

For persons with disabilities, this document will be

available in large print, audio tape, computer disc, and

braille.

Please feel free to copy this brochure. 

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Federal Protections Against 

National Origin Discrimination

English

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt