DOJ, El Salvador Announce Antidiscrimination Partnership
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Republic of El Salvador recently announced a formal partnership to protect workers from discrimination based on citizenship, immigration status, and national origin. On June 30, 2016, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, and Salvadoran Ambassador Claudia Canjura De Centeno signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the embassy and its consulates and the division’s Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC).
The MOU’s objective is to protect Salvadoran workers in the United States from employment discrimination in hiring, firing, and recruiting or referring for a fee based on their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin; unfair documentary practices; and retaliation. To achieve the objective of the MOU, the participants have agreed to collaborate to provide Salvadoran nationals with information, guidance, and access to education and training resources to help them understand their rights, and to facilitate the referral of appropriate allegations of discrimination, unfair documentary practices, and retaliation to OSC for investigation.