Program on ‘preventing immigration-related employment discrimination’
By Arvind Padmanabhan

New York City Human Rights Commissioner Patricia L. Gatling at a program for employers on 'Preventing Immigration-Related Employment Discrimination' at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in New York on Aug. 7. (Photo: Courtesy, CHR)

NEW YORK: New York City Human Rights Commissioner Patricia L. Gatling and the New York Immigration Coalition co-hosted a program for employers on ‘Preventing Immigration-Related Employment Discrimination’ at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in New York on Aug. 7, a press release said.

The event was part of an ongoing collaborative initiative ----- ‘The Immigrant Employment Rights Program’ ----- which educates employers, immigrant workers and advocacy groups regarding federal and city antidiscriminatory protections provided under the Immigration and Reform Control Act of 1986 and the NYC Human Rights Law, the release said.

Joining Commissioner Gatling were Senior Trial Attorney Anthony F. Archeval, U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division ----- Office of Special Counsel; Staff Attorney Rachel Pomerantz, New York City Commission on Human Rights; and Policy and Training Associate Ana Maria Bazan, New York Immigration Coalition.

Betsy Herzog, director of public information at the commission, told News India-Times that over 100 people, including employers from the hotel industry, retail stores and banks, attended the program. “These are multilingual power-point presentations and seek to educate employers on what they can do and what they can’t. We have organized 70 such workshops in the last couple of years,” she said.

The topics discussed included antidiscrimination provisions in various laws, employment discrimination on the basis of national origin, alienage and citizenship status; and employment authorization, document requirements and employment-based petitioning under the immigration law.