Photo: File photo; Wikimedia
The Denver Sheriff Department has reached a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department to resolve claims of discrimination against work-authorized immigrants (non-citizens) according to press release issued on November 21, 2016.
An investigation by The Justice Department found that the Denver Sheriff Department discriminated based on citizenship status by requiring applicants for deputy sheriff positions to be U.S. citizens and publishing job postings with U.S. citizenship requirements, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), from approximately Jan. 1, 2015, until approximately March 23, 2016.
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The anti-discrimination provision of the INA, “prohibits employers from limiting jobs to U.S. citizens except where the employer is required to do so by law, regulation, executive order or government contract.”
As part of the settlement, The Denver Sheriff Department agreed to:
- pay $10,000 in civil penalties;
- identify applicants who may have been disqualified from consideration for deputy sheriff positions due to the citizenship requirement and consider these applicants’ qualifications without regards to their citizenship;
- train its human resources staff on the anti-discrimination provision of the INA and review and revise its policies and procedures to comply with the requirements of the INA’s anti-discrimination provision.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, stated:
“We commend the Denver Sheriff Department for its cooperation and commitment to removing unnecessary and unlawful employment barriers.”
Gupta also stated that, “Eliminating this unlawful citizenship requirement will help ensure that the Denver Sheriff Department hires the best and most qualified individuals to protect and serve. The entire community will benefit from these reforms.”
Read the Denver Sheriff Department Settlement Agreement
