Immigration Status or I-9 Bias at Work, File with DOJ IER
If you face discrimination because of your citizenship status or national origin when you’re hired or fired, or while proving you can work (generally Form I-9 and E-Verify), you can file a charge with the Justice Department’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER); IER says charges must be filed within 180 days of the alleged discrimination or retaliation. The worker hotline is 1-800-255-7688 (TTY 711), and the charge form is available in several languages, including Simplified Chinese and Korean.
IER enforces the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act; the law protects people who have permission to work in the United States. This article follows three IER pages: which kinds of discrimination it covers, who is protected and how to file.
What IER covers
IER explains (DOJ IER):
- Citizenship status discrimination: in hiring, firing, and recruitment or referral for a fee.
- National origin discrimination: in hiring, firing, and recruitment or referral for a fee.
- Unfair documentary practices: during the employment eligibility verification process, which generally involves Form I-9 and E-Verify.
- Retaliation or intimidation.
Who is protected
- People with permission to work: the law protects people who have permission to work in the United States.
- Information by status: IER has materials for lawful permanent residents, temporary visa holders, and asylees and refugees, plus a fact sheet on spotting possible E-Verify-related discrimination (IER worker information).
How to file
IER’s filing instructions (IER filing a charge):
- Deadline: within 180 days of the alleged discrimination or retaliation.
- Online: fill out the IER charge form at civilrightscharge.justice.gov.
- Email: send the completed PDF charge form to IERCharge@usdoj.gov.
- Mail or fax: mail it to the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, or fax it to 202-616-5509.
- Languages: the charge form is available in English, Spanish, Arabic, Simplified Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Tagalog and Vietnamese.
- Questions: call the worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688, including about what happens after you file.
For which documents to bring for Form I-9, see New Job, I-9 Within 3 Days, Nonresidents Mark Single on W-4; for what you can show for the I-9 if your green card hasn’t arrived, see No Green Card Yet, Show I-94 With a Temporary Stamp for I-9; to check your own work eligibility first, see Check Your Own Work Eligibility Free with E-Verify, Age 18+. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) also handles job discrimination based on national origin, race, religion, sex, age and more, see Job Discrimination, File with EEOC, Usually Within 180 Days.
What this article did not check
- Specific examples of unfair documentary practices: none of the three pages lists them, so this article doesn’t make up examples.
- Employer-size thresholds: the three pages don’t say, so this article doesn’t either.
- What happens after filing, and fees: the filing page doesn’t mention fees and says to call the hotline about what happens next, so this article doesn’t cover them.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a deadline?
Yes. IER says charges must be filed within 180 days of the alleged discrimination or retaliation.
Is the charge form available in Chinese?
There’s a Simplified Chinese version, plus Korean, Vietnamese and others.
Who does this law protect?
IER says the law protects people who have permission to work in the United States.
I’m not sure it counts as discrimination. Can I ask first?
You can call IER’s worker hotline at 1-800-255-7688 (TTY 711).
Sources and dates checked
All checked on 2026-10-31.
- U.S. Department of Justice, Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (no date on the page):https://www.justice.gov/crt/immigrant-and-employee-rights-section
- IER, Worker Information (page updated 2025-12-01):https://www.justice.gov/crt/worker-information
- IER, Filing a Charge (page updated 2026-04-28):https://www.justice.gov/crt/filing-charge