US Prosecuting Employment Company for Foreign Worker Discrimination

The California-based employment agency Eastridge Workforce Solutions failed to comply with the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), according to the US Department of Justice.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The California-based employment agency Eastridge Workforce Solutions is investigated for discriminating against foreign laborers over practices related to proving eligibility to work in the United States, the US Department of Justice said in a press release on Monday.

"Eastridge had a pattern of requesting specific immigration documents from non-US citizens for the Form I-9 and E-Verify processes," the release stated. "In contrast, Eastridge allowed US citizens to present whichever valid documents they wanted to present to prove their work authorization."

The Justice Department alleged that the company has failed to comply with the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which enables employees to provide any of the required forms of identity verification of the List of Acceptable Documents, such as a valid driver’s license and Social Security card.

If the federal prosecution confirms the allegations against Eastridge, the company will be required to pay $ 175,000 in civil penalties and be subject to monitoring and review by the Justice Department.

According to the US Census Bureau, the US immigrant population stands at over 42.4 million, or 13.3 percent of the total US population. The most recent statistics shows that less than half of the immigrants have obtained US citizenship.