Have ss and EAD -denied employment because not US citizen

[rudemood412 0]

Told by a companies HR dept. they could not hire me because i am not a US citizen after explaining i had authorization to work. Is this legal? Job did not require security clearance or any such thing. My husband does not think this is legal and believes that HR rep is just ignorant of the EAD. Anyone have any knowledge about this or a similar experience?

[apple21 953]

Some companies prefer to hire US citizens over green card holders.

Its normal, I guess, nothing illegal about it. My LPR hubby also encountered the same thing, and he has a 10-yr GC from his father's F2B petition.

[Andy and Pui 16]

Unless on the job posting it says something like only open to US Citizens or something like. If it does not say anything like that then I would say they do not know the exact wording of the I-9.

[Segers2012 1]

It's normal. Some places, like getting hired by the Federal, will required you to be a US Citizen.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

There are other conditions that require employees to be USC's and it is legal to use this as a hiring guide. It would be illegal to use race, religion or sexual orientation ( although there are exceptions to even this )

[Harsh_77 718]

It would depend on what kinda job it was, there are jobs where they would only hire USC.

Most of the Federal Jobs they would not hire a perm resident.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Actually, that is indeed illegal.

In order to avoid accusations and litigation, most employers just ask candidates if they are "authorized to work" in the United States. Only after a person has been hired, he or she has to fill out the I-9 form and provide proof of (1) identity and (2) authorization to work.

Of course, any interview offers the opportunity to learn about the prospective new employee and dismiss him or her in a friendly manner without telling much. Like: "thank you for coming; we'll make a decision eventually and if you may or may not get a call from us."

Openly stating that somebody is not being hired because of their citizenship or immigration status, is pretty stupid. If you have proof for this, you have a case for a discrimination lawsuit.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Actually, that is indeed illegal.

In order to avoid accusations and litigation, most employers just ask candidates if they are "authorized to work" in the United States. Only after a person has been hired, he or she has to fill out the I-9 form and provide proof of (1) identity and (2) authorization to work.

Of course, any interview offers the opportunity to learn about the prospective new employee and dismiss him or her in a friendly manner without telling much. Like: "thank you for coming; we'll make a decision eventually and if you may or may not get a call from us."

Openly stating that somebody is not being hired because of their citizenship or immigration status, is pretty stupid. If you have proof for this, you have a case for a discrimination lawsuit.

Wrong even the janitor at my work must be a USC. It is fine to restrict US jobs to USC as long as there is a valid reason. Programming companies do it all the time.

[memlaura 60]

They can restrict who they hire it is not discrimination if they have a valid reason. ITAR regulations restrict my company from hiring non citizens however some people get confused on the ITAR definition of Citizen. Under this regulation a resident alien or permanent resident are still considered USC by definition for employment purpose. Maybe the HR person does not have allot of experience or knowledge of the laws. Just because someone is working in HR it does not mean that is their primary job. I would contact them and ask them specifically what regulation they are using to make that restriction. Ask politely and tell them it is for future job hunts not to waste your time applying somewhere that you would not be eligible. If you want you can private message me with their reason I can see if it makes since. I have been in Human Resources for over 13 years...

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

They can restrict who they hire it is not discrimination if they have a valid reason. ITAR regulations restrict my company from hiring non citizens however some people get confused on the ITAR definition of Citizen. Under this regulation a resident alien or permanent resident are still considered USC by definition for employment purpose. Maybe the HR person does not have allot of experience or knowledge of the laws. Just because someone is working in HR it does not mean that is their primary job. I would contact them and ask them specifically what regulation they are using to make that restriction. Ask politely and tell them it is for future job hunts not to waste your time applying somewhere that you would not be eligible. If you want you can private message me with their reason I can see if it makes since. I have been in Human Resources for over 13 years...

ITAR and security are 2 different things. And a permanent resident is NEVER a USC for either. You are thinking of the class of US person. A US person is a person who resides in the US with through citizenship or by means of a green card. They must also work for a US company to fall into the US person classification. A US citizen that live/works in another country ( even a US owned company) or who works for a non US company inside the US is NOT a US person for ITAR purposes. Being a USC IS a requirement for most security clearances ( there are waivers but they are extremely expensive to get and rarely granted unless you are on the level of a super genius) Many subcontracters actually limit their employees to USC's also so that they can more easily position themselves to win contracts and pass security requirements. There are also certain employement programs that pay the employer to employ persons in certain classes and these sometimes exclude non USC's If you look at the fedjobs listings almost every job requires US citizenship even things like forest service laborors

[Kazulie 132]

http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/uncsam/complain/employ.htm

Immigration Status

If you are an employee hired after November 6, 1986, your employer must be able to prove that you are legally authorized to work in the United States and will ask you to present documentation showing that you have work authorization. However, an employer cannot single you out to require employment verification because you are of a particular national origin group or you appear not to be a citizen. Neither can an employer require that you be a U.S. citizen, or generally give those who are U.S. citizens a preference in hiring or employment opportunities, unless there are legal or contractual requirements that mandate he or she do so. It is illegal for an employer to discriminate against legal aliens merely because they look like noncitizens or in fact are not citizens or because they have a particular type of work authorization.

Under immigration law, individuals who charge discrimination on the basis of national origin against employers with 4 to 14 employees or on the basis of citizenship status against employers with fewer employees should file a complaint within 180 days of the date of the alleged unfair immigration-related employment practice with the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices in the Department of Justice.

For more information about immigrants’ employment rights, contact:

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20530

(202) 616-5594

Employer hot line: (800) 255-8155

Employee hot line: (800) 255-7688

Fax: (202) 616-5509

www.usdoj.gov/crt/osc

Edited December 28, 2012 by Kazulie

[JustUs 3]

Would love to know more about the job that you are referring to - that may bring better clarification to the issue.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

With outsourcing to cheaper labor rate locals many available jobs are still in the US because they do have the requirement that the person be a USC and those jobs can't be exported to a pennies on the dollar labor rate location. As soon as the work comes under ITAR EAR or security it is nearly impossible to have non US citizens about. Then there are all the jobs posted on USJOB, most of those are restricted to USC's because of the source of the money. It is completely legal to create a job where one of the funding requirements state that only a USC can be paid using the funds available. Seeing the OP hasn't been back I am willing to bet he applied somewhere that clearly stated you needed to be a USC and thought a green card got him by that. Hopefully it wasn't a fed job and he didn't tick off USC on the application or he just lost his chance of ever being an USC ( false claim of citizenship )

[JustUs 3]

Good information to keep in mind.

[hellINTIM 9]

File a complain to your know the answer , there's some job posting they want USC , some of them are not.