PHOENIX, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- The U.S. Justice Department says it has filed an immigration lawsuit against Arizona authorities alleging hiring discrimination by schools in the state.
The lawsuit alleges a group of community colleges acted illegally in requiring non-citizens to provide their green cards before they could be hired for jobs, The Washington Post reported Monday.
Justice Department officials said the Phoenix-area Maricopa Community Colleges discriminated against nearly 250 non-citizen job applicants by forcing them to fill out more documents than required by law to prove eligibility to work, a violation of the federal Immigration and Nationality Act.
The district, which did not require the extra documents from U.S. citizens, stopped the practice in January during a yearlong Justice Department investigation, The Arizona Republic reported.
The suit calls for the community college district to pay a penalty of $1,100 for each non-U.S. citizen who was authorized to work but was forced to supply additional documentation.
A spokesman for the community colleges said Monday the district would have no comment on the suit.
