IMMIGRANTS NEED PROTECTION
AGAINST DISCRIMINATION

It is often said that "the only constant in life is change." Still some of us find change frightening. When it comes to the changing demographics of this county - the inevitable browning of America - this fear often takes the form of racial bigotry and ethnic and religious intolerance.

Discrimination in the rental of housing based upon religion, ethnicity or national origin is illegal. However, we now face renewed efforts to institutionalize such discrimination in the disturbing form of local anti-immigration legislation. Such legislation tries to prohibit, among other things, landlords from renting to undocumented immigrants, migrant workers and asylum seekers but its impact goes much further. It creates a climate of intimidation and exploitation in which even United States citizens who are believed to be "foreign" are treated with suspicion and disrespect. While so far the citizens of Philadelphia have avoided this narrowminded agenda, the surrounding counties, such as Hazelton, have not been so fortunate.

The local anti-immigration laws are being challenged in courts around the country. One of the reasons for such challenges is that they violate the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and corresponding state and local laws which prohibit housing discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion or national origin. It is illegal for landlords to inquire about a person's nationality or citizenship before renting because the person has an accent or appears foreign to them. In places like Philadelphia where there are no laws prohibiting rentals based upon documentation it is legal to rent to undocumented persons.

Even though it illegal, some landlords will refuse to rent to immigrants or will steer them to certain properties or deprive them of basic maintenance and services. Sometimes they also systematically refuse to refund immigrants' security deposits in violation of the law.

At TURN we believe decent housing is a human right to which all people are entitled regardless of their legal status. Click here to JOIN TURN's NETWORK to help stop landlords from discriminating and to educate the general public about the housing needs of the immigrant community. TURN also has the capacity to send out testers posing as migrant workers to test whether landlords are in compliance with the law.