dojN002380.xml
Title
dojN002380.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
email
Date Entered
2002-01-22
September 11 Email: Body
Tuesday, January 22, 2002 11:57 PM
Comments
Attachment 1:
January 22, 2002
Mr. Kenneth L. Zwick
Director
Office of Management Programs, Civil Division
U.S. Department of Justice
Main Building, Room 3140
Dear Mr. Zwick:
The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. ("PRLDEF") is a national non-profit civil rights organization founded in 1972. It seeks to ensure the equal protection of the laws and to protect the civil rights of Puerto Ricans and other Latinos through litigation and policy advocacy.
As an organization dedicated to advancing and securing the rights of Latinos, PRLDEF is deeply concerned that the Interim Final Rules implementing the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (the "Fund") may discriminate against minority and female victims of September 11th by the use of raced-based and gender-based calculations. We write to let you know that we are immensely troubled by even the suggestion that the government would consider using such discriminatory criteria to determine eligibility for disaster assistance. In addition we urge you to seriously consider and give great weight to the detailed comments submitted to you on this date by the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc.
Located just blocks from the tragic events that occurred in New York on September 11th , PRLDEF has been working in a variety of ways to offer support and assistance to those directly affected by these events. In October, PRLDEF began offering translation and support services to the many non-English speaking immigrant claimants seeking assistance at the lower Manhattan disaster relief center. Realizing the need for these services were greater than PRLDEFs small staff could handle, PRLDEF has provided training to close to two hundred volunteer translators who have in turn assisted hundreds of claimants. In addition, PRLDEF is collaborating with other groups who are working with immigrant families affected by the tragedy to ensure that the needs of this population are not overlooked. Through this work we have observed that non-English speaking immigrants are disproportionately denied assistance for what we believe to be discriminatory reasons.
Various estimates place the number of Latinos dead or missing at about 1,200 victims and although the exact number may be hard to pinpoint it is clear that Latinos have been deeply impacted by this tragedy. It would be adding insult to injury if immigrant families, who are already facing discrimination as they are attempting to have their basic needs met at the family assistance centers, are also discriminated against by the federal government by the use of race-based distribution of funds. A move in this direction is contrary to the letter and spirit of our nations civil rights laws and would negate decades of advancements that PRLDEF and other civil rights groups have fought hard to achieve. We urge you not to follow this path and to consider other means of determining eligibility that are nondiscriminatory.
Comments by:
Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund
Comments
Attachment 1:
January 22, 2002
Mr. Kenneth L. Zwick
Director
Office of Management Programs, Civil Division
U.S. Department of Justice
Main Building, Room 3140
Dear Mr. Zwick:
The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. ("PRLDEF") is a national non-profit civil rights organization founded in 1972. It seeks to ensure the equal protection of the laws and to protect the civil rights of Puerto Ricans and other Latinos through litigation and policy advocacy.
As an organization dedicated to advancing and securing the rights of Latinos, PRLDEF is deeply concerned that the Interim Final Rules implementing the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (the "Fund") may discriminate against minority and female victims of September 11th by the use of raced-based and gender-based calculations. We write to let you know that we are immensely troubled by even the suggestion that the government would consider using such discriminatory criteria to determine eligibility for disaster assistance. In addition we urge you to seriously consider and give great weight to the detailed comments submitted to you on this date by the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc.
Located just blocks from the tragic events that occurred in New York on September 11th , PRLDEF has been working in a variety of ways to offer support and assistance to those directly affected by these events. In October, PRLDEF began offering translation and support services to the many non-English speaking immigrant claimants seeking assistance at the lower Manhattan disaster relief center. Realizing the need for these services were greater than PRLDEFs small staff could handle, PRLDEF has provided training to close to two hundred volunteer translators who have in turn assisted hundreds of claimants. In addition, PRLDEF is collaborating with other groups who are working with immigrant families affected by the tragedy to ensure that the needs of this population are not overlooked. Through this work we have observed that non-English speaking immigrants are disproportionately denied assistance for what we believe to be discriminatory reasons.
Various estimates place the number of Latinos dead or missing at about 1,200 victims and although the exact number may be hard to pinpoint it is clear that Latinos have been deeply impacted by this tragedy. It would be adding insult to injury if immigrant families, who are already facing discrimination as they are attempting to have their basic needs met at the family assistance centers, are also discriminated against by the federal government by the use of race-based distribution of funds. A move in this direction is contrary to the letter and spirit of our nations civil rights laws and would negate decades of advancements that PRLDEF and other civil rights groups have fought hard to achieve. We urge you not to follow this path and to consider other means of determining eligibility that are nondiscriminatory.
Comments by:
Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund
September 11 Email: Date
2002-01-22
Collection
Citation
“dojN002380.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed November 16, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/21432.