EEOC “Anti-American Bias” Messaging: A New Lens for National Origin Discrimination

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has released new national origin discrimination materials that speak directly to bias “against American workers.” The agency updated its national origin discrimination page, issued a one-page sheet titled “Discrimination Against American Workers Is Against the Law,” and highlighted both in a recent press release. These materials do not change Title VII, but they do give investigators and employees a clearer script for alleging that Florida employers favored foreign nationals or visa holders over U.S. workers in hiring, pay, or promotions.

For Florida businesses that rely on foreign talent in tourism, hospitality, agriculture, healthcare, logistics, and tech, this risk is very real. The EEOC’s examples now target job postings that read like “H-1B only” or “OPT candidates only,” as well as practices that make it harder for U.S. workers to apply for or move into specific roles than similarly qualified visa holders. Pay structures that treat visa workers as a separate, lower-paid tier, without neutral and well-documented business reasons, are also highlighted as potential national origin discrimination.

At the same time, employers cannot safely “fix” the problem by excluding work-authorized noncitizens. The Department of Justice’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section enforces the Immigration and Nationality Act’s prohibition on discrimination based on citizenship or immigration status, including document abuse in the I-9 process and unjustified “citizens only” preferences. Florida employers are now steering between EEOC scrutiny for anti-American bias and DOJ scrutiny for unfair treatment of immigrants. The safest approach is to build neutral, job-related criteria, apply them consistently to all candidates and employees, and document those decisions carefully.

Action items for Florida Employers

• Review job postings and recruiter language for any hint of preferring or discouraging applicants based on visa status or national origin and reframe sponsorship language so it focuses strictly on compliance rather than preference.

• Take a hard look at recruiting, promotion, and pay patterns in Florida operations that rely on foreign workers, and document neutral, job-related reasons for any differences between U.S. workers and visa holders.

• Coordinate HR, legal, and immigration functions so that Title VII and Immigration and Nationality Act obligations are understood together and reflected in unified policies and training, not handled in isolation.