The US Justice Department announced it secured a settlement agreement with Secureapp Technologies, a New Jersey IT staffing firm, over immigration-related discrimination claims. Under the settlement, Secureapp will pay $26,000 in civil penalties to the United States.

The settlement resolves the department’s determination that Secureapp violated the Immigration and Nationality Act by posting discriminatory job advertisements that solicited applications only from non-US citizens seeking temporary work visa sponsorships or had immigration statuses associated with certain employment-based temporary visas.

“When employers invite applications only from candidates with specified immigration statuses, they deter individuals from applying and deny them a fair chance to be considered,” said Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division Kristen Clarke. “The Civil Rights Division is committed to knocking down these unlawful discriminatory barriers.”

The department’s investigation determined that starting in January 2019 and continuing for more than a year, Secureapp posted at least 12 racially discriminatory job advertisements, which deterred US citizens and other workers with permission to work in the United States without sponsorship from applying.

The DOJ noted that the agreement also requires the firm to train its recruiters on the Immigration and Nationality Act’s requirements, revise its employment policies and be subject to departmental monitoring and reporting requirements.