DOJ’s Immigrant Employee Rights Leader Switches to New Role

The acting head of the Justice Department office that investigates immigration-related employment discrimination is moving to a new position within the agency, a DOJ spokesperson confirmed to Bloomberg Law.

Jennifer Deines has served as acting deputy special counsel at the DOJ’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section since February when long-time chief Alberto Ruisanchez was re-assigned to the Trump administration’s sanctuary city task force. Deines was previously special policy counsel at IER before taking over as leader of the office.

A DOJ spokesperson called Deines “a dedicated employee” of the Civil Rights Division and said she would continue serving in a more permanent position in the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California. A career attorney within the Civil Rights Division will fill the acting deputy special counsel role at IER, the spokesperson said.

The Trump administration has pushed for more scrutiny of businesses that allegedly favor immigrants over US citizens in employment. The IER office enforces non-discrimination provisions under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which prohibits consideration of citizenship or national origin in hiring, firing, and recruitment decisions, but has traditionally focused on bias against immigrants.