Is Trump’s Go Back to Your Country Tweet Discrimination?

Recently, President Trump chose to criticize a group of 4 congresswomen,  Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and the way they criticize how the government is run.  Collectively known as “The Squad,”  Trump tweeted that the women should go back to their own country and fix it before trying to run the United States.  Funny enough, all of the women are U.S. citizens, and 3 of the 4 women were actually born in the U.S.  All of the women happen to be minorities too.

Backlash from Trump Tweets

The fall out from President Trump’s “go back” tweets was swift from both sides of the political spectrum.  Progressives argued that Trump’s tweets were racist, while Conservatives generally ignored the comments.  Every day people weighed in either repeating that the tweets were racist, or even saying that the tweets weren’t racist because Trump did not mention race at all.

What does the law say?

Ignoring what the politicians and people are saying, what does the law say about President Trump’s tweet?  According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), the tweets could be enough to bring claims based on  national origin discrimination.  The EEOC has filed lawsuits on multiple occasions where employees were told to “go back” to their country ( Somali immigrants and Hispanic immigrants).  The EEOC also states  on its website that saying “go back to where you came from” is an example of nation origin discrimination in violation of Title VII.

Can I file a lawsuit?

Unfortunately, I have had to file lawsuits on behalf of employees for this exact issue.  If you or someone who know has been told to “go back to your country,” or other forms of nationality discrimination, contact me so we can discuss the situation in more detail and schedule a free initial consultation!

James J. Hux is the Owner and Sole Attorney at Hux Law Firm, LLC. His practice areas include employment discrimination, personal injury, and general civil litigation throughout the State of Ohio.