"Civil rights protections and responsibilities continue to apply even during emergencies. They cannot be waived."
- Press Release in English
- PDF Version of Statement and Resource Guide in English | Español | 繁體字 | 简体字 | Tiếng Việt | 한국어 | Tagalog
- HTML Version of Statement and Resource Guide in English | Español | 繁體字 | 简体字 | Tiếng Việt | 한국어 | Tagalog
Statement by Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Eric S. Dreiband: Protecting Civil Rights While Responding to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)- (Español, 簡體字, 简体字, Tiếng Việt, 한국어, Tagalog, Other)
Ensuring the Rights of Persons with Limited English Proficiency in Health Care During COVID-19 (PDF), Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Español - May, 12, 2020
CDC COVID-19 Information - Español | Other
Statement by the Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Addressing Civil Rights in the Response to H1N1 Influenza - May 7, 2009
American Bar Association, Language Justice During COVID-19 - Article | Webinar - June 2020
Washington State Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response, Language Access Plan - April 28, 2020
Guidance and Resources
On August 22, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana issued a permanent injunction, available at https://perma.cc/24VN-QS9Y, enjoining the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) from imposing or enforcing its disparate impact requirements under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000d (“Title VI”) in the state of Louisiana. Specifically, DOJ is enjoined from “enforcing the Title VI disparate-impact requirements contained in 40 C.F.R. § 7.35(b), (c) and 28 C.F.R. § 42.104(b)(2) against any entity in the State of Louisiana, or requiring compliance with those requirements as a condition of past, existing, or future awards of financial assistance to any entity in the State of Louisiana.” DOJ is fully complying with the court’s order. Unless continued litigation results in changes to the court's order, DOJ will not impose or enforce its Title VI disparate impact requirements in Louisiana.
All DOJ guidance documents, including those here, are valid and apply to Louisiana except to the extent they explain legal obligations arising under the DOJ or EPA Title VI disparate impact regulatory provisions. All recipients of DOJ financial assistance (including those in the state of Louisiana) have a continuing obligation to comply with Title VI, which prohibits discrimination against or otherwise excluding individuals on the basis of race, color, or national origin, all other Title VI implementing regulations, and all grant terms and conditions. Recipients must continue to comply with all other applicable nondiscrimination laws and their corresponding implementing regulations.
Guidance
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Ready.gov, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Spanish)
Fire Prevention and Safety Pictographs, U.S. Fire Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency
After Hurricane Sandy, FEMA reaches New York’s diverse communities in many languages, FEMA Blog Post - 2012
Hurricane Sandy Public Service Announcements in non-English Languages, Federal Emergency Management Agency (archive links) - 2012
- PSA: Arabic, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese
- Assistance Videos: Haitian Creole, Hindi, Punjabi, Slovak, Spanish, Urdu
Help After a Disaster: Applicant's Guide to the Individuals & Households Program, Federal Emergency Management Agency (Arabic, Chinese, French, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Laotian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, Urdu, Vietnamese), 2012
Other Resources
How To Best Connect With Your Spanish-speaking Audience During an Emergency, Digital.gov at the General Services Administration (GSA), October 2021
Protecting Your Family from Earthquakes - The Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety Department of Interior, U.S. Geological Survey (English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean), 2007
Language access in emergency and disaster preparedness: An assessment of local government “whole community” efforts in the United States, Tianyi Xiang et al., January 2021
Crisis in a Foreign Language: Emergency Services and Limited English Populations, Amirah M. Majid et al., 2016
Understanding Disaster Preparedness of Linguistically Isolated Groups, City of Houston, Department of Health and Human Services, 2009
Disaster Preparedness in Urban Immigrant Communities, Lessons Learned from Recent Catastrophic Events and Their Relevance to Latino and Asian Communities in Southern California, June 2008