The House on Tuesday voted to formally condemn President Trump's racist tweets telling Democratic congresswoman of color to "go back" to where they came from. But long before that, the federal agency charged with enforcing anti-discrimination laws offered up that phrase as an example of potentially illegal harassment.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) specifically cites the phrase "Go back to where you came from" as the type of language that could violate anti-discrimination employment laws in certain circumstances. The phrase is nearly identical to what Mr. Trump wrote in his tweets about the congresswomen: "Why don't they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came."
"Ethnic slurs and other verbal or physical conduct because of nationality are illegal if they are severe or pervasive and create an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment, interfere with work performance, or negatively affect job opportunities," the EEOC's website says. "Examples of potentially unlawful conduct include insults, taunting, or ethnic epithets, such as making fun of a person's foreign accent or comments like, 'Go back to where you came from,' whether made by supervisors or by co-workers."