Colorado state Sen. Iman Jodeh, who represents Senate District 29 and was the first Muslim elected to the Colorado legislature, posted a flyer this week for a paid internship program at the State Capitol in Denver that lists religious and ethnic identity among the qualifications.
The digital flyer, issued under the Middle Eastern, North African, South Asian (MENASA) & Muslim Joint Legislative Caucus, outlines standard criteria such as being an undergraduate with at least a 3.5 GPA and a schedule flexible enough for part-time work while in school. Interns selected for the program would receive a $1,000 stipend.
The flyer also states that candidates must “identify as a Muslim and/or as Middle Eastern, North African, or South Asian.”
That requirement has prompted questions about whether the program conflicts with state and federal anti-discrimination law, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars hiring decisions based on national origin or religion for covered employers.
Critics have pointed to a 2023 case involving a San Francisco law firm that was sued over a fellowship program restricted to students from “underrepresented groups,” after its website specified race and sexual orientation as qualifications. The firm was required to open the program to all students and revise its website language.
Social media users have raised similar objections to Jodeh’s flyer. One post addressed to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights read: “Colorado State Senator Iman Jodeh, who’s celebrated as the first muslim elected to the Colorado legislature, is advertising an internship program at the Colorado Capitol Qualifications are you have to be muslim or north african. This is illegal.”
This is not the first internship program Jodeh has advertised with identity-based criteria. In 2023, her office promoted what was described as the “second annual Arab or Muslim Legislative Internship” for the 2024 legislative session.
Jodeh’s office had not issued a public response to the renewed criticism at the time of this report.
