Legal Clips, [October 2007]Dealing a major blow to the Bush administration's crackdown on illegal immigration, a federal judge in San Francisco has put on hold new regulations that would require businesses to fire employees whose names don't match their Social Security numbers. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, warning that the penalties could hurt businesses and documented workers, issued a preliminary injunction to stop any penalties until he can hand down a final ruling on whether they are legal, likely in several months. In his 22-page ruling, Judge Breyer said the plan "would result in irreparable harm to innocent workers and employers." He said it would place a financial burden on employers and lead to legal workers being fired because of errors. The enforcement effort was the focus of a renewed push by President Bush to combat illegal immigration after Congress's failure to pass a comprehensive immigration reform policy. The crackdown relies on letters that the Social Security Administration sends annually to employers who have employees with Social Security numbers that don't match their names, either because of fraud or human error. The so-called "no match" letters were largely ignored by employers until the Department of Homeland Security announced this summer that it would add another letter informing employers they had 90 days to fire workers whose IDs couldn't be verified or face punishment, including fines and prosecution. The Social Security Administration planned to begin mailing 140,000 no-match letters—affecting more than 8 million employees—to businesses across the country in mid-September.
Immigrant and employee rights advocates hailed Judge Breyer's ruling. In a statement issued shortly after the ruling, the Department of Homeland Security said it was "disappointed" and that the Department of Justice is reviewing all options, including an appeal. The Social Security Administration did not have an official statement and is still considering whether to send the no-match letters without the enforcement letters as it has done for several decades, said spokesman Lowell Kepke.
Mercury News By Javier Erik Olvera
[Editor’s Note: The opinion is below. Earlier this month the court issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Bush administration from imposing a rule requiring employers to fire workers identified as illegal immigrants in government records or face possible prosecution. For background, see the second link.]
AFL v. Chertoff
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