‘No Match’ Immigration Rule Is Revised
The Dept. of Homeland Security is continuing its push to put in place a regulation aimed at cracking down on the hiring of illegal immigrants. The AFL-CIO and other groups in 2007 won a court injunction, blocking the rule. That prompted DHS on Oct. 23 to issue a new “supplemental final rule,” which spells out what companies must do to be shielded from liability when the Social Security Administration tells them that the name and Social Security number on an employee’s W-2 form don’t match the agency’s records. But the unions and other critics don’t like the new “no match” regulation. The next move will take place in federal court.
The no-match regulation’s path hasn’t been smooth. DHS issued a proposal in 2006 and in August 2007 published what it hoped would be a final rule, which was to take effect the following month. But the AFL-CIO, American Civil Liberties Union and National Immigration Law Center filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. In October 2007, Judge Charles R. Breyer granted a preliminary injunction, preventing DHS from implementing the rule.