FLE

Court Stops Social Security "No-Match" Immigration Enforcement: Lessons for Congress

In response to a lawsuit filed by the AFL-CIO, ACLU, and National Immigration Law Center, a federal judge last week issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) from mailing new “no-match” notices to employers. These notices are sent when employers hire new workers whose personal information (e.g., name and social security number) does not match SSA records, and they provide detailed guidance to employers of their legal obligations and the steps that they should take in response to a no-match. Fair and practical workplace enforcement is vital to reestablishing the integrity of American immigration law. The obstacles thrown in the path of the Administration's recent enforcement efforts offer a lesson to Congress about what needs to be done to enforce U.S. laws while ensuring America's employers have access to the workers they need. The DHS and SSA use no-match letters as an immigration enforcement tool. In 2005, SSA mailed out about 10.5 million no-match letters, and by some estimates, upwards of 90 percent of these concerned workers who were not legally entitled to be in the United States. Under the Administration's new no-match rules—now enjoined—employers not complying with no-match letters' guidance would have faced fines...The lawsuit also offers Congress a cautionary lesson on what would have happened if a comprehensive immigration and border security bill that put amnesty first had passed. Enforcement measures would have been litigated extensively, while amnesty would have allowed millions to benefit from having violated U.S. laws, undermining any notion that the government could or would enforce immigration laws in the future....