Unions & the US Chamber of Commerce Opposing DHS Procedure to prevent employment of illegal aliens

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is expected on Friday to announce regulations requiring employers to take additional steps to confirm certain employees are authorized to work in the United States. An employer who fails to follow the rules could be fined for knowingly employing an illegal immigrant. Under current law employers that knowingly hire an illegal employee can be fined up to $2,000 per worker. If the employer has been previously found to hire an illegal employee, the employer can be fined up to $5,000 or up to $10,000 if more than once the employer has been found to hire an illegal employee.

The AFL-CIO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce both say they have a problem with the proposed rule. The nation’s largest federation of labor unions says legal immigrant workers will suffer discrimination under the rule. Both are considering suing to stop the rule, while cautioning that they have not seen its final language. Angelo Amador, director of immigration policy for the chamber, predicted that the rule would face a legal challenge. The chamber is considering suing over the law and could join several other interest groups that might sue, he said. The AFL-CIO’s Ana Avenda-o, the union’s associate general counsel and director of its immigrant worker program indicated she believes DHS does not have the legal authority to promulgate these rules. According to Avenda-o, legal immigrants will be found to have more data mismatches and suffer discrimination as a consequence of the rule because Latin Americans’ names are hyphenated, and Asian first and last names are often transposed in documentation.

Laura Keehner of the DHS said “It is our responsibility and job to enforce the laws,” and that the deadline for employers to begin following the new rule will be announced Friday. Employers have told DHS they did not know how to respond to no-match letters and the final rule will clarify how, she said. It “will also include and help define, if the employer chooses to flagrantly disregard the law, there will be fines and there will be consequences; employers have no more excuses.” It’s an employees’ responsibility to make sure their information is accurate. DHS delayed finalizing the rule as it awaited the outcome of the debate in Congress on overhauling immigration. Immigration overhaul legislation (S 1639), supported by the administration, died in the Senate in June. There are an estimated 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants in the United States.

Since fiscal 2003, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has sent out about 130,000 no-match letters to employers each year. A September 2006 SSA inspector general audit found that 6 employers in tax year 2002 had between 15,001 and 36,000 employees with SSA data that didn't match official records; another 65 employers had between 5,001 and 15,000 such employees.
[ARRA Editor: The odd partnership between the US Chamber and AFL-CIO and their illogical reasoning begs the question: if the Department of Homeland Security does not have the authority to enforce laws regarding illegal aliens, who does? The above info was furnished to ARRA on background from a confidential Senate source who indicated it was developed by a Congressional Quarterly staffer. Two calls were made to the Congressional Quarterly but we were not able to confirm the source. We also checked CQ.com but it is restricted to subscribers.]
See also: Government to Step Up Immigration Law Enforcement

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Tags: AFL-CIO, Department of Homeland Security, DHS, employment verification, false social security numbers, illegal aliens, illegal immigrants, US Chamber of Commerce To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!