Summary of recent announcement of SSA and DHS
Two weeks after Social Security Administration (“SSA”) announced that it will not issue any no-match letters in 2007, on November 23, 2007, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) filed a motion to stay proceedings pending in the ongoing lawsuit challenging its final rule outlining procedures for employers who receive a no-match letter from the SSA. The motion states the government's intent to re-write its rule entitled "Safe Harbor Procedures for Employers Who Receive a No-Match Letter."
DHS states that it will publish the revised rule in December 2007 that reportedly will accommodate concerns that were raised by the court. DHS expects that it will complete the rulemaking proceedings by March 2008 when SSA is planning to send out the no-match letters based on the 2006 tax year information.
SSA and DHS decided not to implement the no-match letters this year as result of the current litigation challenging the legality of the DHS rule which would use the SSA no-match records as a tool for immigration enforcement. On October 10, U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer issued a preliminary order stopping the government from enforcing the proposed rule, finding that it would cause irreparable harm to both innocent workers and employers. As of now, the preliminary injunction still remains in effect. It must be noted that employers will continue to receive letters about an individual worker when SSA does not have that worker’s correct home address. It is the individual letters that have been the source of confusion in recent months.
What’s Next?
DHS will publish the notice of proposed rulemaking around Christmas or possibly in January. The minimum comment period will be 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register. However, plaintiffs have requested DHS for 45 days comment period. It must be noted that comments received beyond the comment period will not be considered for part of the record.
To put pressure on DHS and win the public debate, we must be able to highlight stories of documented and U.S. citizen workers who have been adversely affected by no-match letters. To that end, NAKASEC is gathering stories of these workers.
Updated SSA no-match letters guides are available in English. You can download the guides from http://nakasec.org/blog/c/publications .
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