Pilipino Worker's Center

DHS Rule Bad for Workers

On March 26, 2008, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a proposed rule regarding an employer’s obligations regarding what to do when they receive a letter from Social Security Administration that their employee’s record does not match SSA’s records (this is known as “SSA no-match”).

In August 2007, a federal judge temporarily blocked an earlier DHS rule that would hurt all workers and employers by imposing liability on employers based on failure to respond to an SSA “no-match” letter. SSA errors are caused by many innocent factors such as typographical errors and name changes due to marriage or divorce, and the use of multiple surnames, which is common in many parts of the world. According to the Office of the Inspector General in SSA, 12.7 million of the 17.8 million discrepancies in SSA’s database - more than 70% - belong to native-born U.S. citizens.

In the 2008 DHS rule, the DHS can use the receipt of a SSA no-match letter that the employer had “constructive knowledge” that the employee is undocumented and unauthorized to work. The 2008 DHS rule states that the employer should follow order to avoid liability.

This 2008 DHS rule is said to be finalized in May and the DHS will try to get the court’s 2007 injunction lifted.

Both Workers and Business Hurt
This new 2008 DHS rule is said to hurt immigrants and businesses alike. The DHS rule is not clear about the obligations for employers. Businesses are asking for clarification of what they should be doing. This new DHS rule leaves businesses with liability where employer could be facing wrongful termination claims, especially since there is a big margin of error with SS no-match letters.
Under the SAVE Act, employees would be required to fix the discrepancy of the SSA no-match letter within 10 days, otherwise be fired. Although the law has not yet taken effect, employers are already jumping the gun and firing innocent workers. This has caused romotes discrimination.

Carlisle Group
The Carlisle Group (which includes Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins) are sueing employers if they don’t use the e-verify system (an electronic system that looks for discrepancies between the records of SSA and workers’ records. The Carlisle group also has ties to the Bush family. George Bush senior is one of founders of Carlisle Group.
The Carlisle Group has used no-match letters to fire senior workers that are getting higher wages. This is an example of how the new DHS rule is used to force employers to use the rule to discriminate or retaliate against workers.