As reported in the Federal Register on October7, 2009, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is rescinding regulations promulgated on August 15, 2007 regarding procedures employers may take to acquire safe-harbor after receiving No-Match letters. The changes are effective November 6, 2009. No-Match letters are issued by the Social Security Administration (SSA) when social security numbers do not match the name of an employee in SSA records. The letters are known as “Employer Correction Requests.” Regulations issued on August 15, 2007, addressed when the receipt of a No-match letter constituted constructive knowledge that an employer hired an alien not authorized to work in the United States. The rule also established safe-harbor procedures for employers who receive No-match letters. The rules were never implemented in light of a preliminary injunction issued by the District Court for the Northern District of California in AFL-CIO v. Chertoff, 552 F. Supp. 2d 999 (N.D. Cal. 2007). DHS proposed to rescind the No-Match rules on August 19, 2009, explaining that a more appropriate utilization of DHS resources would be to focus enforcement/community outreach efforts on increased compliance through improved verification, including increased participation in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) E-Verify employment eligibility verification system, the ICE Mutual Agreement Between Government and Employers (IMAGE), and other programs.
