Halt of DHS No-Match Rule Provides Employers No I-9 Reprieve
Angelo Paparelli was interviewed by Mark Schoeff Jr. of Workforce Management on September 5, 2007 on the halt of The Department of Homeland Security no-match rule. The rule was to be implemented on September 14, but a federal judge halted mailing no-match letter packets from the Social Security Administration that were to include DHS guidance on the new rule.

A San Francisco judge has blocked a key element of a recent federal crackdown on illegal immigration, but that doesn’t mean employers can breathe easy.

On August 31, U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney issued a temporary restraining order delaying the implementation of a Department of Homeland Security regulation forcing companies to either resolve within 90 days discrepancies between a worker’s name and Social Security number or fire the employee.

Paparelli was quoted on the ruling:

The rule would be prohibited from going into effect as long as the legal proceedings continue—unless a court of appeals intervenes.

“This litigation could go on for years,” says Angelo Paparelli, a lawyer with Paparelli & Partners in Irvine, California, and president of the Academy of Business Immigration Lawyers.

The AFL-CIO may be angling for such an outcome. It’s making its case to a court that has demonstrated sympathy to employees and unions.

In a previous case, the federal court ruled that a company had to have actual knowledge of an immigration violation, as opposed to being held accountable for something it should have known, Paparelli says. Regardless of what happens to the no-match rule, Paparelli advises employers to do a self-audit of their I-9 process. If a company is aware that it is illegally employing someone, they’ll be vulnerable to a government crackdown.“Employers are not going to be free from criminal or civil investigations and prosecution,” he says. “This is not a complete reprieve from the duty to comply with the law. Employers must make sure they’re diligent in employment eligibility verification and reverification.”Mark Schoeff Jr., Workforce Management Writer, “Halt of DHS No-Match Rule Provides Employers No I-9 Reprieve,”Workforce Management, September 5, 2007.
Full article available at: http://www.workforce.com/section/00/article/25/09/54.html

Mark Schoeff Jr., Workforce Management Writer, “Halt of DHS No-Match Rule Provides Employers No I-9 Reprieve,”Workforce Management, September 5, 2007.Full article available at: