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News Release

Department of Homeland Security Temporarily Abandons No Match Letter Enforcement:
Employers and Workers at Risk with Futile Policy

Philadelphia (November 30) – The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) supports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) decision to forego using the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) database to implement its “no match” rule. However, AFSC remains concerned about DHS plans to revise this flawed rule. Rather than re-craft a failed approach to our nation’s immigration issues, AFSC urges the administration to pursue more effective policies.

"The no match rule was a poor strategy from the start,” comments Esther Nieves, national director of AFSC’s immigrant rights project. "Relying on outdated information and a flawed database would have been a disaster for the nation’s employers, workers and their families. We need leadership on the issue and the DHS rule would have done nothing to resolve the immigration challenge we currently face.”

The recent decision follows a lawsuit by several leading civil rights and labor groups to stop DHS from sending no match letters to the nation’s employers. The suit contended that use of the SSA’s defective database would prompt the unfair dismissal of employees and the discrimination or racial profiling of many workers. In October, U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer’s preliminary order halted DHS from enforcing the rule citing the negative and harmful impact on citizen and immigrant workers as well as employers.

SSA’s Inspector General has consistently found significant discrepancies in its database, including clerical and bureaucratic mistakes. In its recent post-Thanksgiving Day action, DHS asked San Francisco’s federal court to place the lawsuit on hold until March 2008. In the meantime, however, DHS has indicated it will craft a new rule for public dissemination in late December.

AFSC strongly urges DHS and the Bush administration to pursue constructive worksite policies that enable employers to help their workers adjust their immigration status, even as those workers continue to contribute to the nation’s economic vitality.

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The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.

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