« Business News Update | Main | Michael Vick - going to the dogs? »

Judge blocks U.S. illegal worker crackdown

One of the long-overdue enforcement steps undertaken by the federal government against the use of false Social Security numbers by employees has been overturned by a Federal District Court Judge in California. The procedure was to send so-called "no match" letters to employers who submitted employee information where the name doesn't match the submitted SSN. Leonard Anderson has the story for Reuters:


A U.S. federal court judge on Wednesday blocked a key part of the Bush administration's stepped-up efforts to crack down on illegal immigrant workers and those who employ them.

Judge Charles Breyer of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted a preliminary injunction against a program that would force employers to verify Social Security numbers and fire workers whose numbers did not match official records.

The federal program developed by the Department of Homeland Security is at the heart of a new crackdown on the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the country, after Congress failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

But the "no-match letter" program was challenged in a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, the AFL-CIO and other labor groups claiming it was unlawful and hurt all workers, including legal ones affected by errors in the data base.


Read the rest at the above link. This was a temporary injunction, but the permanent injunction depends upon the same Judge, so the ACLU and the "workers groups" who sued are celebrating.

This decision is so mind-numbingly stupid that even the vapid 9th Circuit will likely reverse it. What "harm" comes to legitimate workers? They get to correct an error discovered in their paperwork which, if left undetected, could cost them a lot of money down the road (or extensive time and trouble getting it corrected).

Of course, if you don't have a "correct" Social Security number, you are either using someone else's or one unassigned. Why would you NOT want to know this? (Unless, of course, you know darned well it isn't your number because you don't HAVE a number, or can't use your real number because you are a fugitive, in which case I understand very well why you might rather not have anyone asking questions).

Judge Charles Breyer, if anyone is interested, was appointed to the federal bench in 1997 by President Bill Clinton.

  • Currently 4.1/5
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Rating: 4.1/5 (17 votes cast)


Close

Email this entry to:


Your email address:


Message (optional):


AddThis Feed Button

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://wizbangblog.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/24736

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Judge blocks U.S. illegal worker crackdown:

Comments (11)

If liberals can't move a le... (Below threshold)
Knightbrigade:

If liberals can't move a lefty agenda threw the legislative branch, they just use their favorite tool the judicial branch.

And while these ACLU monkeys play asinine legal games, every other dirtbag group such as Al Qaeda are taking notes on how to use the U.S legal system to constipate any situation they see fit.

There should be a policy, i... (Below threshold)

There should be a policy, instituted in federal law, that any judge who is overturned three or more times in 5-10 years for making a baseless ruling gets an automatic article of impeachment drafted against them, and brought to the top of the Congress' legislative queue.

gotta get those votes by re... (Below threshold)
tj:

gotta get those votes by redistricting in the 08 census dont you know. typical lib move if i ever saw one.

The flip side of this is th... (Below threshold)

The flip side of this is that grocery prices are experiencing terrible inflation, especially vegetables sometimes costing twice as much as only two years ago as many farmers witness their crops rot on the vine because they cannot attract the migrant workers required to pick crops because of all this immigration ranting and the lack of hardliners in Washington to compromise on a immigration bill that helps to provide the labor required to keep groceries affordable for the average American family. Many conservatives have unfortunately turned this immigration campaign into a huge unfair tax on the American consumer when they pay new huge inflated grocery and produce prices.

My family background is mainly from a farmer background and I'm very concerned about any issues that are destroying the American family farm. And this immigration madness is not helping.

For cryin' out loud, get a ... (Below threshold)

For cryin' out loud, get a grip, folks. It's just an injunction...real court stuff to follow--not to mention it gives the Feds an opportunity to see where their case is meeting objection and bolster that part of their argument.

Since when did SSI's "renowned" recordkeeping and little paper cards become the gold standard of identification? Good God, my wife's been embroiled twice with them and accounting snafus that took months and months to straighten out.

OTOH, I am in favor of holding businesses strictly responsible for not hiring illegal workers and for putting business leaders in jail as an example to other hirers, which beats hiring tens of thousands of ICE agents to chase down illegals. Dry up the jobs and the illegals will mostly disappear.

That must be coupled, however, with a nearly foolproof form of identification for all workers and a secure and reliable database to check it against, after which the employer will be in the clear if the applicant passes the federal test for employment.

We print pretty good money and very good passports now, so we have most of the technology in place. Biometrics are really coming along. Look what our troops are doing in the field in Iraq with iris scans

http://tinyurl.com/29m7j6

This, of course, means a National ID with identification metrics and a biometric signature of some sort. In fact, since most of the relevant information and certainly wage history is already at the SSI, they should take the lead in a National ID program.

The National ID program gives a lot of people the willies, I admit. Just look at the fuss over Real ID at the state level. But we'll have to make a choice soon, give up privacy to control illegal immigration or create a really big federal program to chase down illegals.

(knowing the feds, we'll end up with both--big sigh)

More proof that any immigra... (Below threshold)
Les Nessman:

More proof that any immigration 'reform' has to have border security and enforcement provisions first; before any 'amnesty' or 'path to citizenship' provisions.

How do We know the asshat j... (Below threshold)
914:

How do We know the asshat judge is legal? does He have an I.D.?

Ridiculous.

Hmmm lemme see, pay more fo... (Below threshold)
Ran:

Hmmm lemme see, pay more for vegetables ?. or continue paying for illegal healthcare? I'll get back to ya on that!

If you want to make a name ... (Below threshold)
89:

If you want to make a name for yourself in criminal or journalistic investigation, look into the connections between organized crime, certain unions, and politicians. Not say that this particular judge is dirty - it's only a temporary injuction that can be appealed.

Gosh we though we elected p... (Below threshold)
Spurwing Plover:

Gosh we though we elected presidents and govenors to run this nation not a bunch of unelected imperial judges

The next step is, of course... (Below threshold)
Vanshalar:

The next step is, of course, for the judge to order an injunction against credit card companies from validating credit card data. I mean, who can expect to get all those numbers correct, especially when making online purchases? It adversely affects all the legal credit card holders who mistypes the data or whose data in the database has errors.


Post a comment




Advertisements









Shop Wizbang!

rightads.gif

beltwaybloggers.gif

insiderslogo.jpg

mba_blue.gif

Follow Wizbang

Follow Wizbang on FacebookFollow Wizbang on TwitterSubscribe to Wizbang feedWizbang Mobile

Contact

Send e-mail tips to us:

tips@wizbangblog.com

Wizbang Linkroll

[Weekly Standard Blog]

Employment Prospects Worsen Under Obama Regime [Say Anything]

Islamists Slapped with 30 Days Detention [The Jawa Report]

RE-ENGINEERING the human immune system…. [Instapundit]

ERIC S. RAYMOND: Don’t Dis The Wiccans! [Instapundit]

BOEING FLIES its biggest plane to date…. [Instapundit]

Passive Aggressive Behavior All Around Us [RedState]

[Riehl World View]

If Health Care "Reform" Sinks,Then What for the Drugmakers? [AmSpecBlog]

[Weekly Standard Blog]

How Many Lumps With Your Tea? [NewsBusters.org]

IBD/TIPP poll shows lowest confidence in Obama policies yet [Hot Air]

[Right Wing News]

[Right Wing News]

[Riehl World View]

NY Times Plays Up John Murtha's Anti-War Turn in Obit, Omits Smear of Marines as Killers [NewsBusters.org]

Things I don’t miss about George W. Bush [Michelle Malkin]

IN THE GUARDIAN: If you’re going to do good science, release the computer code too. Thanks to Shan… [Instapundit]

[Weekly Standard Blog]

Scarborough Slams FNC’s Sammon: Media Don’t ‘Hate’ Palin, But ‘Hated’ Her Early On [NewsBusters.org]

THIRTY KNOTS OF SPEED, in a sailboat…. [Instapundit]

VERONIQUE DE RUGY ON DEFICITS: The Limits Of Blaming Bush.“In his latest budget request, Presiden… [Instapundit]

IT’S COME TO THIS: Cops lodge felony snowball-throwing charges…. [Instapundit]

HOW TO GET A DATE. It’s the comments that are more interesting…. [Instapundit]

Categories

Archives

Credits

Publisher: Kevin Aylward

Section Editor: Maggie Whitton

Editors: Jay Tea, Lorie Byrd, Kim Priestap, DJ Drummond, HughS, Michael Laprarie, Baron Von Ottomatic, Shawn Mallow, Cassy Fiano, Charlie Quidnunc, Steve Schippert

Emeritus: Paul, Mary Katherine Ham, Jim Addison, Alexander K. McClure, Bill Jempty, John Stansbury, Rob Port

All original content copyright © 2003-2007 by Wizbang®, LLC. All rights reserved. Wizbang® is a registered service mark.

Powered by Movable Type 3.35

Hosting by ServInt

Ratings on this site are powered by the Ajax Ratings Pro plugin for Movable Type.

Search on this site is powered by the FastSearch plugin for Movable Type.

Blogrolls on this site are powered by the MT-Blogroll.

Temporary site design is based on Cutline and Cutline for MT. Graphics by Apothegm Designs.

Author Login



Terms Of Service

DCMA Compliance Notice