John Quill Quoted in The Chicago Tribune

The October 14 article on social security and no match letters ["Match game hard on farmers : Immigrant workers' availability uncertain amid legal battle"] reports "Siding with labor unions, the American Civil Liberties Union and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Judge Charles R. Breyer in San Francisco barred a government rule that would have required employers to fire workers whose Social Security numbers do not match those on the government's computers. . . . The no-match enforcement rule was unveiled in August as part of a strategy that includes stepped-up worksite raids and arrests of fugitive illegal immigrants throughout the country, and a new requirement for federal contractors to use the federal government's E-Verify screening software for new employees.  The rule was set to take effect Sept. 14, affecting some 8 million workers by requiring employers to clear up within 90 days mismatches between an employee's stated identity and what is found in Social Security Administration records. If employers missed that deadline, they would have to fire the workers or face fines of as much as $11,000 per employee.   In the face of deadlock over immigration reform in Congress, the Bush administration laid out a series of enforcement-related actions that it said would deal with the problem of undocumented immigrants in the U.S.   During hearings on the case in San Francisco, the government said it was prepared to send out 140,000 no-match letters to employers.  In his ruling, Breyer chastised government officials for making a policy change with "massive ramifications" for employers without properly surveying the potential costs of compliance. . . .immigration attorneys like John Quill in Boston have urged their clients not to curtail efforts to check workers' immigrant status.  "Our advice has not changed," he said. "We've always advised employers to take the mis-match letters seriously."  Quill said a number of businesses signed up with the government's E-Verify system, which allows them to check workers' Social Security numbers online. Some also turned to private firms to do background checks, including verifying workers' Social Security status.