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DHS no-match rule comes with paperwork burden
By Shelia Watson
Contributing Writer
Last month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement division published a final rule on its “no-match” letters in an effort to curtail the influx of illegal aliens in the country.
However, for those who must comply with the new rule, particularly those in the construction industry, the extra paperwork promises to overwhelm an already overburdened security regimen.
A “no-match” letter is a letter from the Social Security Administration informing the employer that the name and Social Security number on a W-2 do not match SSA records or a letter from the DHS stating that the immigration status, or I-9 document, presented by the employer was not assigned according to DHS records.
The rule, which was published Aug. 15, took effect on Sept. 14.
Current law already prohibits companies from knowingly employing unauthorized aliens and defines the term “knowingly” with three examples: failure to complete an I-9 form, awareness of documentation for labor certification and acting with disregard to the legal consequences of allowing an illegal alien into the work force.
The new rule adds another example of failing to take reasonable steps after receiving information that the employee is an illegal alien, which includes receiving the no-match letters.
The SSA will begin sending out no-match letters based on 2006 W-2s on a staggered basis over the next few months. The new rule is the first in a series of initiatives designed to bolster enforcement of the current immigration laws in the wake of the failure of Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reforms. Among the other initiatives are:
• Publishing a regulation reducing the number of acceptable documents for I-9 verification of employment.
• Increasing civil fines on companies that employ unauthorized workers.
• Beginning or continuing criminal investigations against employers believed to be hiring unauthorized workers.
Dealing with the no-match letter is a laborious process that includes checking the records to determine whether a clerical error was made and filing specific forms to correct the error, reconfirming the employee’s information with specific forms and re-filing all documentation to establish identity.
Betty Wing, plan room manager for the Charleston chapter of the Carolinas Association of General Contracts, pointed out that a large percentage of immigrants, both legal and illegal, are working in the construction trades.
“This ruling just happened, so no one has really had time to deal with the impact yet, but we all know this is going to be a hot topic at all of the association meetings for the next several months,” she said.
“It’s very cumbersome to do these extra administrative things when your primary work is doing construction. But you have to do them for safety and security reasons. You have to check and double-check everything these days.”
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