Kerry Calls for Delay of Employee Verification Rules

Complete Economic Impact Analysis Needed Before Implementation

    WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Senator John Kerry (D-
 Mass.) today called on the Bush Administration to delay its implementation
 of a new employee verification regulation pending the completion of a full
 and complete economic impact analysis, as is required by federal law.
 Currently, the regulation could force businesses to fire employees who have
 discrepancies with their social security numbers.
     "There's a right way and a wrong way to enforce our immigration laws,
 and relying on a Social Security database that's famous for its
 inaccuracies is the wrong way," said Kerry, Chairman of the Committee on
 Small Business and Entrepreneurship. "Penalizing small business owners and
 legal employees over clerical errors will undermine the very businesses
 creating jobs and driving our economy."
     In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Social
 Security Administration Commissioner Michael Astrue, Kerry urged the
 agencies to reconsider the decision to implement the Proposed Rule on the
 Safe-Harbor Procedures for Employers Who Receive a No-Match Letter (71 Fed.
 Reg. 34281).
     This rule would require employers to follow costly procedures when they
 receive notice from the Social Security Administration (SSA) that an
 employee's name and social security number do not match. If the discrepancy
 cannot be resolved within 90 days, the employer would be forced to
 terminate the employee or potentially face criminal liability.
     Following is the text of the letter to Secretary Chertoff and
 Commissioner Astrue:
     Dear Secretary Chertoff and Commissioner Astrue:
     I write you today to ask for your cooperation in staying a rule that
 has the potential to harm small employers across the country. In June of
 2006, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Bureau of Immigration and
 Customs Enforcement (BICE) issued a Proposed Rule on the Safe-Harbor
 Procedures for Employers Who Receive a No-Match Letter (71 Fed. Reg.
 34281). The rule requires employers to take certain steps when they receive
 notice from the Social Security Administration (SSA) that an employee's
 name and social security number do not match, and to potentially terminate
 employees if the discrepancies cannot be resolved within a specified period
 of time.
     As part of the rulemaking process, DHS was required under the
 Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C 605(b)) to provide a Regulatory
 Flexibility Analysis demonstrating the economic impact of the regulation on
 small entities. Despite receiving thousands of comments from a variety of
 sources claiming that the regulation would be harmful, DHS published the
 final rule with a certification that the rule would not have a significant
 economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This assessment
 of the final rule seems insufficient given the additional liability that
 employers would face upon receiving a "No-Match" letter from the SSA.
     There are numerous explanations for why a lawfully employed individual
 would trigger a "No-Match" finding with the SSA, not the least of which is
 the error-laden database employed by the agency. Incorporating "No-Match"
 letters as a fundamental tool of U.S. immigration policy enforcement, and
 allowing businesses in receipt of "No-Match" letters only 90 days to
 resolve any discrepancies, would result in businesses spending additional
 time and money to clear up what in many cases will prove to be clerical
 errors on the part of the employee, the business, and the government.
     Additionally, such a policy has the potential to lead to anti-Latino
 and anti-immigrant discrimination in the workplace, providing employers an
 incentive to terminate lawful employees with Latino surnames that happen to
 trigger a "No-Match" letter.
     I understand that this regulation has been suspended temporarily,
 pending an October 1st hearing in a Federal district court. I urge you to
 reconsider your decision to implement this rule prior to issuing a complete
 Regulatory Flexibility Analysis as is required under the Regulatory
 Flexibility Act. Neither America's business owners nor the millions of
 employees who stand to be penalized as a result of poor record keeping
 should be subject to a policy that does not fully take into account the
 potential economic impact of its implementation.
     Sincerely,
 
     Senator John Kerry
 
 

SOURCE U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship