Don Dressler Consulting

By now you likely have read a good deal about the President’s immigration enforcement ideas and the 26 initiatives. They range from criminalizing employer failure to follow up on Social Security “no match” letters to promising relief in various “guest-worker” programs such as the H-2A Agricultural Seasonal Worker program, streamlining the H-2B Non-Agricultural Seasonal Workers program. If you would like a summary of all 26 items, just e-mail a request to info@dondressler.com.

But, where does that leave you and your company? Here is a quick check list:

Have you received SS “No Match” letters in past years? If no- this immediate regulation may not be a major concern.
If yes, are the employees who were the cause of the “No Match” letters still working for you? If they are, prepare to implement the procedures outlined by the new ICE regulations (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).
If the employees are no longer working for you when you receive the “No Match’ letter, ICE acknowledges you do not have to take further action at this time. HOWEVER, the rules state, “the employer must not accept …any document that contains a disputed social security account number…” So, when the absent employee returns, don’t turn a “blind eye” and take them back using their now challenged social security identification.
Why not try to reduce problems at the beginning of the employment relationship. According to the Social Security Administration, over 11% of all “No Match” letters are caused by sloppy or other inadvertent employer or worker error. Would it be worth your time, when an employee first fills out his new hire paperwork, to tell them:

It is very important for your personal social security records as well our company’s compliance with rules of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to verify authorization to work.

Please check your W-4 form as well as your pay records to make sure the name and Social Security Number matches exactly the information as shown on your Social Security Card.

Consider adopting some of the following “Best Hiring Practices” advanced by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of their IMAGE program: For more information, visit www.ice.gov/partners/opaimage/index.htm
- Select one or a few persons to process all I-9s and Social Security “No Match” inquiries;
- Provide at least annual training to these individuals;
- Have a second person review all I-9s before filing, to double check for accuracy and completeness;
- Have an annual audit of I-9s by some one independent of the daily process;
- Make sure you handle I-9s and Social Security “No Match” inquiries the same every time for everyone, to avoid both the appearance and the reality of discrimination.

Social Security “No Match” letters will be received shortly for the 2007 Tax Year and will be accompanied by a letter from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Although the program is titled “Safe Harbor”, it really means, ‘if you don’t follow their procedures, you risk going to jail’, and that includes business owners as well as personnel managers and payroll administration employees.

The regulations will be used to pursue employers for hiring or continuing to employ an alien knowing the alien is not authorized to work, which is a federal criminal offense.

At a minimum, the focus is on illegal immigrants by forcing employers to fire workers with discrepancies in their Social Security information.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has dramatically stepped up its efforts to combat the unlawful employment of aliens in the United States since its creation in March 2003. ICE’s comprehensive strategy for effective worksite enforcement is aimed at reversing a belief that employers could ignore restrictions on hiring illegal or unauthorized workers.

graph of worksite arrests

ICE has developed a comprehensive interactive Safe Harbor Information Center which will answer no-match related questions, or inquiries may be directed to ICE at 800-421-7105. (See: www.ice.gov/partners/employers/index.htm)

We have posted at our web site (www.DonDressler.com) links to the ICE IMAGE program, and the full Department of Homeland Security Final Regulations. An outline of all the Administration’s 26 initiatives is available by e-mail request to info@dondressler.com.

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Don Dressler Consulting can audit I-9s and consult with you on immigration compliance, response to “No Match” letters and other human resources questions. Call 949-533-3742.