Burning Atlanta

This is potentially the BEST thing the federal government can do to cut down on illegal aliens. That's why so many plantation owners and pro-criminal groups oppose it. The judge that ruled against it is full of shit. And the red herring argument of how it's going to hurt so many legal workers is, also, a bullshit argument. I have no doubt that the system isn't perfect but consider this: If I were to find out there was a problem with my SSN I'd want to get that straightened out. This rule gives 90 days to have it addressed.

I've related the story of how a former girlfriend's son ran into a snag with his SSN when he applied for a job at a retail chain store. They wouldn't hire him until he got it straightened out. GOOD IDEA. There are some legal issues with that policy but they found it worked for them. Anyway, he was able to quickly get the problem resolved and  was hired.

"No Match/No Job" is a good policy.

The Bush administration unveiled a revised rule Friday threatening businesses with prosecution unless they fire employees identified in government records as possible illegal immigrants, offering a new explanation but virtually no change in content from the regulation that a San Francisco federal judge blocked in October.

The department then plans to ask U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer to lift his injunction. At the same time, it has asked a federal appeals court to overturn the Oct. 10 decision by the judge, who found that unions and businesses had raised serious questions about the rule's legality.

Opponents said the new plan, which like the old one would be based on discrepancies in Social Security records, would harm large numbers of legal workers, foster discrimination against the foreign-born and drive up business costs. Bullshit. It may drive up business costs ONLY insomuch as the employers may have to find LEGAL workers.

"This misguided attempt to fit the square peg of immigration enforcement into the round hole of Social Security benefits is a guarantee of increased discrimination and erroneous terminations," said Kathleen Campbell Walker, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Under the new rule, employers who get no-match letters would have 90 days to resolve the discrepancy and an additional three days for an employee to submit a new, valid Social Security number. After that, an employer who failed to fire the worker would be subject to civil fines or criminal prosecution.

Unions, joined in a lawsuit by major business groups, said the government often sends no-match letters mistakenly because of clerical errors in recording numbers and because workers change their names after marriage, divorce or for other reasons. They said the new rule would lead to the firings of hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens and legal residents. My ass. More of the typical "The sky is falling" fear mongering that is so common on this issue.

On BurningAtlanta.com I give the toll free phone number employers can use to check SSNs. It's not perfect but it fast, it's easy, and too many employers don't want to use it because they are scumbags that want to cheat and steal by hiring illegals. Now, there's E-Verify. An even better system that employers can use via computer. And, again, many employers don't want to use it because they're dirtbags.

You can verify up to 5 names/SSNs over the phone by calling toll-free 1-800-772-6270 - weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. EST. You will be asked for your company name and EIN. You must also provide the following information for each name/SSN you want to verify.