By Andy Sullivan
Wed Aug 8, 12:04 PM ET


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The government is planning a workplace crackdown on illegal immigrants after Congress failed to overhaul immigration laws, a Homeland Security Department spokesman said on Wednesday.

The department will announce in the next several days the final version of a rule that would require employers to fire workers who falsify identity documents. Those that don't comply would face fines of up to $10,000.

The rule, proposed last year, was delayed when Congress took up immigration reform, an attempt that failed in June despite heavy lobbying by the Bush administration.

The final rule will be announced within the next several days, Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke said.

"There are in fact going to be very tough consequences for those employers who chose to blatantly disregard the law," said Knocke, who declined to say how the final rule would differ from the initial proposal.

Employers are currently required to verify that their workers are in the United States legally by collecting their Social Security numbers and immigration documents.

Those numbers are checked against the U.S. government's database, and employers are notified of those that don't match up.

Up to 10 percent of the 250 million wage reports sent to the Social Security Administration each year don't match up, according to the Homeland Security Department, though many of those are due to record-keeping errors.

Under the proposed rule, employers would have to respond promptly when notified of a mismatch -- either by clearing up any clerical error or firing those found to be in the country illegally.

There are an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States.

God Bless us all!!!!!

FYI,

We are not illegal immegrants,

Just illegal workers, migration procedure is fully legal

New rules this week would be backed by raids on employers of illegal immigrants



WASHINGTON, AUGUST 8: In a new effort to crack down on illegal immigrants, federal authorities are expected to announce tough rules this week that would require employers to fire workers who use false Social Security numbers. Officials said the rules would be backed up by stepped-up raids on workplaces across the country that employ illegal immigrants.

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Immigration in America Department of Homeland Security Immigrants

After first proposing the rules last year, Department of Homeland Security officials said they held off finishing them to await the outcome of the debate in Congress over a sweeping immigration bill. That measure, which was supported by President Bush, died in the Senate in June.

Now administration officials are signalling that they intend to clamp down on employers of illegal immigrants even without a new immigration law to offer legal status to millions of illegal immigrants already in the work force. The approach is expected to play well with conservatives who have long demanded that the administration do more to enforce existing immigration laws, but it could also lead to renewed pressure from businesses on Congress to provide legal status for an estimated 6 million unauthorised immigrant workers.

"We are tough and we are going to be even tougher," Russ Knocke, the spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said Tuesday. "There are not going to be any more excuses for employers, and there will be serious consequences for those that choose to blatantly disregard the law."

Experts said the new rules represented a major tightening of the immigration enforcement system, in which employers for decades have paid little attention to notices, known as no-match letters, from the Social Security Administration advising that workers' names and numbers did not match the agency's records.

Employers, especially in agriculture and low-wage industries, said they were deeply worried about the new rules. More than 70 per cent of farm workers in the US are illegal immigrants, according to estimates by growers' associations. "Across the employer community people are scared, confused, holding their breath," said Craig Regelbrugge, co-chairman of the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform, a trade organisation.

Immigrant rights groups and labour unions, including the AFL-CIO, predicted the rules would unleash discrimination against Hispanic workers.

It is so sad that there are millions of undocumented immigrants living every day in a shadow in a country which lauds herself as the world leader protecting individual liberty and persuit of happiness. Living with constant fear of being deported is not a liberty America cherishes. No question, illegal immigrants break the law but you have to understand that many who enter the country legally and overstay or sneak into the country illegally trespassing border don't always come with a choice. It is a human nature to seek happiness and prosperity. IF AMERICA IS IN FACT A COUNTRY WITH INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY AND PERSUIT OF HAPPINESS, NO PERSON HAS TO LIVE WITH A CONSTANT FEAR. IT IS NOT FUN LIVING WITH FEAR.

well, i don care coz i work night shift and immigaration people willn't raid at night!hahhaha
Peace Out!

i really wonder if this will really work cuz how will the employer be able to make sure the SSN is fake or real.
mote24- i liked wht u said