August 17, 2007

Bush admin scam: Social Security "no match" letters will have little effect ("tough" new DHS policy)

This has to be read in its entirety to be believed. The Bush administration can't even keep a scam going for a few days.

Days after unveiling a major crackdown on businesses that hire illegal immigrants, the Bush administration is now quietly admitting that its most heavily touted weapon in pursuing employers will be virtually useless.

...But Homeland Security officials acknowledged this week that because of a privacy provision in the IRS code, immigration officials will actually have no way of knowing which employers have received "no-match" letters, which have complied and which have not...

...Left untouched, however, was section 6103 of the IRS code - a privacy provision the government has long interpreted to mean that Social Security officials are forbidden from sharing tax information with other agencies...

..."I think this is viewed as more of a self-enforcing thing," said John Gay, top lobbyist for the National Restaurant Association, which represents about 1.4 million estimated employees in California. "This is another tool in their kit. It's easier to establish a violation with these rules."

Tom Nassif, president of the California Grower's Association, said any "no-match" letters a company receives will come out during a civil trial if that business is ever cited for immigration violations...

...[Steven Camarota, research director for the Center of Immigration Studies] said he suspects the Bush administration hopes the business community, whose division over the recent Senate immigration compromise bill helped lead to its failure, will be galvanized into action by the threat of economic upheaval.

"They don't really want to upset the apple cart, they just want to tip it back and forth and act like they're doing something," Camarota said of the administration's rules.

...Nassif agreed but called it a risky gamble with the country's economy...

Posted to Immigration2007a at August 17, 2007 11:02 AM