Enforcement of "no match" letters scrutinized

Here's something you don't see everyday: the US Chamber, the ACLU, and the AFL-CIO teamed up against the Bush administration's attempts to enforce the "no match" letters that the federal government has sent to employers since 1994. The administration has intended to send out letters warning employers for the first time that they must resolve questions about their employees' identities or fire them within 90 days. "No match" letters are sent to employers whose new hires' Social Security numbers do not match up with the information on file with the federal government. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction yesterday after agreeing with the Plaintiffs that the proposal would have a "staggering" impact on law abiding workers and companies. Here's the Washington Post article.

Should the federal government be entitled to enforce "no match" letters?

I'm with the Plaintiffs. The SSA database contains so many errors that firing all workers would unfairly discriminate against tens of thousands. I'm with the administration. If employers can't resolve the problem in 90 days, the worker should be fired. view results

Let's go ahead and make this the poll of the week. Plaintiffs' position: the database contains errors, and the program erroneously rejected 11 percent of foreign-born U.S. citizens and 1.3 percent of authorized foreign-born non-citizens between June 2004 and May 2006, according to a report provided to Congress. The government program to verify the validity of new hires' Social Security numbers remains voluntary and covers only about 23,000 of 8 million U.S. employers. Proponents of enforcement: it's fraud.

Previous polls:
Poll No. 5: Novelty lighters
Poll No. 4: 2007 Razorbacks
Poll No. 3: Governor Beebe's job performance
Poll No. 2: The severance tax
Poll No. 1: Flavored cigarettes