DHS rescinds 'no-match,' senate to block.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced July 8 that it will propose a regulation rescinding the "No-Match" rule. No-match letters are sent by the DHS or the Social Security Administration (SSA) when an employee's Social Security number does not match information in the government's database. Traditionally, these letters have been informational only, but the DHS regulations would have used them for enforcement purposes.

Under the rule, receipt of a no-match letter could be used as evidence that the employer knowingly hired or continued to employ a worker without proper work authorization. Employers would have been required to take certain action upon receiving a no-match letter or face stiff civil and criminal penalties.

The rule was originally issued in August 2007, but it has been blocked since last October by the federal district court with jurisdiction over the legal challenge to the rule. NAA/NMHC opposed the rule because no-match letters are generated by a flawed system that is insufficient to prove that an employer knowingly violated the law.

The ultimate outcome of the no-match rule is not clear, however, after a July 9 vote in the Senate to effectively block the DHS from rescinding the rule. Specifically, the Senate approved an amendment to the FY 2010 Homeland Security appropriations bill to prohibit funds in the bill from being used to rescind the federal no-match program.