WASHINGTON — In a final drive to toughen immigration enforcement, the Bush administration will again try to institute a system that would force employers to fire workers who have discrepancies in their Social Security data.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Thursday that he will ask a federal judge to lift an injunction imposed against the “no-match” rule after foes ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sued to stop it last year.
The move could affect millions of workers — citizens and immigrants alike — and continues to draw fierce opposition from business, civil-liberties and immigrant-advocate groups.
Under the rule, businesses could be prosecuted for failing to respond to notices from the Social Security Administration that a worker’s information does not match data on file with the government, often an indicator of an illegal worker but frequently the result of simple inconsistencies or clerical errors.
