Blue Herald » A Bit Of Justice

Oct

by Buck • 10:34 am

The balance of hardships tips sharply in plaintiffs’ favor and plaintiffs have raised serious questions.

-Judge Charles Breyer, on Bush administration’s immigration program

This was really about targeting workers rights generally. The win is about preventing the Bush administration from causing further harm to workers in this country.

-Ana Avendano, director of immigrant programs at the AFL-CIO

SLAP!

Judge blocks U.S. illegal worker crackdown

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. federal court judge on Wednesday blocked a key part of the Bush administration’s stepped-up efforts to crack down on illegal immigrant workers and those who employ them.

Judge Charles Breyer of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted a preliminary injunction against a program that would force employers to verify Social Security numbers and fire workers whose numbers did not match official records.

The federal program developed by the Department of Homeland Security is at the heart of a new crackdown on the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the country, after Congress failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

But the “no-match letter” program was challenged in a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, the AFL-CIO and other labor groups claiming it was unlawful and hurt all workers, including legal ones affected by errors in the data base.

Leonard Anderson, Reuters